Tackling Social-technical complexity in the heart of your team @ NDC Oslo 2020

As a software engineering team, we want to solve complex business problems in the most efficient way possible. However, to do that we need to create technical complexity. However, not all technical complexity comes from conscious decisions, they come from the subconscious decisions made through interaction between people and technology. The problem is that when we are tackling technical complexity, we often forget about social complexity. What we need to do is address the socio-technical complexity first!

But how do we tackle socio-technical complexity in teams exactly? The first step is to get to know your context. We need to make sure we understand what we are going to work on and how it will affect all the other aspects of our social-technical systems. Spoiler alert: social-technical complexity will be a huge hurdle. Since as soon as code complexity increases, so does social-technical complexity.

In this session, Kenny and Evelyn will introduce you to the concept of social-technical systems. We will explain what complexity we are facing in these systems like:
The workspace we work in.
The way we interact with each other.
The cognitive biases that are at play during these interactions.
How team topologies affect our interactions and system design.

You will leave this session knowing how to tackle social-technical complexity in your team. You will know how to tackle it with frameworks like Cynefin. Know how to start using visual collaboration tools like eventstorming, impact mapping and maturity mapping and how to improve your team flow with the theory of constraint.

Transcript

1. Tackling Socio-Technical Complexity in the heart of your team Kenny Baas-Schwegler & Evelyn van Kelle Photo by Matt Noble on Unsplash @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
2. Photo by Alex Kotliarskyi on Unsplash @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
3. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Photo by Alex Kotliarskyi on Unsplash
4. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Photo by NESA by Makers on Unsplash
5. 5 @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
6. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
7. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Photo by NESA by Makers on Unsplash Sunken Cost Fallacy: Why change now? We’ve already wasted so much money.
8. 8 @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Autonomy has become compulsive, we need to remember we are still tribal creatures that require tribale safety. -Danielle Braun
9. Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash Investments in technology are also investments in people, and these investments will make our technology process more sustainable Nicole Forsgren @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
10. Socio-technical systems Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash Complex organizational approach that recognizes the interaction between people and technology in workplaces @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
11. Shifting the burden to the intervenor Photo by Wil Stewart on Unsplash @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
12. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
13. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
14. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
15. Cargo Cult @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
16. Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash You should certainly take universally useful principles (...) you need to also be mindful of how your culture will react / respond. Simon Wardley “ @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
17. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Open office space to improve communication @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
18. Socio-technical Complexity Result in losing: The big picture, the sense, a shared understanding, vision & mobilization Photo by NASA on Unsplash @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas https://www.lix.polytechnique.fr/~golden/sociotechnical.html
19. Photo by NASA on Unsplash @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Socio-technical complexity is the result of ➔ Technical aspects ➔ Cognitive aspects ➔ Social aspects ➔ The interrelations of the three
20. Photo by NASA on Unsplash @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Q&A! Part 1
21. Photo by Nicolas Thomas on Unsplash Technical aspect @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
22. resource: Agile42 @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
23. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
24. 24 @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
25. Photo by NASA on Unsplash @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Q&A! Part 2
26. Cognitive bias Cognitive aspect @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
27. 27 @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
28. Photo by Jean-Frederic Fortier on Unsplash The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information George A. Miller “ @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
29. 29 @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
30. 30 @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
31. 31 How many beans? @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
32. 32 @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
33. 33 How many beans? @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
34. 34 @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
35. 35 How many beans? @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
36. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
37. 37 Visual collaboration tools @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
38. Creating a shared sense of reality Photo by Matt Noble on Unsplash @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
39. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
40. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas foto: Hideta Nagai) credit: Corporate tribe book by Danielle Braun, Jitske Kramer @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Social aspect
41. Fundamental Attribution Error @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
42. Photo by NASA on Unsplash @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Q&A! Part 3
43. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Photo by Kevin Erdvig on Unsplash credit: Corporate Tribe by Danielle Braun, Jitske Kramer Meetings as campfires Social aspect
44. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Accurate vs Completeness
45. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Accurate vs Completeness
46. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Accurate vs Completeness
47. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Accurate vs Completeness
48. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Polarity management
49. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas credit: human dimensions
50. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas credit: human dimensions
51. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas credit: Danielle Braun
52. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Who does this?
53. When you start judging, you stop listening and learning. Photo by Jeff Qian on Unsplash @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
54. Tackling socio-technical complexity ➔ Use the Cynefin framework as a sense-making device to aid decision-making. ➔ Be aware of cognitive bias and visualise complexity to maintain a shared understanding. ➔ Have meetings as campfires to increase understanding and lower assumptions. @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas
55. @kenny_baas #CatTax @kenny_baas Baasie.com xebia.com/blog/author/kbaas/ https://speakerdeck.com/baasie @EvelynvanKelle evelynvankelle@gmail.com https://www.evelynvankelle.com
56. Photo by NASA on Unsplash @EvelynvanKelle @kenny_baas Q&A!