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Better Service Through 
Promise Theory 
Jeff Sussna Ingineering.IT @jeffsussna
Work: help companies adopt IT innovation 
History: dev + QA + ops 
Method: design thinker, thought-process challenger
1.What is promise theory? 
2. What is service? 
3. How does one help the other?
Software is eating the world
Every business is a digital business
The physical
merges with the virtual
Internal systems connect
with external 
experiences
Better Service Through Promise Theory
Systems + People 
Functionality + Operability 
Physical + Digital
Better Service Through Promise Theory
To understand complex socio-technical systems
you first must understand teenagers
Better Service Through Promise Theory
Better Service Through Promise Theory
I promise Ill clean my room before dinner.
Intention
Expression
Intensity
Benefit
A promise is 
a strongly stated intention to provide service
Better Service Through Promise Theory
Protip: promises arent always kept
A promise is 
a strongly stated intention to provide service 
that may or may not come to pass
Better Service Through Promise Theory
I promise to store the word foo in the file bar.txt
Better Service Through Promise Theory
Better Service Through Promise Theory
Real-world systems! 
Collections of autonomous agents 
collaborating through promises
Acknowledging uncertainty enables greater certainty
Auto-scaling 
Circuit breakers 
Continuous integration 
Design-for-fail
Treating agents as autonomous enables greater 
scalability and resilience
Microservices 
Self-organizing teams 
Scaling agile 
Needs + promises > requirements
Better Service Through Promise Theory
What is service?
Experience, not thing
Relationship, not transaction
Value co-creation, not delivery
Service providers promise to help customers 
accomplish their jobs-to-be-done
The product is the trip! 
-AirBnB designer
All aspects of a service organization must collaborate 
to fulfill customer promises
Brand quality == ops quality
Better Service Through Promise Theory
What is the travelers job-to-be-done on arrival?
Better Service Through Promise Theory
Better Service Through Promise Theory
How can Promise Theory help digital service quality?
What promises should we make?
Promise theory engenders empathy
What promises do we need others to make to us?
What should we do to maximize trust?
What promises do our customers need to make?
Better Service Through Promise Theory
As a hotel operator 
I promise to help you rest as part of your trip
As a reservation system 
I promise to help you reserve a satisfactory room 
I promise to be functional usable and available 
I promise not to lose your reservation 
I promise not to let your credit card get stolen
As a hotel lobby 
I promise to help you transition from travel to rest 
I promise to be clean, attractive, and navigable 
I promise to be friendly and helpful 
I promise to give you a place to store your luggage
As a front-desk system 
I promise to help you get the guest checked in 
I promise to be functional usable and available 
I promise to find the right information quickly
As a hotel property 
I promise to support your larger service context 
I promise to update your airline rewards points 
I promise to help you find a nice restaurant for dinner 
I promise to let you work from your room 
I promise to get you a taxi in time to get to the airport
Promise Theory helps span boundaries 
Horizontal and vertical silos 
Disciplines and perspectives 
Providers and customers 
Service systems
DevOps is to Promise Theory as
Better Service Through Promise Theory
MktDesDevQASuppEtcOps becomes
Promise Thinking! 
(w/apologies to Design Thinking)
Model the organization from the customer in 
Customer journey 
Service blueprint
View relationships in terms of promises 
Benefit 
Empathy 
Autonomy 
Resilience
Unify design, operations, and repair
Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Read: 
In Search of Certainty, Burgess 
Promise Theory, Bergstra/Burgess 
Understanding Computers and Cognition, Winograd/Flores
www.ingineering.it 
blog.ingineering.it 
linkedin.com/in/jeffsussna 
@jeffsussna
Photo credits! 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/donhomer/12862086683/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/uniquehotelsgroup/5690081235/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbill/6566209207/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/neospire/3595638270/ 
http://www.rewardexpert.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Global-Entry1.jpg 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/7780990192/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/drainrat/14644026133 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/crabchick/6261927068/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mplemmon/2691465516/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/48722974@N07/4596672640/ 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebrenner/305255359/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/5719382021/ 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmrosenfeld/3155170767/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/5785125108/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/11790927943/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/11553519@N03/4634956248/ 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seafaringwoman/5461280385/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/surmolotto/3510114082/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/44124466731@N01/27687364/ 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jylcat/538008079/

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Better Service Through Promise Theory