Wiring the Winning Organization: Liberating Our Collective Greatness through Slowification, Simplification, and Amplification

Dr. Diane Vaughan’s concept of “normalization of deviance” similarly highlights the risks of diminishing signals that something is amiss. In her work, it’s not so much someone with more authority deliberately silencing those with less; it’s more people becoming conditioned to accept as normal what once was not. Nevertheless, the effect is the same:

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Dr. Diane Vaughan’s concept of “normalization of deviance” similarly highlights the risks of diminishing signals that something is amiss. In her work, it’s not so much someone with more authority deliberately silencing those with less; it’s more people becoming conditioned to accept as normal what once was not. Nevertheless, the effect is the same:

... See more

The research for the State of DevOps Reports from 2013 to 2019 was a cross-population study that spanned over thirty-six thousand respondents over six years. It showed that architecture determined if it was possible for teams to:58 •make large-scale changes to the design of the system without the permission of someone outside the team or depending

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the incremental leader enjoys and protects their cognitive capacity to create enduring solutions. They use their technical experience to help people solve their Layer 1 and 2 problems when needed because they have redesigned processes in support of that goal. This is beneficial because their intense attention is needed only on the novel portions of

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Slowification helps us create better approaches to situations instead of repeatedly exercising old habits and routines. A common objection to slowification is that maintaining operational tempo is the highest, even overwhelming, priority. But, as is warned in Ecclesiastes 10:10, “If the ax becomes dull and he has not whetted the edge, he must exert

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As a leader, this should make you ask the following questions: When you create plans, do you treat them as “finished,” something ready for performance, for execution in operation? Do you expect a “Yes, Admiral” reply? Or, do you treat plans as your first, best guess of what to do, why to do it, and how to get it done? Do you invite challenges to al

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Isomorphism is the quality of related items having similar structures. Design requires isomorphism between Layers 1 and 3§ (between the technology and the social circuitry). Production requires isomorphism in all three layers. This is a recurring theme: the social circuitry (Layer 3) must support the technical work (Layers 1 and 2). Throughout the

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Our organizational wiring also dictates the type of feedback that is generated. Ideally, everyone gets direct and fast feedback on the work they do, so they can see the effects of their actions, which can be used to stabilize systems and improve. After all, in any complex, adaptive system, there are unexpected events and a general tendency toward e

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What we have found is that in winning organizations, leaders are deliberate about ensuring that Layer 3 (social circuitry) is supportive of people’s efforts in solving Layer 1 (technical object) and Layer 2 (tools) problems. Their role is less supervisory, in the characterized fashion of directive leadership or command and control (e.g., “I say; yo

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