4-lenses-on-orgs-ama-2025.pdf

Transcript

1. FOUR LENSES ON ORGANISATIONS
2. PROLOGUE
3. “ESSENTIALLY, ALL MODELS ARE WRONG BUT SOME ARE USEFUL” George E.P . Box, Empirical Model-Building and Response Surfaces
5. LENS 1 TEAM TOPOLOGIES & VALUE STREAM MANAGEMENT
6. Suzanne Kaiser, https://www.infoq.com/articles/adaptive-socio-technical-systems- fl ow/ (2023)
7. VALUE STREAMS SOCIO-TECHNICAL SYSTEMS
8. “VALUE STREAMS ARE MADE OF PEOPLE” Liz Keogh, https://lizkeogh.com/value-streams-are-made-of-people/ (2013)
9. Liz Keogh, https://lizkeogh.com/value-streams-are-made-of-people/ (2013)
11. John Cutler, https://www.linkedin.com/posts/johnpcutler_im-working-on-an-addition-to-this-thought- activity-7301284507452612608-2Qm5 (2025)
12. + Test M onitor B uild Co de Plan Ope rate D eploy Release = Test O pportunity B uild Des ign Plan Obs erve Op erate Release
13. OPERATIONAL VALUE STREAM VS DEVELOPMENT VALUE STREAM
14. OPERATIONAL AND DEVELOPMENT VALUE STREAM = YOU RUN IT, YOU BUILD IT
15. John Cutler, https://www.linkedin.com/posts/johnpcutler_im-working-on-an-addition-to-this-thought- activity-7301284507452612608-2Qm5 (2025) “1. THERE’S A LOT TO THE LEFT OF OPPORTUNITY SELECTION 2. THERE'S A LOT TO THE RIGHT OF RUN 3. THE LINEAR NATURE OF THIS WAS HELPFUL BUT VERY INCOMPLETE (AREAS I’M EXPLORING: PACE LAYERS, NETWORKS, ETC.) 4. IT DOESN’T TOUCH PLATFORM AND ENABLING TEAMS... VERY IMPORTANT 5. IT DOESN’T TOUCH DEPENDENCIES THE ORIGINAL TOOK ME HALF AN HOUR, AT MOST. I KEEP SEEING PEOPLE REFERENCE IT, BUT THERE IS SO MUCH I LEFT OUT (WHICH PROBABLY MADE IT ‘WRONG, BUT HELPFUL’).”
17. “THE VALUE STREAM IN THE PRODUCTION OF PHYSICAL GOODS IS OPTIMISED TO PRODUCE THE SAME PHYSICAL THING MANY TIMES. THE VALUE STREAM IN THE PRODUCTION OF SOFTWARE ONLY EVER PRODUCES A THING ONCE!” Chris Matts, https://theitriskmanager.com/2024/11/09/value-streams-and-the-failureship/ (2024)
18. Chris Matts, https://theitriskmanager.com/2024/11/09/value-streams-and-the-failureship/ (2024)
19. OPERATIONAL AND DEVELOPMENT VALUE STREAM CENTRE = YOU RUN IT, YOU BUILD IT
20. Chris Matts, https://theitriskmanager.com/2024/11/09/value-streams-and-the-failureship/ (2024) TEAMS & TEAMS-OF-TEAMS = VALUE CENTRES INITIATIVES = VALUE STREAMS
22. “TEAM TOPOLOGIES IS WRONG: COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONS CANNOT BE SIMPLY BROKEN DOWN INTO JUST FOUR KINDS OF TEAMS AND THREE KINDS OF INTERACTIONS. BUT CONSTRAINTS LIKE THIS ARE WHAT MAKES A MODEL USEFUL” Martin Fowler, https://martinfowler.com/bliki/TeamTopologies.html (2023)
23. Suzanne Kaiser, https://www.infoq.com/articles/adaptive-socio-technical-systems- fl ow/ (2023)
24. LENS 2 NESTED & NETWORKED VALUE & MODULAR ORGANISATIONS
25. Jonathan Smart, with Zsolt Berend, Myles Ogilvie, & Simon Rohrer, Sooner Safer Happier (2020) BANK INVESTMENT BANK GLOBAL MARKETS EQUITIES LISTED DERIVATIVES CASH EQUITIES HUMAN RESOURCES RECRUITMENT VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE
26. Jonathan Smart, with Zsolt Berend, Myles Ogilvie, & Simon Rohrer, Sooner Safer Happier (2020) BANK INVESTMENT BANK GLOBAL MARKETS EQUITIES LISTED DERIVATIVES CASH EQUITIES HUMAN RESOURCES RECRUITMENT VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE
27. NESTED VALUE MODULARITY & HIERARCHY
28. “IF YOU WANT TO HIRE GREAT PEOPLE AND HAVE THEM STAY, YOU HAVE TO BE RUN BY IDEAS NOT HIERARCHY. THE BEST IDEAS HAVE TO WIN” Steve Jobs, Interview with Walt Mossberg & Kara Swisher (2010)
