Many organizations prefer predictability over adaptability. Predictability, in the IT industry’s industrial-age engineering tradition, strongly focuses on controlling outcomes. We try to enforce predictability in a constantly changing software world that is moving forward with ever-increasing speed. The turbulence created in this type of environment is uncertainty, exacerbated by the unpredictable changes in the wider world. Customer needs are harder to predict; employees change their values and ideals in ways that are impossible to control.

Our desire for predictability is holding us back. We must instead shift towards adaptability.

In this session we will take a closer look at adaptability. How do we structurally change the DNA of a company from a fragile and tightly controlled bureaucracy to a hierarchy of functions owned and managed by self-governing teams? Social science has shown us that this approach delivers better outcomes.

These teams consist of people that can actively adapt to their environment, both internally and externally. The key differentiator between predictable and adaptable teams is self-management and constant learning. Science also shows us that the way to build those teams is through participative design. This approach synergizes the individual's goals and values of the organization as a whole.

“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.”

This session will have no slides and is held using classical lecturing techniques like a whiteboard or flip-over that creates a more engaging environment with interactions that encourage joint learning.