socal lean meetup talk

How storytelling can help us tackle (and

solve) complex problems

SoCal Kanban/Lean Software meetup

July 12, 2011Venkatesh Rao

04/12/2023 Venkatesh G. Rao 2

Complex Problems are Mysteries

“Eh bien. …je me pose des questions,…You too, doubtless?”

Lord Edgeware Dies, Agatha Christie


Hastings“Certainly…Who killed Lord Edgeware?”


Poirot“No no. Not at all. Is it a question, that?”…Why did Lord Edgeware change his mind about the divorce?

What happened to the letter?


Hastings vs. Poirot

• Formulaic questions• Obvious logical closure• Problem and formula• Solution seeking• Means-ends reasoning• Planning• Calculative rationality• Jomini

• Situation-specific questions• Non-obvious narrative

closure• Mystery and clue• Resolution seeking• Insight-seeking• Storytelling• Narrative rationality• Clausewitz and Sun Tzu


On Planning and Plans

• “The process of planning is very valuable, for forcing you to think hard about what you are doing, but the actual plan that results from it is probably useless.” – Marc Andreessen

• “Plans are nothing, planning is everything” – Dwight Eisenhower


Who Read Napoleon Right?

Carl von Clausewitz(1780-1831)

• More like Andreessen, Eisenhower

• Better known today

Antoine-Henri Jomini

(1779-1869)• More like

mainstream MBA thinking

• Less-known, more actual influence


The Journey Metaphor

“Jomini tells you to first establish your base of operations, then determine an “objective point,” and then choose lines of operations from the base to that point to move your army along. That makes three basic steps: first you figure out where are (Point A), then you decide where you want to be (Point B), and then you make a plan to get from Point A to Point B.”

-- William Duggan, Strategic Intuition


Or…


Works sometimes

Known map, pre-defined objective: compute the fastest or cheapest path


…but groping creates…

“Simultaneous Localization and Mapping” (SLAM) – sketch of typical situation


...exploration-exploitation tradeoffs

Unknown/partially known map, unclear objective: exploration-exploitation tradeoff


Three Trade-off Strategies

• Grand Vision: Build the whole map just for one journey

• Tunnel Vision: Never backtrack, hope to get lucky

• Cheap Trick: Build enough of a map to find some high-leverage opportunity– Aside: Central idea in lean startup “pivot”

concept


• Grand vision: ambitious, brute force

• Cheap trick: high-leverage insight

1+2+3+4+…+17=?

1,17,),(1

pnipnSn

i

p

Hey, notice something? 1+2+3+…+16+17=17+16+15…+2+1


Cheap Trick = coup d'oeil

• Clausewitz, “strike of the eye,”– Mathematical Aha!– Significant clue in mystery– Enlightenment event at a Zen retreat– Elegant design insight, military attack insight

• What does it feel like?– Resolves a building tension – Complexity and chaos dissolves– Deep emotional relief when you get the insight– Unleashes creative energy

• Sound familiar?


Joseph Campbell (1949)

“Tchh, tchh…Joseph my friend, everything should be made as simple as possible but no simpler!”


Gustav Freytag (1863)

Exposition

Climax

Risi

ng A

ctio

nFalling Action

Resolution

“Tchh, tchh…Gustav my friend, everything should be made as simple as possible but no simpler!”

Freytag Triangle


Double Freytag! (Rao, 2011)

Liminal Passage

Liminal PassageValley

Cheap Trick

Expl

orat

ion

Hea

vy L

iftSense-Making

RetrospectiveSeparation Event

Evolved doctrine“Moral of the story”

Incr

easi

ng E

ntr

opy


The Matrix

Neo-and-boss scene

Neo Flies into SkyInside the Matrix

Red-Pill/Blue-Pill

Neo

in R

eal W

orld

Neo

vs.

Sm

ith

Bat

tle

Training Montage

Neo ResurrectionNeo W

in, EMP B

urst

Boss to Neo: “You think that you are somehow special and that the rules do not apply to you.”

“Neo is The ONE!”

Incr

easi

ng D

isso

nance


Typical Software Product

Project Kick-Off

Bugs level offClassic Scrum Phase

Design Aha!

