Three distinctive features of SAFe which I highly appreciate

Three distinctive features I highly appreciate about SAFe are:

• Dual operating model: decoupling of org structures from value streams. Honestly, in many companies it was a real cracker to start transformation promptly as the restructuring efforts of the functional hierarchy was a fragile topic. The org structure usually represented decades history of how senior managers were building the organization according to their vision, and yes some of them were also building their kingdoms, trying to shape the organization by how they thought was best for it. Thanks to the decoupling of these two aspects, it is possible to start a transformation swiftly while giving the re-structurization as much time and respect for people, their ambitions, and visions, as it needs. From my perspective the nature of these two processes: organizing around value and organizing functionally is indeed of a different nature, and the timelines are of different magnitute, and as such it deserves to be treated separately.
• Organizing into operational value streams. Designing the value streams, as described by SAFe is logical and elegant. It is an exercise I recommend to all organizations, even to those that think they have it sorted. Why? Because it will add transparency to why we organized the way we organized. I believe, to know this logic is highly important to everybody in the organization. Not only will people understand that it is an act of conscious design, but they will also respect it. Trying to design the value streams surface the choices that have to be made and the multitude of options there usually are to choose from. People quickly realize there is a degree to which the design decisions are tough as there usually are multiple equally good designs. On the other hand, the usual lack of such transparency weakens the belief that leadership knows what they do when they announce a re-org to employees, causing people to spend too much time divagating. 
• PI Planning. Planning at scale always seemed a daunting task to me. All those hundreds of people on one hand and the will to invite them all into the planning process, to make sure decisions are made where knowledge is. That has always been a challenge in my career. And here SAFe offers invaluable help for me. It offers me a template of a facilitation scheme for the PI Planning event that does exactly that. Whatever people say, I rarely see such great support.

p.s. Give any tool to bureaucrats and they will turn it into a heavy process that will make people suffer

p.p.s. Give any tool to skeptics and they will prove it does not work in our case

Attribution: Photo by Tony Hand on Unsplash

Big Dipper Org Constellation

Each time I see an org structure like this I take a deep breath and pause for a while... Omg, that is a vanity show! How do I influence such organization... The Warren Buffet's ABC of Business Decay is in front of my eyes... 

• Should I bother? As they say: do not change what is there, focus on the new, the old will need to adapt or extinct
• How many levels are there between the vision maker and the implementers? What does it tell me about the culture of this organization?
• What is the agenda of the middle layers? Can it be anything else than politics and kingdom wars?
• What is the domain knowledge decay curve across these layers of bureaucracy? Usually, team managers and above have insufficient skills to be active knowledge contributors. They happen to be structural proxies.
• What happened to the inverted pyramid model? Ah, sorry, wrong question - they have not heard about it most probably. 
• What happened to the hands-on leadership by example role modelling? But we don't have time, we have more important strategic topics on our agenda... Don't believe that - it is the usual excuse.
• How to evangelize for 0-layer onion structure? It's going to be controversial for some, but I am still going to say it: this is why I like the dual operating metaphor of SAFe as it cuts off the kingdom wars from value streams!
• How to dismantle the egos? You don't. Usually, it's too late. 
• How to connect teams with the source of truth? Through Value Streams!
• How to celebrate real doers? Locally, in value streams. Accept the fact the hierarchy will always get a higher bonus and career development opportunities.
• How not to disconnect? I would like to hear it from you! I saw multiple ways, people are creative.
• etc

Kate Raworth - economy designed to thrive not to grow! TED talk

I am apparently a few years after the pioneers, still trying to catch up, even with the whole research I did for the Good Companies book... :) And it still feels good that my ideas are genuine so that I can contribute them to the world! What a year that was - the Pinker's book and Raworth's book published!

Here goes the summary of Kate Raworth TED talk.

