Why should I care about sociotechnical systems? @ DDD SoCal

The craft of software design, architecture and engineering are in constant change. Technology evolves, and our skills and practices evolve as well. How about the teams we are part of? And the organisations? The evolution at the team and organisation level is slower but more disruptive. Our brain likes routine, and it is hardwired that way. However, everything around us evolves.

How do all of those dimensions play together? How can we thrive in our craft? As a software designer, architect or engineer, we should also be aware of the implications of technology changes in the teams and the organisation. We work in sociotechnical systems, and we create sociotechnical systems. It sounds like the movie Inception, doesn't it?

Join me in this talk, where I will share my insights on the skills needed to design sociotechnical systems and how we, as a community, can learn from each other.

Transcript

1. Why should I care about
   sociotechnical systems?
   15 of December 2022
   DDD SoCal meetup
   

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2. Agreements for today
   Everyone is right, no one has
   the monopoly of the truth
   Take care of yourself
   Right to pass
   1.
   2.
   3.
   Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash
   

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3. Check-​
   in and expectations
   1. Name
   2. Role
   3. What do you
   want to learn
   today
   1. João Rosa
   2. Independent Consultant
   3. Learn about your
   experiences with
   sociotechnical systems
   Simon Chaveneau
   Dev
   Listening to you
   while i cook with-​
   for my kids
   1. Trond
   2. Architect
   3.Learn more
   about João's take
   on sociotechnical
   1. Maksym Gendin
   2. Tech Lead
   3. Really no specific
   expectations, just
   fascinated about
   sociotechnical
   systems :)
   1. Philip
   2. Architect
   3. Anything
   Aaron
   Industrial automation
   learn more about
   socialtech
   Marc in Scotland:
   Learning how
   you explain Socio-​
   Technical (interest
   in how others
   explain this)
   David in Los Angeles
   Architect/Full Stack
   Transition to
   Product Owner role
   1. David G
   2. Architect
   3. Learn
   

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4. What is your knowledge about
   sociotechnical systems?
   What is a sociotechnical
   system?
   Nothing I'm in Tavistock Institute
   ...
   People
   building a
   technical
   system
   Any system
   with social
   and technical
   aspects
   A system in
   which
   technology
   mediates social
   interactions
   A triangle
   relationship
   between social
   (people), tech and
   systems thinking
   People, social,
   technical work
   systems
   organization
   A system by
   and for
   people, of
   people and
   machines
   

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5. Photo by Pedro Henrique Santos on Unsplash
   

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6. Do you recognise the patterns?
   Long
   wall
   Short
   wall
   DevOps Continuous
   Delivery
   

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7. From Trond
   Hjorteland
   

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8. Do you recognise the influence of the STS parts?
   ...
   

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9. Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash
   

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10. Photo by Mark König on Unsplash
    

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11. Restocking domain - value stream
    List all the products in the
    product category
    Open a product and extract
    the current stock level
    Open the file with the 14-​
    day
    forecast
    Search for the product 14-​
    day
    forecast
    Calculate if the product will
    need restocking in the next 5
    days
    Product
    category team
    Operational
    value stream
    owners
    The team has several people fulfilling different roles:
    Team lead
    Marketeer
    Pricing
    Buyer
    If the product needs
    restocking, add the product to
    the supplier restocking list
    Iterate over the remaining
    products
    Send the restocking order for
    each supplier
    This is an
    example!
    What do you
    recognise in the
    value stream?
    ...
    Data-​
    centric steps.
    No exceptional branches
    Not clear what role does
    which step
    Linear
    view of
    things
    

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12. Support
    Processes
    Back of
    Stage Interactions
    Front of
    Stage Interactions
    Buyer Actions
    Step 8
    Step 7
    Step 6
    Step 5
    Step 4
    Step 3
    Step 2
    Step 1
    Physical
    Evidence
    List all the
    products in a
    product category
    Legacy ERP
    Fetch all the products
    based on the buyers
    product group
    Opens a
    product
    Extracts current
    stock level
    Paper or excel
    document
    Opens the 14-​
    day forecast
    Excel document
    in a shared drive
    Verify buyer
    authorisation for
    the shared drive
    14-​
    day product
    forecast
    Finds the
    product 14-​
    day
    forecast
    Calculates if a product
    needs restocking in the
    next 5-​
    days
    Paper or excel
    document
    If the product needs
    restocking, add it to
    the supplier restocking
    list
    Excel
    document
    Verify buyer
    authorisation for
    the shared drive
    Go back to
    step 2, until all
    products have
    been verified
    Send the
    restocking order
    to the supplier
    Supplier
    portal
    Buyer
    authentication
    and authorisation
    Register buyer in
    the supplier
    portal
    Restocking domain - service blueprint
    

