mapping context

Mapping Context The secret sauce of agile consulting

Who am I

Caoilte Dunne

You’re a firefighter , in the middle of the night the phone rings

You arrive

What can you do right now ?

What is the bigger picture ?

Who is on your team ?

What does your experience tell you ?

You have just mapped your context

Now you can decide on the best action to take.

What I am going to cover

Context : the basicsMapping context - the theoryMapping context - PracticeUsing your map - Changing context

1. Context : the basics

ContextThe set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation.

Your context changes your behaviour

Consider

Your behaviour can change who you areVia Cognitive Dissonance : When we act in a way that contradicts our beliefs , it hurts our brain.Overtime we change our beliefs so it hurts less.

You’re honest

You're stressed about an exam

You cheat

Now you have choice

OR

The likely outcome is

Rationalization

How does context affect your view of others?

The effect context has on how you view other people is fairly well documented

In fact this phenomenon even has a name …

The Fundamental Attribution Error

My context justifies my actions and they do necessarily reflect who I am.

I ignore your context and consider your actions a reflection of who you are

I was stressed. The lecturer was unfair. Everyone else was doing it

Rationalization

You

You’re a cheaterA bad person

Everyone else

Empathy is looking past the fundamental attribution error

Being Judgemental is being swayed by it.

Context

● Changes your behaviour● Can change your beliefs● Gives you an excuse

How can we turn it to our advantage ?

Let’s look at some research

What good are experts ?Researcher Daniel Kahneman thought experts are useless

Researcher Gary Klien thought experts are awesome

They decided to work together to see when experts are worthwhile

What did they find ?

Two main conclusions

Planning

Planning - experts suck

It’s not just experts ...

The research just suggests everyone sucks at planning.

Experts are just no better than anyone else

Context - experts rock

Which makes sense

● Regularly placed into similar situations● Expected to deliver value quickly● Normally difficult situations

It’s how our brains work

Experts are placed in situations where Neural connections form.

It’s how our brains work

Our brains become specialized - handling the context of where we are regularly placed

Context - the basics

● Context determines a lot of your behaviour.

● Experts get good at understanding their context.

● It is much better to focus on mapping your context than making long term plans.

2. Mapping context - The theory

Stop me if this sounds familiarAs a consultant I am

● Regularly placed into new organizations● Expected to deliver value quickly● Face difficult challenges

What if I could deliberately try to map my context ?

A concrete example of mapping context

They are not about the likelihood

If a fire happens , how bad will it be

They are the map to your context

Understanding the context

Lets us make the right decision in the event of a fire.

Context will have its impact regardless of your awareness of it

Mapping an organization

How deep do you mapLet’s look at the levels of context the consultant pays attention to. These levels will be

● A lens through which you can understand context

● A guide to a consultant's level of maturity

First level of context : Solution

How we help when we don’t listen.

Second Level of context : Problem

What we learn when we listen.

Third Level of context : Power

Who do you need to convince ?

Fourth Level of context : Mindset

How does the client think ?

How does the client change ?

A note on Mindset Vs Culture

Culture : What you do

Mindset : How you think

My company's main purpose is not agile transformation

We are normally brought in to help a company deliver.

However ...

An example - Acme Inc

Into Acme we bring

Our solution● Technical quality● Iterative

Development● New tech and

process● Focus on delivery

What Acme needs … ● Their devs are

really good● The problem is

what is being delivered is having no effect on the company's bottom line.

Who or what is enabling this ?

● The UX lead has little power

● HiPPO decisions are being made

What is root cause ?

● There is a mindset that delivery alone equals success, not the impact of what is delivered.

Sometimes we must work a little deeper to be able to deliver

Changing their mindset will allow for client success.

When we start working for a client we know little

We don’t know what we don’t know.

Enter : The Johari window

Public

Private

Blind Spot

HiddenKnown to only the client

Known only by meKnown to both the client and me

Known to neither of us

Over time - what we want

Public

Private

Blind Spot


Known only by me

Known to both the client and me


Mapping context - The theory

● We can view an org context through different lenses.

● The most important context to understand is mindset.

● Creating shared understanding of a client's context will allow for trust and better decisions.

3. Mapping Context - Practice

First rule : pay attention

From before we sign the contract.

Until after we roll off.

The gap between what they say and what they do

How they treat failure : blame

How they treat failure : shame

How they treat failure : vulnerability

How they deal with the new: Fixed or Growth mindset

First rule : pay attention

Public

Private

Blind Spot




Second rule : Relationships matter

Moving beyond prescription

The client needs to have a foundation to engage with you on a deeper level.

