$30 off During Our Annual Pro Sale. View Details »

Why should I care about sociotechnical systems? @ DDD SoCal

João Rosa
December 15, 2022

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.

João Rosa

December 15, 2022
Tweet

More Decks by João Rosa

Other Decks in Technology

Transcript

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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  5. Photo by Pedro Henrique Santos on Unsplash

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  7. From Trond
    Hjorteland

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  9. Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

    View Slide

  10. Photo by Mark König on Unsplash

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  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!

    View Slide

  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)

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  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
    ...

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  18. What are the effects on the work practices?

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  20. Photo by Daniel Peters on Unsplash

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  22. João Rosa
    Independent consultant
    @joaoasrosa
    www.joaorosa.io
    Book a call
    @[email protected]
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaoasrosa/

    View Slide