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13. Restocking domain - Team Topologies
    Flow of change
    Product category team A
    Data science team
    Product category team B
    Product category team Z
    ERP team
    Network team
    DBA team
    Xaas
    Xaas
    Collaboration Collaboration
    Collaboration Collaboration
    What do you
    recognise in the
    Team Topologies?
    More teams and
    interactions
    were omitted.
    Lot's of
    collaboration!
    

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14. What would you improve?
    ...
    Why there are so many
    interactions between teams?
    What are the needs for the
    communication? Why we
    don't have stable interfaces?
    Map the interactions
    across team
    boundaries (e.g.
    collaboration
    practices, handoffs,
    transactions)
    

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15. Support
    Processes
    Back of
    Stage Interactions
    Front of
    Stage Interactions
    Buyer Actions
    Step 5
    Step 4
    Step 3
    Step 2
    Step 1
    Physical
    Evidence
    Process products
    for restocking
    Reviews product
    marked for
    restocking
    Approves
    product for
    restock
    Restocking
    web app
    Reviews supplier
    restocking list
    Process product
    for restocking
    per supplier
    14-​
    day product
    forecast
    Approves
    supplier
    restocking list
    Go back to
    step 2, until all
    products have
    been verified
    Simplistic view.
    It is a bit more
    complicated...
    There are
    more actions...
    Keep it simple
    Restocking
    web app
    EDI with
    supplier system
    Product
    category team
    Review the products for
    restocking
    Confirm the supplier
    restocking list
    Restocking domain - service blueprint
    Operational
    value stream
    owners What patterns
    do you
    recognise?
    ...
    If there are lots of manual
    steps that are algorithmic,
    they can be turned into
    back stage interactions
    Computer is
    keeping track of To-​
    Dos, can prioritize
    

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16. Restocking domain - Team Topologies
    Flow of change
    Product category team A
    Data science team
    Product category team B
    Product category team Z
    ERP team
    Network team
    DBA team
    Xaas
    Collaboration Collaboration
    What patterns
    do you
    recognise?
    Restocking team
    Xaas Xaas
    Xaas
    Supplier EDI
    Xaas
    ...
    

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17. Restocking domain - Team Topologies
    Flow of change
    Product category team A
    Data science team
    Product category team B
    Product category team Z
    ERP team
    Network team
    DBA team
    Xaas
    Collaboration Collaboration
    What other evolution
    opportunities do you
    spot?
    Restocking team
    Xaas Xaas
    Xaas
    Supplier EDI
    Xaas
    ...
    Opportunities
    to
    improvement
    Create
    separated
    apps
    Omnichannel
    environment
    requires adaption
    Density of skills
    on the technical
    side
    Looking the next
    person to de-​
    value
    in this environment
    Role compression
    to the perception
    of legacy
    Companies get stuck in their
    roles, where a data-​
    centric
    process, where people don't
    take a step back, and
    challenge their own kingdom
    

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18. What are the effects on the work practices?
    

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19. If your company evolves, how are the STS
    decisions made?
    ...
    

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20. Photo by Daniel Peters on Unsplash
    

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21. WOW
    What
    about?
    ... ...
    Wow moment was understanding there
    are communities that wrestle with the
    same issues that I am being 'pinned' by.
    And maybe cross-​
    fertilization of ideas,
    practices and experiences can lead to
    better outcomes than working in
    isolation.
    There are still systems
    that make users do
    what machines are so
    good at
    Thank you
    very much for
    very
    interesting
    discussions
    Digital
    Straightjacket!!
    Simple solutions are
    overlooked because
    they don't fit the
    organization structure
    The value proposition for the
    company is often overlooked if it
    is known at all by the individual
    actors (I've been there and
    I hope I am not there again)
    Cutting to bare-​
    bones
    staff removes the 'slack
    time' that enables
    improvement efforts
    

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22. João Rosa
    Independent consultant
    @joaoasrosa
    www.joaorosa.io
    Book a call
    @joaorosa@mastodon.social
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaoasrosa/
    

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