We need to aim for some measure of vulnerability on both sides.

Caring , curious and committed

We need to listen , the client needs to feel listened to.

Meet them where they are , not where you wish them to be.

Second rule : Relationships matter

Public

Private

Blind Spot




Third rule : Embrace change

As a consultancy we lean heavily into lean and agile practice.

It’s not a an accident that we choose these tools.

Tools of the trade : Agile and lean Both of them are focused on mapping context.

Agile probes your current context by doing.

Lean analyzes your current context and then acts.

Adaptive Moves

Learning by doing is a key underpinning of agile consulting.

Third rule: Embrace change

Public

Private

Blind Spot




These are the moments you pay attention to

This starts from the first interaction with the client.

These are the points where the client comes into sharpest focus.

Phase 1 : Getting the job

A ‘Tender’ moment

Show me your budget …

Those that came before me

Phase 2 : Before the first release

The First prioritization

The Second prioritization

The ‘Trust me I’m a consultant’ moment

Phase 3 : After the first release

When it fails

When it succeeds

The ‘Slower to go faster’ moment

Mapping Context - Practice

● Use every interaction as a chance to learn.

● Build your relationships.● Look for patterns.

4 . Using our map

Your map

You have moved past your default solution to the real problem. You have built power base to enable the changing of the mindset of the team/organisation.

Problem

Solution

Power

Mindset

How do you use the map ?

1. Understand how working for your client is changing your behaviour

2. You use your map to change the landscape

Being aware

Context changes our behaviour

You need to know when you’re making the right call because you are wisely responding to your context

Or are making the call because it is easy.

Are you going there because it’s where everyone else has gone ?

Using your map for change

You now understand the rules

You can start to play the game

Lets apply this to our previous Acme Inc Example● Problem exists with

poor choices on features.

● UX has no power , HiPPO decisions.

● Focus on delivery not impact.

Is our default solution the right one ?

Agile delivery

Is it hurting or helping the client ? Well ...

Are we solving the real problem ?

Delivered features have no impact on bottom line.

Currently no , this where we ask permission to change our focus.

Do we have powerful backers ?

Hopefully we have been building our relationships.

We need to influence and at the right moment teach.

We can never stop listening.

What's the mindset that needs to shift ?

Output over outcome.

How do you change mindset ?

There is no one way

This is why you mapped the context.

All contexts are different.

However there is a common technique ...

Your Context changes you

Deliberate Practice

A practice can do more than one thingA showcase is both a checkpoint for feedback/celebration

AND

A way of highlighting the continuous delivery mindset.

When trying to change a mindset

Choose practices that highlight , broadcast or reward the desired mindset

People learn by modeling

● Exemplar Teams ● Blended Teams● Hiring for mindset

Transparent Failures

● Showcases - when you would prefer not to

● Information Radiation● Daily Case

From certainty of outcome to certainty of learning● “What will we learn” as the point● RAT - Riskiest assumption test● Ease of Rollback over perfect release

Being Deliberately Developmental

● Practice your backhand● Feedback culture● The Coaching habit

Your context will change

Sometimes suddenly

Sometimes because of your action

Changing context

● Focus on the side effects of practice - both existing and what you want to introduce.

● Never stop mapping.● You're in a complex adaptive system -

sometimes there will be unwanted side effects.

Summary

Context shapes us but can be shaped by us acting deliberately.

You may have noticed ...

That these techniques can be used by anyone.

If you're in an organization you can map an organization.

If you can map an organization you can change an organization.

My goal is not that you leave with answers but that you leave with questions.

Have the vulnerability to admit ignorance

Public

Private

Blind Spot

Hidden

What is the problem in your organization that is obvious to outsiders ?

Have the courage to ask the unpopular questions

Public

Private

Blind Spot

Hidden

What is the problem that your organization knows about but chooses to ignore ?

Be prepared for the challenge to come

Public

Private

Blind Spot

Hidden

What is the adaptive move that you can make to see the next problem?

You have been marinating in your context long enough

Map your context

Pot

Boiling Water

You !

Change your context !!

That's it

When you are finished finding your own questions

Do you have any for me ?

Resources Thanks to my girl , ricky , dius for the feedback.

Twitter : @CaoilteDunne

Linked in : Caoilte Dunne

mapping context

Leadership & Management