• It is time to reimagine the shape of the progress curve - do we need economies that grow, whether or not they make us thrive?
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) invented in 1930s and very soon became the overriding goals of policymaking
• Governments still think that the solution to their economic problems lies in more growth
• W.W. Rostow,  The Stages of Economic Growth, 1960 book installs the believe that growth is necessary for something beyond than itself, like national dignity or better life for children
• Roster left us flying into the sunset of mass consumerism. Yet the plane can never land. He knew this, and left us with the unanswered question:

What to do when the increase in real income itself loses its charm?

• We are financially, politically and societally addicted to unending growth, through ROI in business, GDP in politics, and a century of consumerism propaganda in societal dimension, respectively.
• GDP is 10x biger than it was in 1950s, brought prosperity to billions of people. Yet economy became devisive - 1% rich problem, degenerative - destabilizing this delicately balanced planet on which all our lives depend, 
• Politicians offer new destinations of growth, yet

    I think it's time to choose a higher ambition, a far bigger one: to meet the needs of all people within the means of this extraordinary, unique, living planet so that we and the rest of nature can thrive.

• No economist from the recent century saw this picture (of the current state), so why would we imagine that their theories would be up for taking up its challenges? We need ideas of our own because we are the first generation to see this, and probably the last with a real chance of turning this story around.
• The new economy must be regenerative by design and distributive by design. 
• We intuitively understand that when something tries to grow forever within a healthy, living, thriving system, it's a threat to the health of the whole. So why would we imagine that our economies could be one system that can buck this trend and succeed by growing forever?
• We need to overcome the structural dependency on growth so we can instead focus on thriving and balance
• It is boundaries that unleash our potential

Good Companies and Reinventing Capitalism book combo

Dear Network,

As promised, here is your special gift.

To celebrate joining forces with Steve Denning on the quest to reinvent the economy in order to Leave This World in a Better State Than It Is Now, I offer Good Companies for free.

We aspire to help catalyze, synthesize, and energize the emerging coalition of managerial, economic, social, political, and ethical forces that are already re-imagining management and capitalism.

Starting from Feb 2nd to Feb 6th, the kindle edition of my book Good Companies will be available for FREE. 

In addition, for those who purchase Steve's Reinventing Capitalism book, the list of gifts is significantly longer.

Here are the instructions what you need to do to claim all 30+ Steve's gifts:

1. Go to this website, review the 30+ valuable gifts that will be available at 2pm EST Thursday
2. Register on that site so as to have the best chance to claim the high-value gifts that are limited in number
3. If you like it, you may also share the link to the website with your friends, colleagues, and followers.

To be able to register to collect Steve's gifts, you will need a valid Amazon receipt for purchase of the book.

Joining forces with Steve Denning!

This is really happening. I contacted Steve just after Good Companies was released and he came back with promising feedback and an offer to join forces on reinventing the meaning of the economy.

Join us. Let's work together and use our collective intelligence to Leave the World Better Than It Is Now!

I will share a super welcome gift for you tomorrow, Feb 1st!  For now, let me invite you to join Steve's webinar tomorrow at 2pm EST.

               (...)

Honestly, this book has been a source of such a meaningful time for me, amazing! 

Method Hexi vs SAFe

So, what do you think about the new Method HEXI initiative of Dave Snowden and The Cynefin Co.? 

Will it end the method wars? Will it make even more fuss and add to the already existing complexity in the method arena? Will it start ego wars? Ah, excuse me, they already started a long time ago :) Are these old tricks refurbished? Is there a point to fighting against SAFe?

I am sharing my first impressions on Method Hexi here briefly, after listening to a couple of webinars about it. This one in particular:

Here are my initial thoughts as of today. Let me revisit the topic in some time to see how my understanding evolves.

• Honestly, from my perspective, there are more important issues that need to be solved beyond how effective is SAFe or whatever other method... The meaning of the whole business world and the purpose of the economy are more important to me these days. More about it can be found in my book. I wish Dave Snowden refocused on what is more important. It looks like he is engaged in method matters more than wanting to influence the future of humanity. Imho, it is not time to concentrate on what we do best, on optimizing ways of working in this case, it is time to focus on the meaning dimension of reality and our existence. We need leaders there!
• It has been an existing practice for decades that people were mixing techniques and tools and methods to get best results. The idea that mixing needs to be introduced like a discovery of the 21st century with a special blessing from Snowden, sounds strange. It lacks respect, and faith in the intelligence of practitioners. Honestly, I rarely meet ideological individuals who stick to one method or tool. Of course, one can sell everything to bureaucratic and politically steered companies, but that won't be fixed by Hexi. The real question is why decision-makers choose a particular solution, what drives them and how this driving forces can be balanced or reframed. These are questions that Snowden and most of Agile community ignore to answer while focusing on accusing SAFe of being at least controversial in terms of its value.
• SAFe is what it is. It is as good a starting point for your journey as anything else, as long as you start to customize it for your needs on the first day! 
• The problem is not about SAFe - it is about what bureaucrats do to it, and in fact what they do to any method, which distorts their original sense and value.
• The metaphor of object-oriented programming, polymorphism, method overriding, etc smells 90s... I don't like it. It does not feel right in this context - it speaks to IT people not to businesspeople who are decision makers. 
• And as an off topic only: I spent years on OO design and programming and need to challenge the metaphor: same concept can be introduced simpler, my gut feel says, without a need for polymorphism. This is what I learned about dealing with complexity when programming in C++.

My post-release experience with the Good Companies book

This is what happened since the Good Companies book was released at 3:00am on 18th January 2023 when I pressed Publish buton at KDP self-publishing platform:

• my wife Julia reorganized her day at work and came back home earlier to celebrate! I can't remember it happening ever before! 💕 
• my father, Jerzy, said over the phone: Congratulations! I never knew any author in our family, it is a new experience for me. And then he called me three times during the day with specific advice and ideas related to book publishing and marketing. Amazing feeling to hear him engaged so spontaneously!
• my uncle, Henryk, who was to celebrate his 90th birthday that weekend and I managed to ship the first physical copy of the book to him just a day before: I like the book but most importantly I love dedication. The dedication goes like this: To Henryk Kmieciak, my uncle, who showed me the mountains and, more importantly, what a fruitful and fulfilled life looks like. 
• my kids: How much are you earning per copy of your book? What?? amazon charges you that much? That's a rip off!  And then: Look, there is a dedication for Grace! Grace is our beloved dog, a two and a half years old Irish setter.
• my wider family got interested and congratulated me, naturally, and
• my friends congratulated me
• a few friends bought the book instantly
• some others asked for a copy with a dedication, etc.
• I am experiencing a boost in social interactions and renewing my relationships with many of you from various projects we used to work together. Omg, I feel grateful.

While I was getting all those epic reactions from the world, I was also feeling deeply grateful to myself inside. Thanks to the effort of the last five months, I have been able to deeply renew myself, get closer to myself, and re-discover who I am. The work was full of meaning. It was not work - it was an amazing adventure for me. Authoring the book was a dream job - because it was not a job :)

I was waking up every day happy that I would be writing. I also needed to do some research, so it enriched me. It helped me structure and make sense of the clouds of information I had accumulated in my mind for years of work and reflection.

Whatever the critics will say, I just had to say what I wanted to say. To be fair with myself. Or simply to be one-ness (?) with my true self. I found so much meaning in this work, it refreshed me spiritually!

Another value of this book is that I intensified communication with a couple of colleagues who were early reviewers of the material. In parallel to getting friendly feedback, discussions, and referrals to other sources, it refreshed our relationships. I am truly thankful for this experience.

Now that the book is released, I feel responsible for building and maintaining the dialog based on the ideas from the book and to build the snowball for action!

There is also a financial aspect - I need to start earning... Yet, as they say: the path to success leads through happiness, not the other way round. And I am happy indeed. I am rebuilt, fulfilled, and feel ready to take on a new meaningful job.

Thanks for being a part of this journey with me. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life. 

Stay in touch or get in touch!

Good Companies - book released!

Good Companies

How to reinvent the economy and create companies that will drive us into a meaningful future?

