FATA #7 / Delivery Complexity

Complexity science is concerned with complex systems and problems that are dynamic, unpredictable and multi-dimensions, consisting of a collection of interconnected relationships and parts. Unlike traditional “cause and effect” linear thinking, complexity science is characterized by non-linearity.

Bicycle — disassemble it and assemble back. It’s simple

Brain, football team — disassemble on cells and assemble, This is complex system.

All social organizations are complex systems.

“analysis paralysis” — when experts cannot bring more useful results while spending more time on a problem.

It is suggested to have a clear understanding of what prevails in each situations: a decision quality or decision-making time.

Prioritizing Uncertainties

The typical mistake is to start working on the simple problem first, leaving the riskier (but still business-critical).

Structural Complexity

Structural theory — set of states of inderdependent parts. similiar to the skeleton of the human body.

This type of complexity is associated with the overall project size, technical difficulty, number of structural elements, their variety, level of interdependencies between elements, and the number of people involved — each of the can create significant difficulty.

Technology, Tech Solution Complexity

Primary evaluation methods:

1. Quality Attribute Workshops
2. Architecture Tradeoff analysis method (ATAM)

A reference architecture can save a lot of time when you need to build “typical solution”, recommended structures, integration patterns, and prove technologies that satisfy the typical set of non-functional requirements in a particular business problem.

Spike — a time-boxed task required to gain the necessary knowledge.

Delivery roadmap — it’s a high-level execution plan.

ATAM — a technique that helps evaluate software architecture against quality attribute goals.

Reference Architecture — It’s a conceptual architectural view that can be considered a starting point for your system’s design.

Socio-Political Complexity

Working with structural complexity requires “hard skills”- knowledge of tools, techniques, approaches of efficient planning, ways of converting chaotic into structural and predictable. Social-political complexity is all about humans, their behavior, and interaction. Any action in this area is hard to undo. So, to work this sort of complexity successfuly, it requires a manager to have good soft skills, emotional intelligence, awareness about human behaviour.

Cultural Differences

Rely on the leader for decisions ? vs Rely on self for decisions?

Communicate implicitly ? vs Communicate directly?

Who do you need to know? vs What do you need to know?

As long as it takes? vs Time is money?

Follow formality/protocol? Informal and casual?

Follow the rules? vs Respons flexibility to each situation

Seniority and Personal Maturity

Working with people of different seniority, experience, and expertise requires different levels of guidance and control. The wrong approach is likely to lead to inconsistent results and will force motivated and talented people to leave, which definitely increases the turbulence and delivery complexity.

Management Styles

Adizes has proposed Producer-Administrator-Entrepreneur-Integrator (Paei)

Entrepreneur — Typically focuses on finding new opportunities, thinks out of the box and ready to take risks.

Administrator — A person that is very focused on processed and formal procedures, drivers efficiency improvements and controls each step.

Integrator — Takes care about relationships, building bridges within the organization, and helping unite people to achieve common goal.

Producer — That is someone who is focused on the result, hardworking, pragmatic, typically an expert in his/her domain.

Work efficiency

Efficiency is defined as the system using the smallest amount of input to produce the highest output.

Misalignment

Misalignment based on wrong assumptions around the client’s priorities and goals, stakeholders roles and responsibilities which makes the efforts spend inefficiently.

How to avoid?

1. Prior Intelligence
2. Clear view of the roles and responsibilities, RACI matrix, budget owner, decision-maker, influence
3. Expectations
   Unclear and implicit is similar to having a timing bomb that is going to explode.

Knowledge management

Selecting the right communication channel

1. Meet in person
2. Video call
3. Email
4. Chat

Conflicts

Thomas kilmann suggest 5 approaches to resolve it:

1. Avoiding
2. Accommodating
3. Compromising
4. Competing
5. Collaborating / win-win

How to reduce conflicts:

1. Clear thoughts — one of the sources for conflicts is a misunderstanding
2. Active listening
3. Disagreement points
4. End goal

Emergent complexity

Requirements and Scope Changes

Two important questions about changes:

1. Design and build a system
   How to design and build a system so that the change can be accommodated without rebuilding everything?
2. Arrange the managerial framework
   How do you arrange the managerial or governance framework so that you don’t need long hours to apply the change to your delivery plan?

Risk and change management guard key delivery metrics to stay in balance.

Scope changes

1. Technical Modifisbility and Adaptability
2. The managerial overhead caused by changes

The correct approach to work with initial delivery assumptions:

1. Record them
2. Validate them