Going by the Book and Failing at DDDEU

How do you support the exponential growth of your product without the exponential growth of your teams?

Portfolio management, Wardley mapping, and Domain-Driven Design are effective ways to “do more with the same” in fast-growing organizations, but going by the book won’t guarantee the intended outcome.

Join this session to learn why you need 9 allies, as well as many other things, to introduce these ideas in fast-growing organizations.

Transcript

1. huizendveld.com #dddeu Going by the book and failing
2. huizendveld.com “Nothing is quite so useless as doing with great e ff i ciency what should not be done at all” — Peter F. Drucker #dddeu
4. Marijn Huizendveld My company helps leadership teams at fast growing organizations accomplish more with the people that produce their software. marijn@huizendveld.com marijn.huizendveld.com
5. huizendveld.com #dddeu If you have less then 5 teams…
6. huizendveld.com #dddeu If you are new to Domain-Driven Design or Wardley Mapping…
7. huizendveld.com #dddeu If you are interested in the mechanics of the techniques presented…
8. huizendveld.com …talk to me after this presentation #dddeu
10. huizendveld.com TL,DR; #dddeu
11. huizendveld.com Mechanical application of a technique without getting the intended result Going by the book and failing: #dddeu
12. huizendveld.com Examples ✓ Lift and shift of old design to new stack instead of remodeling it ✓ Refactoring code instead of selling to 1st customer ✓ Accommodating dependencies instead of reducing them #dddeu
13. Wh y d o e s t h i s h a p p en ?
14. huizendveld.com #dddeu 👥 Social, 📦 physical, and 🤑 economical Reasons are…
15. huizendveld.com People take the path of least resistance 1. Social #dddeu
16. huizendveld.com Constraints limit possibilities 2. Physical #dddeu
17. huizendveld.com Individuals act in their own interests 3. Economical #dddeu
18. huizendveld.com “If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old” — Peter F. Drucker #dddeu
19. Re a d y fo r t h e t ric k?
20. huizendveld.com #dddeu In theory
21. huizendveld.com The SolutionTM ✓ Wardley Mapping: Gain situational awareness ✓ Domain-Driven Design: Shift boundaries ✓ Portfolio Management: Constrain work in progress #dddeu
22. huizendveld.com #dddeu Theory ≠ Practice
23. huizendveld.com #dddeu In Practice
24. huizendveld.com #dddeu
25. huizendveld.com #dddeu 🗺 Visualize problems, 👩⚖ decide, and 🔁 iterate Deal with reality
26. huizendveld.com Basically do what any DDD-er does, just higher up in the stack #dddeu
27. huizendveld.com #dddeu It is hard to surrender to the constraint
28. huizendveld.com “It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently” — Tony Robbins #dddeu
29. huizendveld.com That implies it is a life long journey #dddeu
32. huizendveld.com #dddeu Constraints
34. huizendveld.com Constraints 🔩 High back-pressure limits ability to put the screw back 🪣 Bucket does not fi t below the radiator to collect water 💦 Volume of water retained in the system will all spray out #dddeu
35. huizendveld.com The value gained or lost by our actions depends on the situation we are in. #dddeu
36. huizendveld.com #dddeu Until the leaking stops it is pointless to recon fi gure the broken radiator.
37. Wha t is a co ns t rai n t?
38. huizendveld.com The rock in a downhill stream that obstructs the fl ow of water Constraint: #dddeu
39. huizendveld.com If water is leaking onto the fl oor then it is rather self-evident. But less when it is an issue at work. #dddeu
41. huizendveld.com #dddeu A simple example
42. Are you s at i s fi ed wi th yo ur da il y s t and -up meet in g ?
43. huizendveld.com #dddeu Average stand-up meeting
44. huizendveld.com Constraints 🤓 Available knowledge to act on steps to be taken ⏳ Available time to work towards the outcome #dddeu
45. huizendveld.com #dddeu Do it on Monday → Only share something when your con fi dence changed Tip:
46. huizendveld.com #dddeu Stand-ups ✓ People resist change so they don’t modify format ✓ Stand-up often fails to alleviate constraints ✓ Done to keep boss happy to guard self-interest
48. huizendveld.com #dddeu Constraints limit value creation
49. © Onur Burak Akın
50. Visibility Genesis Custom Build Product (+ rental) Commodity (+ utility) 2020 Customer Jet set feeling Cocktail shaker Ingredients Cocktail Preparation Component Pipeline Anchor Line of the present Needs Line of the future Future component Contraint Bar
51. Visibility Genesis Custom Build Product (+ rental) Commodity (+ utility) 2020 Customer Jet set feeling Cocktail shaker Ingredients Cocktail Preparation Component Pipeline Anchor Line of the present Needs Line of the future Future component Contraint Bar
