WILL EVANS \\ @semanticwill \\ Melbourne, Australia

“For apart from inquiry, apart from the praxis, individuals cannot be truly human. Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.” - Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Outline for Tonight

§  Assumptions §  Boundaries §  Context §  Framing §  Divergence §  Externalization §  Convergence §  Dissent §  Take-Aways

Assumption 1

We all exist (beingness) with(in) system(s).

Assumption 2

We are all responsible for the design, development, and maintence of systems that create value.

Assumption 3

We are in this to create. Specifically we are in this to create value – that is to create things the solve problems for customers for which they are willing to exchange some value.

On Doubt

“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.” - Sir Francis Bacon

LeanUX Kata

Who is the customer?

What is their problem?

What do you know and how do you know it?

What are your assumptions?

How will you test them?

How will you consume uncertainty?

What are your constraints?

What are your freedoms?

What is your very next experiment? From “Exploration versus Exploitation in Design-Driven Enterprises,” Will Evans

On Praxis

Our process by which theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practiced, embodied, realized, reified and reflected in & through action. Facilitation is ultimately about guiding agents through the praxis of purposeful action.

Ontological Design

Ontological Design is the design of ways of being - not just the purposeful creation of mental scafolding, but rather facilitating the evolution of human capability within social systems. Social systems focussed on catalyzing, facilitating, and enabling situated and embodied human cognition and action.

Problem Setting Facilitation

Think about the last session, meeting, brainstorming meeting that you held. Think about what the purpose of that session was. Who facilitated it? Why were you there? What decisions had to be made?

Problematizing Facilitation

•  On post-its •  1 idea per post-it •  3 words •  All Caps

Question One

Write on a post-it silently: What problem arose during facilitation, which prevented the group from moving forward, for which there was a simple, easy solution that everyone could see? 1 minute

Question Two

Write on a post-it silently: What problem arose during facilitation, which prevented the group from moving forward, which required someone with deep expertise? 1 minute

Question Three

Write on a post-it silently: What problem arose during facilitation, which prevented the group from moving forward, which required the meeting to gather more data before a positive Outcome could be achieved? 1 minute

Question Four

Write on a post-it silently: What problem arose during facilitation, which caused the whole session to go sideways, where there was no clear outcome, no goal, and people just Felt like they were thrashing? 1 minute.

Setting Boundaries

THERE was a wall. It did not look important. It was built of uncut rocks roughly mortared. An adult could look right over it, and even a child could climb it. Where it crossed the roadway, instead of having a gate it degenerated into mere geometry, a line, an idea of boundary. But the idea was real. It was important. For seven generations there had been nothing in the world more important than that wall. Like all walls it was ambiguous, two-faced. What was inside it and what was outside it depended upon which side of it you were on. -Ursula Le Guin The Dispossessed

Setting Boundaries

§  Be on time §  No laptops or cellphones §  Respect each other (Don’t dominate conversations, Don’t

talk over someone). §  Write your questions on post-its §  Chatham House Rules §  Follow instructions §  No laptops or cellphones.

Meta: “Is there any reason you can’t be 100% present for the entirety of the next 90 minutes?.” “The purpose of this session is to create Options, not solutions.” “Do we have the right people in the room?”

Sensemaking Systems

““Ultimately, all organizations are socio-technical systems in which the manner of external adaptation and the solution of internal integration problems are interdependent” - Edgar Schein

From “Organizational Leadership and Culture,” Edgar Schein

Discuss Problems

With the people at your table, present all the problems that people came up with on their post-its. