Organizational learning getting off the ground - final 2
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This document discusses organizational learning and overcoming biases that inhibit it. It identifies the "certainty bias" as a fundamental impediment where assumptions are treated as facts, behavior is overly constrained, and the gap between plans and reality is not understood. Factors like leadership behavior, metrics, and planning processes can encourage this bias by constraining learning. Tools to enable organizational learning include establishing psychological safety, implementing cross-level feedback loops to share knowledge, embracing uncertainty, and focusing on outcomes over outputs. The document advocates preserving flexibility, obtaining fast feedback, and ability to adjust to follow where value is found.
Organizational learning getting off the ground - final 2
- 5. Todays Presentation... 5 1 - A Common Anti-Pattern in Organizational Learning 2 - The Certainty Bias: a Fundamental Impediment to Learning 3 - Factors that Encourage the Certainty Bias 4 - Tools for Instilling Organizational Learning Behaviors 息 Alex Yakyma
- 14. Problem 1 14 Assumptions are treated as facts Business strategy: Moving to mobile analytics space will provide a long- term competitive advantage Requirements: Response time should be within 0.3 sec Architecture: The functions should be wrapped into web services that communicate via a message queue mechanism Team structure: This team should be organized around this service Financial resources: This scope will require this much money ... 息 Alex Yakyma
- 15. Problem 2 15 Organizational behavior is predefined and over- constrained Organizational planning: Stick to the plan! Funding: We allocated money for this scope... Organizational structure: Sorry, we have our units people busy with their own stuff ... 息 Alex Yakyma
- 16. Problem 3 16 The gap between reality and plan is not understood Were the requirements actually beneficial to the customer and our business? Was the capacity sufficient to deliver the scope? Did the team structure work out well? Did the architecture provide the right enablement? Were the teams able to stick to the implementation strategy? ... 息 Alex Yakyma
- 18. The Certainty Bias 18 Unreasonable confidence in knowledge that does not exist Assumptions are treated as facts Organizational behavior is predefined and over-constrained The gap between reality and plan is not understood 息 Alex Yakyma
- 20. 20 Structure Planning Value Definition Metrics ... 息 Alex Yakyma
- 22. ...Resulting in 22 Thinking outputs, not outcomes a) Teams held accountable for their estimates b) Amount of scope as a primary success indicator c) Chasing extra capacity d) Obsession over vanity metrics 息 Alex Yakyma
- 31. EXERCISE Factors that constrain organizational learning 31 Which of the following factors constrain organizational learning in your environment? (show of hands) 1. Leadership Behavior 2. Org. Structure 3. Org. Planning Process 4. Metrics and KPIs 5. Communication Patterns 息 Alex Yakyma
- 33. Psychological safety Cross-cutting feedback loops Embracing uncertainty and variability The culture of outcome-oriented decisions Tools for enabling organizational learning 33 O rg. Lea rn i n g 息 Alex Yakyma
- 35. You can speak your mind Disagree Take risk Propose a bold idea Try out an alternative Question existing assumptions Psychological safety means: 35 ... without being punished 息 Alex Yakyma
- 38. Overlap across levels is needed to exploit a learning opportunity 38 NEW In-Progress Coach: Unanticipated development Different course of action Multiplicity Exploring positive opportunities 息 Alex Yakyma
- 46. Follow 46 This requires: 1. Preserved flexibility 2. Fast feedback 3. Ability to adjust 息 Alex Yakyma
- 48. EXERCISE Starting the journey towards organizational learning 48 Think of the first action item towards building a learning organization, that you will apply in your environment Indicate which of the areas it most significantly overlaps with: 1. Creating an environment of psychological safety that enables fearless exploration and ideation 2. Establishing cross-cutting feedback loops that make validated learning possible 3. Embracing uncertainty and variability in core organizational structures and routines 4. Instilling the culture of outcome-oriented decisions 息 Alex Yakyma