52. huizendveld.com Lack of situational awareness leads to painful situations when the market evolves #dddeu
53. huizendveld.com #dddeu 👥 queue,🚦order stop,or 🍸 self-service Surrender to the constraint
54. huizendveld.com #dddeu It is hard to surrender to the constraint
55. © Getty Images
56. huizendveld.com Alleviate the constraint #dddeu
57. Visibility Genesis Custom Build Product (+ rental) Commodity (+ utility) 2020 Customer Jet set feeling Cocktail shaker Ingredients Cocktail Preparation Component Pipeline Anchor Line of the present Needs Line of the future Future component Contraint Tap Poring from tap Pre-mixed cocktail Bar
58. Visibility Genesis Custom Build Product (+ rental) Commodity (+ utility) 2020 Customer Jet set feeling Cocktail shaker Ingredients Cocktail Preparation Component Pipeline Anchor Line of the present Needs Line of the future Future component Contraint Tap Poring from tap Pre-mixed cocktail Bar
59. huizendveld.com “Once you eliminate your number one problem, number two gets a promotion” — Gerald M. Weinberg #dddeu
60. huizendveld.com #dddeu Constraints limit value creation ✓ Context dependent preparation is confusing ✓ Preparation process is the physical constraint ✓ What is good in one setting is bad in another ✓ Constraints will shift when addressed
61. huizendveld.com #dddeu A real example
62. huizendveld.com Imagine a CTO and a CFO of a fast growing company… #dddeu
63. huizendveld.com Lack of situational awareness leads to painful situations when the market evolves #dddeu
64. © Lukas Medvedevas
65. huizendveld.com Prioritizing the emerged situation is of little help, Because if lots of things receive priority, then nothing receives priority #dddeu
66. huizendveld.com #dddeu
67. © Ketut Subiyanto
68. huizendveld.com 🌈🦄 🌈🦄 🌈🦄 #dddeu
69. huizendveld.com #dddeu The devil is in the details
70. huizendveld.com Constraints in the landscape limit what can or what cannot be done #dddeu
71. Visibility Genesis Custom Build Product (+ rental) Commodity (+ utility) 2020 Company Grow revenue Billing Add-on Usage Service offering Subscription Growth hacking Price experiments Component Pipeline Anchor Line of the present Needs Line of the future Future component
72. huizendveld.com Weights are for weightlifting #dddeu
73. huizendveld.com #dddeu Wardley Maps is for internal bias removal
74. huizendveld.com Situational awareness increases constraint awareness #dddeu
75. Visibility Genesis Custom Build Product (+ rental) Commodity (+ utility) 2020 Company Grow revenue Billing Add-on Usage Service offering Subscription Growth hacking Price experiments Billing as a Service Component Pipeline Anchor Line of the present Needs Line of the future Future component
76. Visibility Genesis Custom Build Product (+ rental) Commodity (+ utility) 2020 Company Grow revenue Billing Add-on Usage Service offering Subscription Growth hacking Price experiments Billing as a Service Component Pipeline Anchor Line of the present Needs Line of the future Future component
77. Visibility Genesis Custom Build Product (+ rental) Commodity (+ utility) 2020 Company Grow revenue Usage Service offering Growth hacking Price experiments Billing as a Service Component Pipeline Anchor Line of the present Needs Line of the future Future component
78. huizendveld.com #dddeu Direct dependency on Billing-as-a-Service
79. Visibility Genesis Custom Build Product (+ rental) Commodity (+ utility) 2020 Company Grow revenue Billing Add-on Usage Service offering Subscription Growth hacking Price experiments Anti-Corruption Layer Billing as a Service Component Pipeline Anchor Line of the present Needs Line of the future Future component
80. Visibility Genesis Custom Build Product (+ rental) Commodity (+ utility) 2020 Company Grow revenue Usage Service offering Growth hacking Price experiments Anti-Corruption Layer Billing as a Service Component Pipeline Anchor Line of the present Needs Line of the future Future component
81. huizendveld.com #dddeu Needs an intervention by management
82. huizendveld.com Use Wardley Mapping to ✓ Gain situational awareness ✓ Identify constraints ✓ Iterate on strategy #dddeu
83. huizendveld.com Going from a paper reality to implementation is real work #dddeu
84. huizendveld.com Align systems to the value stream and surrender to the constraint #dddeu
85. huizendveld.com #dddeu Bil l cu s to m er fo r usa ge Bil l i n g & Sub sc r i p t i on Man a g e m en t Cus tome r w a s bi l le d for us a ge Mak e a m o de l tha t h i d e s com p l e x i t y
86. huizendveld.com #dddeu Refactoring works, but it also takes time
87. huizendveld.com Shift boundaries in due time with high-quality engineering
88. type BillCustomerForUsage = { _named: "Bill customer for usage!", customer: CustomerId, usage: Usage }
89. huizendveld.com Surrender to the constraint
90. huizendveld.com #dddeu It is NOT easy to be conformist
91. huizendveld.com #dddeu 🗺 Be conformist, ➡ change needs There are di ff erent ways to surrender to the constraint or 🫳 alleviate the constraint
92. huizendveld.com Use DDD to ✓ Hide problems behind abstractions ✓ Surrender to the constraint ✓ Shift boundaries in due time with high-quality engineering #dddeu
93. huizendveld.com #dddeu Billing & Subscription Management ✓ Least resistance change is introducing an ACL ✓ Constraint remains, price changes require techies ✓ Management wil preserve their intervention budget ✓ Leadership will fi nd out when it is too late
95. huizendveld.com #dddeu Portfolio management
96. huizendveld.com Organizations have limited resources but in fi nite ideas to improve. Portfolio management is the process to resolve this tension by picking and evaluating initiatives that yield results. #dddeu
97. huizendveld.com Organizations have limited resources but in fi nite ideas to improve. Portfolio management is the process to resolve this tension by picking and evaluating initiatives that yield results. Organizations have limited resources but in fi nite ideas to improve. Portfolio management is the process to resolve this tension by picking and evaluating initiatives that yield results. #dddeu
98. huizendveld.com “Yet another thing we have to do, on top of agile, OKRs, 360 reviews, etc., etc., etc.” – anyone #dddeu
99. huizendveld.com #dddeu You are already doing it, perhaps not intentionally
100. huizendveld.com Constraints alleviation should drive sequencing of initiatives in portfolio management #dddeu
101. Visibility Genesis Custom Build Product (+ rental) Commodity (+ utility) 2020 Company Grow revenue Billing Add-on Usage Service offering Subscription Growth hacking Price experiments Billing as a Service Component Pipeline Anchor Line of the present Needs Line of the future Future component
102. huizendveld.com #dddeu Surrounding teams and initiatives need to subordinate to the change
103. huizendveld.com Use portfolio management to ✓ Allocate resources to initiatives with better chances to succeed ✓ Sequence the work based on constraints ✓ Limit work in progress to prevent overloading the organization #dddeu
104. huizendveld.com #dddeu In Practice
106. huizendveld.com “In portfolio management you are either grieving or lying to yourself” – Romeu Moura #dddeu
107. huizendveld.com #dddeu © Binyamin Mellish
108. huizendveld.com #dddeu Leadership Management Team Engineering Product Business
109. © Óscar Salgado
110. huizendveld.com “Between you and me… We are really bad at this” - Any of your nine allies #dddeu
111. huizendveld.com Praying… in the form of plans #dddeu
112. huizendveld.com “We have a strategy” - Any of your nine allies #dddeu
113. huizendveld.com Mistaking… ❌ Plans for strategy ❌ Agile rituals for agility ❌ Saying for doing ❌ Patterns for design ❌ Consensus for success ❌ Output for outcome #dddeu
114. huizendveld.com Deal with reality ✓ Make problems visible: in portfolio management ✓ Make tough decisions: be human, but clear and decisive ✓ Iterate on implementation: adjust strategy ongoing #dddeu
115. huizendveld.com Basically do what a DDD-er does, just higher up in the stack
116. huizendveld.com #dddeu This is the organizational equivalent of going to the gym
117. huizendveld.com #dddeu Dreams © Binyamin Mellish
118. huizendveld.com #dddeu Reality
119. huizendveld.com #dddeu Build up
120. huizendveld.com Final words
121. huizendveld.com #dddeu
122. huizendveld.com Portfolio Management o ff ers a structure to be a good manager #dddeu
123. huizendveld.com “A manager’s task is di ff i cult, but simple: […]” – Scott Galloway #dddeu
124. huizendveld.com “[…] allocate fi nite capital to generate a greater return than their peer group gets” – Scott Galloway #dddeu
125. huizendveld.com #dddeu Surrender to the constraint 👀 Make problems visible: in portfolio management ⚖ Make tough decisions: be human, but decisive 🔁 Iterate on strategy: adjust ongoing
126. huizendveld.com Continue your learning 🔗 Conway’s Law Doesn’t Apply to Rigid Designs by Verraes 🔗 Wardley Maps by Wardley 🔗 The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt #dddeu
127. huizendveld.com #dddeu Did you like this presentation? Tell your friends Tell your boss Tell the internet
128. huizendveld.com youtube.com/@huizendveld #dddeu Learn more about adopting DDD