29. LEVEL 0: AN IDEAL 2- PIZZA STREAM- ALIGNED TEAM Value 2 pizza team - <?20 people Software that fits inside the team’s head Full stack, full lifecycle, full burrito, T-shaped people - YBIYRI Self-organizing DDD Eventually consistent Independently deployable & testable “Monolith vs Microservice is missing the point” Emergent design & evolutionary* architecture OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Outcomes, hypotheses, bets User stories, tasks, changes, problems, incidents Value 2 pizza team - <?20 people Software that fits inside the team’s head Full stack, full lifecycle, full burrito, T-shaped people - YBIYRI Self-organizing DDD Eventually consistent Independently deployable & testable “Monolith vs Microservice is missing the point” Emergent design & evolutionary* architecture OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Outcomes, hypotheses, bets User stories, tasks, changes, problems, incidents Value 2 pizza team - <?20 people Software that fits inside the team’s head Full stack, full lifecycle, full burrito, T-shaped people - YBIYRI Self-organizing DDD Eventually consistent Independently deployable & testable “Monolith vs Microservice is missing the point” Emergent design & evolutionary* architecture OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Outcomes, hypotheses, bets User stories, tasks, changes, problems, incidents Value 2 pizza team - <?20 people Software that fits inside the team’s head Full stack, full lifecycle, full burrito, T-shaped people - YBIYRI Self-organizing DDD Eventually consistent Independently deployable & testable “Monolith vs Microservice is missing the point” Emergent design & evolutionary* architecture OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Outcomes, hypotheses, bets User stories, tasks, changes, problems, incidents
30. Value 2 pizza team - <?20 people Software that fits inside the team’s hea Full stack, full lifecycle, full burrito, T-shaped people - YBIYRI Self-organizing DDD Eventually consistent Independently deployable & testab “Monolith vs Microservice is missing th Emergent design & evolutionary* archi OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Outcomes, hypotheses, bets User stories, tasks, changes, problems, incidents ARCHITECTURE OUTCOME LEAD ARCHITECTURE OUTCOME LEAD TEAM OUTCOME LEAD TEAM OUTCOME LEAD VALUE OUTCOME LEAD VALUE OUTCOME LEAD
31. LEVEL 1: AN IDEAL TEAM-OF- TEAMS Value Team-of-teams Dunbar number - <150 System-of-systems & domain that fits inside the team’s head “Tribe” Nested value Self-organizing? Nested DDD Shared data model? Eventually consistent Each component independently deployable & testable OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Outcomes, hypotheses, bets User stories, tasks, changes, problems, incidents Value Team-of-teams Dunbar number - <150 System-of-systems & domain that fits inside the team’s head “Tribe” Nested value Self-organizing? Nested DDD Shared data model? Eventually consistent Each component independently deployable & testable OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Outcomes, hypotheses, bets User stories, tasks, changes, problems, incidents Value Team-of-teams Dunbar number - <150 System-of-systems & domain that fits inside the team’s head “Tribe” Nested value Self-organizing? Nested DDD Shared data model? Eventually consistent Each component independently deployable & testable OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Outcomes, hypotheses, bets User stories, tasks, changes, problems, incidents Value Team-of-teams Dunbar number - <150 System-of-systems & domain that fits inside the team’s head “Tribe” Nested value Self-organizing? Nested DDD Shared data model? Eventually consistent Each component independently deployable & testable OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Outcomes, hypotheses, bets User stories, tasks, changes, problems, incidents