Release date: 17 Jan 2023

The book's homepage is here.

Good Companies book on amazon.com

We are living in an era of great anxiety and great disconnect. Civilizational debt calls to be paid off while CEOs continue to pursue profit and return on invested capital for shareholders.
If we do more of the same things that we have been doing, where does it lead us to?

In recent decades, this question has grown into the #1 most important question in the public domain. I call it the Great Challenge Question.

The Great Challenge question is a manifestation of the growing anxiety of individuals and societies across the globe. It exposes our current weakness and a crisis of humanity.

If you accept The Great Challenge, then there are natural follow-up questions that you need to ask yourself. What do our actions say about our current ways of thinking? What do they say about our beliefs, habits, and assumptions we make? What do they say about the goals we pursue?

Let’s look beyond the current well-established role of business and the principles of the economy. How do we need to transform the business world to start serving what is important to us?

In the just-released book "Good Companies: How to reinvent the economy and create companies that will drive us into a meaningful future?", I invite you to explore the current landscape of business and humanity. The book offers an aspirational alternative and constructs a vehicle for the necessary change to drive us toward a meaningful future.

My humble request to you is to wait no longer and act! Sometimes it is easier than we think, even if the task at hand looks daunting! Let’s engage in a collective effort, be the change we want to see in the world and be proud of our legacy for future generations!

I express special gratitude to Andrzej Ostrowski and Mariusz Kreft for enriching the book with their friendly challenge.

#goodcompanies #goodorganisations

John Vervaeke - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis

 Thanks to Mariusz Kreft I have recently discovered the series of lectures by John Vervaeke, Awakening from The Meaning Crisis. 

It is the most powerful material I heard so far on why there is so much human disintegrity, we feel so much of absurdity and are so disconnected from the reality.

What is wisdom, what is meaning, how do we pursue it, what is the vehicle that awakens our virtues, how do we become the most human, how do we fulfil ourselves?

Please find here a sample transcript as a teaser for the series:

Aristotle points out that there is this deep form of foolishness that comes from a lack of character. He calls it AKRASIA. Akrasia is when you know what the right thing to do is, but you don't do the right thing. 

Why you behave foolishly? Ignorance is when you do the wrong thing because you don't know. A part of foolishness is when you know what the right thing to do is and you still do the wrong thing. Here's Aristotle answer: You do the wrong thing because although you have the right beliefs (aka impotence of beliefs), you don't have sufficient character. 

You have not trained things, skills, sensitivities, you have not created the virtual engine that is regulating your growth and development, such as you will not live up to your potential. For Aristotle you become a good person if you actualize, if you in-form your being with a virtu-al engine that realizes those things that are distinctive of our humanity.

What makes us different from the plants, the animals, and other species with minds? a.k.a. Why am I more valuable more than this table? What are those characteristics that are unique to us? Here is where Aristotle gives the axial revolution his answer: Your capacity for overcoming self-deception, your capacity for cultivating your character, for realizing wisdom, and for enhancing the structure of your psyche and your contact with reality. That's what rational means. 

Your purpose is to become as fully human as possible. How are you cultivating your character to do so? This is what Aristotle is going to ask you again and again. How much your live is dedicated to recognizing and cultivating those rational capacities, those things that make you most human in contrast to all the other things around you.

by John Vervaeke.

Wandering vs efficiency by Jeff Bezos

I treat this quote from Jeff Bezos as another recognition of value of intelligence beyond rational intelligence and problem solving at work. Very much aligned with the direction I have been evangelizing towards :)

Sometimes (often actually) in business, you do know where you’re going, and when you do, you can be efficient. Put in place a plan and execute. In contrast, wandering in business is not efficient … but it’s also not random. It’s guided – by hunch, gut, intuition, curiosity, and powered by a deep conviction that the prize for customers is big enough that it’s worth being a little messy and tangential to find our way there. Wandering is an essential counter-balance to efficiency. You need to employ both. The outsized discoveries – the “non-linear” ones – are highly likely to require wandering.

Source: 2018 Letter to Shareholders