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We want to involve non-experts in designing experiments as they are likely to explore areas
that experts overlook. As Klein says, experts can have a tendency to use familiar solutions and determine that those solutions are appropriate very early on in any process. When work falls into the Complicated domain, this can be effective. But for work that falls into the Complex domain, it is not. It often creates a very inefficient process that leads to long timeframes and large costs.
When we use non-experts, we are able to treat ideas that are proposed to us with a light touch, and use inexpensive ways to test those ideas. The aim is to have many ideas being tested at once and quickly (and safely) learning if they fail or succeed. As we learn more about the items that we are exploring, patterns start to stabilize. Once that happens, the work moves from the Complex domain into Complicated, and the problem situation becomes easier to solve.
In summary:
*When starting a project, find out as early as possible if it is feasible to build a solution for the amount of money and time you are prepared to invest.
*Start with a very broad and very shallow coverage of the scope and then narrow that scope as quickly as possible to avoid wasting effort on further details that may not be required.
*Argue scope in later if needed; don't try to cover everything and argue scope out later on.
*Pre-classify the types of conversations and workshops that need to happen into a) easy b) analysis and c) cans of worms (if these terms work for you and your organization, or come up with your own for working with the Cynefin Framework)
*And, last but not least, quarantine those cans of worms items! Don't let them derail the rest of the work you and your team are doing. Then use exploratory techniques to turn the cans of worms assumption-based work into fact-based conversations.
The views expressed in this post do not necessarily represent the views or policies of The Lean Enterprise Institute.
This article originally appeared on the Lean Post at lean.org/LeanPost/
Kim Ballestrin
Kim Ballestrin is a passionate and highly skilled Principal Consultant at Elabor8 working on the Agile transformations of large enterprises. She has over 20 years of diverse management (IT) experience, helping some of Australia’s most prominent organisations on their Agile change journey. Kim is an experienced technologist, having worked in roles from IT business analyst through to program and delivery centre management. She specialises in Lean, Cynefin, Agile, Systems Thinking, Design Thinking, DevOps and ideas to improve the ways that companies work and deliver value to customers. Currently the organiser of the Melbourne Cynefin and Lean Coffee Meetups, Kim regularly presents and runs workshops at leading local and international conferences on the Cynefin Framework, Decision Mapping and Early Idea Feasibility.