32. VALUE OUTCOME LEAD TEAM OUTCOME LEAD ARCHITECTURE OUTCOME LEAD
33. Eduardo da Silva, Architecture Topologies (2021)
34. LEVEL 2: AN IDEAL BUSINESS LINE OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Value Team-of-team-of-teams 1000–2000 System-of-system-of-systems Does this fit in anyone’s head? Department / business line Nested value Self-organizing??? Further nested DDD Minimally shared data model - just keys? Eventually consistent between subdomains Key paths and failure modes should be known OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Value Team-of-team-of-teams 1000–2000 System-of-system-of-systems Does this fit in anyone’s head? Department / business line Nested value Self-organizing??? Further nested DDD Minimally shared data model - just keys? Eventually consistent between subdomains Key paths and failure modes should be known OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Value Team-of-team-of-teams 1000–2000 System-of-system-of-systems Does this fit in anyone’s head? Department / business line Nested value Self-organizing??? Further nested DDD Minimally shared data model - just keys? Eventually consistent between subdomains Key paths and failure modes should be known OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Value Team-of-team-of-teams 1000–2000 System-of-system-of-systems Does this fit in anyone’s head? Department / business line Nested value Self-organizing??? Further nested DDD Minimally shared data model - just keys? Eventually consistent between subdomains Key paths and failure modes should be known OKRs looking forward (Dev) KPIs & OLIs right now & looking back (Ops) Systems of Systems of Systems
35. BANK INVESTMENT BANK GLOBAL MARKETS EQUITIES LISTED DERIVATIVES CASH EQUITIES HUMAN RESOURCES RECRUITMENT VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE
36. “IMPACTFUL DESIGN DECISIONS ARE TYPICALLY MADE WELL ABOVE THE LEVEL OF PRODUCT TEAMS” Charles Lambdin, https://thelaterallens.substack.com/p/why-agile-is- losing-steam (2025) BANK INVESTMENT BANK GLOBAL MARKETS EQUITIES LISTED DERIVATIVES CASH EQUITIES HUMAN RESOURCES RECRUITMENT VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE
37. “ALTHOUGH ORGANIZATIONS OSTENSIBLY DESIGN PRODUCTS, IT CAN ALSO BE ARGUED THAT PRODUCTS DESIGN ORGANIZATIONS” Ron Sanchez & Joseph T. Mahoney: Modularity, Flexibility, and Knowledge Management in Product and Organization Design (1996)
38. “HIERARCHY IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL TO THE ADAPTABILITY, RESILIENCY, AND SCALABILITY OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS” Charity Majors, Questionable Advice: “My Boss Says We Don’t Need Any Engineering Managers. Is He Right?” (2024)
39. “…PEOPLE SITTING AROUND DRINKING BAD COFFEE IN ROOMS WITH WHITEBOARDS… UNIRONICALLY DOING ALL THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE LIKE TO LAUGH AT MIDDLE MANAGERS FOR. BUT THESE ARE ACTUALLY VITAL ACTIVITIES FOR MAINTAINING LONG- TERM ORGANISATIONAL COHERENCE” Dan Davies, https://www.ft.com/content/b6a0cfd7-690a-445a- adfb-920855b547cb (2025)
40. THE MUCH MALIGNED MIDDLE MANAGER
41. SKYSCRAPER & ELEVATOR
42. “MEDIATING AND RATIFYING HIERARCHIES ARE THE REALITY OF MOST SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES” John Kay, The Corporation In The 21st Century: Why (Almost) Everything We Are Told About Business Is Wrong (2024)
43. HOLONS & HOLARCHY
44. THE PARABLE OF THE TWO WATCHMAKERS Herbert Simon, The Architecture of Complexity (1962) HORA TEMPUS
45. LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS
46. GOOD HIERARCHY BAD HIERARCHY THEORY Y THEORY X MODULAR HIERARCHY COMMAND & CONTROL MISSION COMMAND POWER HIERARCHY LEADER-LEADER LEADER-FOLLOWER LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS LEADERSHIP VS WORKERS ALIGNMENT AUTHORITY CONTEXT DRIVEN HIERARCHY
47. BANK INVESTMENT BANK GLOBAL MARKETS EQUITIES LISTED DERIVATIVES CASH EQUITIES HUMAN RESOURCES RECRUITMENT VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE LEADERS WITHIN THE TEAMS LEADERS OUTWITH & ACROSS THE TEAMS STAFF & LINE IS FRACTAL
48. LENS 3 THE VIABLE SYSTEM MODEL & THE FRACTAL ORGANISATION
49. STAFFORD BEER (1926 – 2002)
50. THE ENVIRONMENT DOING THE WORK THREE ELEMENTS OF AN ORGANISATION MANAGING THE WORK
51. THE ENVIRONMENT DOING THE WORK MANAGING THE WORK
52. W. ROSS ASHBY’S LAW OF REQUISITE VARIETY ONLY VARIETY CAN ABSORB VARIETY
53. VARIETY (MANAGING THE WORK) VARIETY (DOING THE WORK) > > VARIETY (ENVIRONMENT)
54. VARIETY ENGINEERING 1: ATTENUATION & AMPLIFICATION FEEDBACK LOOPS MODELS
55. MANAGING THE WORK ENVIRONMENT MODEL MODEL MODEL VARIETY AMPLIFICATION VARIETY AMPLIFICATION VARIETY AMPLIFICATION VARIETY ATTENUATION VARIETY ATTENUATION VARIETY ATTENUATION DOING THE WORK
56. VARIETY ENGINEERING 2: UNFOLDING
61. BANK INVESTMENT BANK GLOBAL MARKETS EQUITIES LISTED DERIVATIVES CASH EQUITIES HUMAN RESOURCES RECRUITMENT VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE
62. VIABILITY ENGINEERING VIABILITY = INTERNAL STABILITY + ADAPTABILITY = TRADE-OFFS
63. 3 “SYSTEMS” TO MANAGE INTERNAL STABILITY: •COORDINATION
64. 3 “SYSTEMS” TO MANAGE INTERNAL STABILITY: •COORDINATION •COHESION
65. 3 “SYSTEMS” TO MANAGE INTERNAL STABILITY: •COORDINATION •COHESION •MONITORING
66. ANOTHER “SYSTEM” TO MANAGE ADAPTABILITY AN EXTERNAL EYE
67. A FINAL “SYSTEM” TO BALANCE TRADE-OFFS SETTING A COHERENT SCOPE & IDENTITY
68. ALL “SYSTEMS” AT ALL LEVELS, INTER- CONNECTED THROUGH INFORMATION AND DECISIONS
69. 5 4 3 3* 2 1 POLICY INTELLIGENCE COHESION MONITORING COORDINATION IMPLEMENTATION Patrick Hoverstadt, Modelling Organisations Using the Viable System Model (2002) 1c 1b 1a 2 3 3* 4 5
70. 5 4 3 3* 2 1 CLOSURE · POLICY · IDENTITY · ULTIMATE AUTHORITY ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING · STRATEGY · PLANNING · INNOVATION OVERVIEW OF ENTIRE OPERATION · OPTIMISATION · SYNERGY · IMPOSITION OF POLICY WHEN NECESSARY RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT · STABILITY · KEEPING THE PEACE THE ENTIRE OPERATION Jon Walker & Angela Espinosa, VSM: Introduction (2011) 1c 1b 1a 2 3 3* 4 5
71. 5 4 3 3* 2 1 IDENTITY · PHILOSOPHY · GOVERNANCE · POLICY · SCOPE · PURPOSE FUTURE · CHANGING · DISCOVERING · INTELLIGENCE · STRATEGY · OUTSIDE PRESENT · RUNNING · DELIVERING · INSIDE · OPTIMISING · INTEGRATING · COHESION MONITORING · AUDITING · SURVEYING · GEMBA COORDINATING · SUPPORTING · STABILISING VALUE OPERATION · BIZ-DEV-PROD-OPS Simon Rohrer, Four Lenses on Organisations (2025) 1c 1b 1a 2 3 3* 4 5
72. 5 4 3 3* 2 1 SELF-GOVERNING STRATEGISING ORGANISING CONTEXTUALISING COORDINATING THE VALUE-CREATING WORK Mike Burrows, Wholehearted: Engaging with Complexity in the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation (2025) 1c 1b 1a 2 3 3* 4 5
73. SYSTEM 5 = ‘THE WHY OF PURPOSE’ SYSTEM 4 = ‘THE WHY OF MOVEMENT’
75. MANAGERS = BRAIN VS DO-ERS = MUSCLES
76. BANK INVESTMENT BANK GLOBAL MARKETS EQUITIES LISTED DERIVATIVES CASH EQUITIES HUMAN RESOURCES RECRUITMENT VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE SHARED SERVICE VALUE CENTRE
77. Test O pp. select B uild Des ign Req Plan Tra ck Op erate Release Ground level - a self managing team Participating in management activities Participating in value-creating work activities
