Systems thinking and the naughty dogs
(first published on September 21st 2013, migrated from my deprecated Wordpress site)
Envisage this situation. I go to bed and forget to let the dogs out. When I wake in the morning, and go into the living room, the dogs have crapped on the rug.
Who is to blame?
My first reaction is likely to be to blame the dogs. “Sammy! Jake! You dirty dogs!”
My wife will likely blame me (once she finds out I didn’t let Sammy and Jake out).
What’s next?
Well, I don’t want that happening again. How can I make sure I don’t forget to let the dogs out again? Another foul up (forgive the pun) will be difficult to take.
Perhaps I could put a sign up on the wall in the landing, on the way to my bedroom: “DON’T FORGET TO LET THE DOGS OUT!” Won’t be foolproof, but it might help. My wife might decide she can’t trust me to let the dogs out every evening, so she will start reminding me every night, or coming into the living room to check.
Of course she might forget to do this one night. If that happens to coincide with a night on which I also forget, the same outcome may occur.
Now who’s to blame?
This kind of scenario might sound oddly familiar if you work in an IT department or work for a software development company. An innocent mistake (like releasing an obscure but potentially damaging bug), leading to blame of the individual, leading to more control of releases (processes and procedures) and a “don’t fuck up” culture.
Of course we don’t want the dogs to crap on the rug. Blaming me for this incident, imposing more control (the sign on the wall) and reducing trust in me (my wife checking I’ve put the dogs out) *may* solve the problem. But in reality there is still a chance that it will happen again. People make mistakes. People repeat mistakes.
Problem dissolution
By employing a systems thinking approach to this scenario, we can look to *dissolve* the problem. That is, the problem of “the dogs might crap on the rug during the night” is actually removed rather than its probability reduced.
If I install a doggy door, the dogs can get in and out whenever they need to, so they will never be stuck inside when they need to crap. My wife will never have to worry about me messing up again, and blaming me for my stupidity. We won’t need signs up on the wall, serving as a constant reminder to myself and my family that I messed up.
Sometimes buggy software will be released, no matter how high the quality of our code or the stringency of our release procedures. Because people miss things. People make mistakes. People repeat mistakes.
If we make releasing really quick and easy, we can update our tests and release bug fixes before there is any time for blame and increased control to become necessary.
Do you look to merely solve problems in your organisation, or to dissolve them?
Thanks for reading! If you are looking for help with your software or product delivery, I provide agile coaching, public training (both theory and practical) up to executive management level, and more. As well as public events, I can also run training internally in your organisation for a massively reduced cost, so please ✍ get in touch.