Thro

waw

ay p

roto

type

Laun

ch H

eavy

-Lift

Waterfall

Backlog

LAUNCH!

Pay off tech debt

“We really have to get in on this gamified social commerce mobile check-in trend!”

Incr

easi

ng D

isso

nance

Feature freeze

Learned hacks to lean/agile, like marginnotes in Half-Blood Prince


Marketing Narrative

Project Kick-Off

MaintenanceAdvertising

Establish category voice

Positioning Aha!

Mes

sagi

ng T

rial

s

PR D

oubl

e D

own

Develop B

rand

Narrative

Product/Market Fit

Incr

easi

ng D

isso

nance

Brand doctrine

Clarify, focus position

Aside: NOT the same as the Blank/Ries model; that is more sales-driven


Tempo in the Double Freytag

Stillness

StillnessSteady, slowing momentum

Crescendo

Vola

tile

, dis

sipa

tive

All-

nigh

ters

Relief

Decrescendo,

Joy+sorrow

Crescendo

Incr

easi

ng A

nxie

ty


Tempo Shift Example: PMF

• “You can always feel when product/market fit isn't happening. The customers aren't quite getting value out of the product, word of mouth isn't spreading, usage isn't growing that fast, press reviews are kind of "blah", the sales cycle takes too long, and lots of deals never close.

• And you can always feel product/market fit when it's happening. The customers are buying the product just as fast as you can make it -- or usage is growing just as fast as you can add more servers. Money from customers is piling up in your company checking account.”

Marc Andreessen in The Only Thing That Matters


Let’s Try It

• Pick a finished project in your past…• A phase with a consistent TEMPO is

an epoch– Tempo: rhythms, emotions, energy

• A SHIFT in tempo: an epoch boundary

• Let’s map them!


What about character?So much for plot


Hastings vs. Poirot

• Energetic• Reactive• Impulsive• Buys others’ stories• Social “old boy” morality• Jumps to conclusions

but…• …is also indecisive

• Reflective• Deliberative• Sense of timing• Makes up own stories• Absolute morality• Defers judgment but…• …moves decisively


Hastings is a Toad

DOCTRINE: Next Shiny New Thing (NSNT)

• Motto: I have to have that!• Momentum axiom: what are we waiting for?• Characteristic emotion: excitement alternating with

boredom• Characteristic energy pattern: impulsive spikes• Characteristic rhythm: excited alternating with lethargic• Characteristic belief: variety is the spice of life• Archetype: Toad in The Wind in the Willows, who gets

all the other characters into one adventure after another


Archetypes and Doctrines

• An archetype is the “imprint of a pattern of human behavior” (Jennifer von Bergen, Archetypes for Authors)

• A doctrine is a set of beliefs about TEMPO management

• Archetype+doctrine+narrative context=enactment style

04/12/2023 29

Hastings as Hero

Venkatesh G. Rao

Restless

Denial

Wild Goose Chase

Jump to conclusion

Run

arou

nd li

ke c

razy

Bru

te for

ce e

ffor

t

Grand Vision

Rationalization

Heroic struggle and failure

Incr

easi

ng e

ntr

opy

Reinforced deluded beliefs

04/12/2023 30

Poirot as Hero

Venkatesh G. Rao

Calm

CalmTests, Red herrings, Loose ends

Right Questions

“Arr

angi

ng fac

ts”

Push

for

res

olut

ion

Hypotheses

Murderer validates

Final test

Incr

easi

ng e

ntr

opy

Improved detection doctrine


Let’s Try It!

• List the dramatis personae in some completed collaborative project

• For EACH character, pick a favorite FICTIONAL character that he/she reminds you of the most

• For EACH, write down a motto that you think describes their doctrine


Challenges

• From use cases to archetype-driven design

• From gamified products to storified products

• Learn from screenwriters and script doctors

• From Waterfall/Agile dichotomy to synthesis using narrative arcs


The Book

http://tempobook.com

More on the stuff in this talk:Chapters 3 and 4 of book

Sorry, no Kindle yet (due Fall)

http://tempobook.com/

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