78. Zoom out – managing across teams Participating in management activities Participating in management activities?
79. LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS
80. COHERENCE AND AUTONOMY
81. GOVERNANCE GUBERNATOR
 KYBERNETES CYBERNETICS → HELMSMAN
84. “MY VIEW IS THAT VSM IS TOO INSTRUMENTAL AND OVER-FOCUSED ON DESIGN WITH INSUFFICIENT ATTENTION TO GENERATING INFORMAL NETWORKS” Dave Snowden, https://thecyne fi n.co/naturalising-narrated (2021)
85. LENS 4 THE LIQUID ORGANISATION
87. Source: https://integrationtraining.co.uk/
88. SETS POLICY THAT AFFECTS MENTORS LEADS COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
89. ICE VS WATER
90. FROZEN E.G. BANKS LIQUID = DESIRED GASEOUS E.G. CHAOTIC STARTUPS
91. Dave Snowden, https://thecyne fi n.co/cyne fi n-st-davids-day-2021-1-of-3/ (2021) “…THREE BASIC TYPES OF SYSTEM, OR ONTOLOGY NAMELY ORDERED, COMPLEX AND CHAOTIC AND I USE THE METAPHOR OF SOLID, LIQUID, AND GAS TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE”
92. “THE WORLD THEY FACE IS A PARADOX: INTERTWINED ORDER AND DISORDER. …[MANAGERS] ALMOST ALWAYS APPROACH THE TASK FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ORDER AND LARGELY IGNORE THE ROLE OF DISORDER.” Ralph Stacey, Managing the Unknowable: Strategic Boundaries Between Order and Chaos in Organisations (1992)
93. Xin Yao, Sociotechnical Design For Software And Human Systems(2024)
94. UNFREEZE → CHANGE → REFREEZE LEWIN’S CHANGE MODEL Kurt Lewin, Field Theory In Social Science (1947)
95. https://hbr.org/2024/06/a-new-model-for-continuous-transformation “BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION CAN NO LONGER BE TREATED AS A ONE- TIME PROJECT. CONTINUOUS CHANGE NECESSITATES ONGOING TRANSFORMATION”
96. UNFREEZE → CHANGE → REFREEZE
97. COHERENCE COHERENCE + AUTONOMY AUTONOMY
98. SOLID LIQUID GAS
99. SOLID ↓ THAW ↓ LIQUID ↑ ORGANISE ↑ GAS
100. SOLID GAS LIQUID THAW ORGANISE
101. SOLID ↑ FREEZE ↑ LIQUID ↓ EVAPORATE ↓ GAS
102. SOLID ↑ DEPOSITION ↑ ↓ SUBLIMATION ↓ GAS
103. Overly bureaucratic, Strict hierarchies Low motivation, engagement Low adaptability Decline in competitiveness Lack of innovation Siloed, slow flow Learning culture High motivation & engagement High alignment High autonomy Enabling constraints Self-organising Continuous innovation High performance Misalignment No clear direction High inefficiency No constraints Poor communication Declining performance High levels of confusion Low morale & engagement Low entropy zone Optimal entropy zone (agility) High entropy zone GAS SOLID LIQUID Melting Evaporation Condensation Freezing
104. “TOO MANY EXECS TRY TO FIX BROKEN ORGANISATIONS BY FIDDLING WITH STRUCTURE. START BY FIXING PRINCIPLES AND THEN LET THE STRUCTURE EMERGE FROM THAT. STOP TRYING TO FIX BROKEN PRINCIPLES BY USING A RE-ORGANISATION. I’VE NEVER SEEN THAT WORK.” Simon Wardley, https://nitter.net/swardley/status/1507280830246404116 (2022)
105. TARGET OPERATING MODEL CURRENT OPERATING MODEL
107. GASEOUS ORG CHAOTIC? AD HOC FEW CONSTRAINTS NO BUREAUCRACY ANARCHY THEORY ¯\_(ツ)_/ ANYTHING GOES AD HOC MANAGEMENT LIQUID ORG UNDERSTAND COMPLEXITY UNCERTAINTY MINDSET GOVERNING + ENABLING GOOD BUREAUCRACY GOOD HIERARCHY THEORY Y DESIGN FOR CONSTANT EVOLUTION BALANCED MGMT WITHIN + ACROSS FROZEN ORG ASSUME SIMPLE OR COMPLICATED ASSUME KNOWABLE GOVERNING CONSTRAINTS BAD BUREAUCRACY BAD HIERARCHY THEORY X UNFREEZE → CHANGE → REFREEZE DOMINANT MANAGEMENT OUTWITH NOT ENOUGH COHERENCE TOO MUCH COHERENCE
108. THANK YOU! https://linkedin.com/in/simonrohrer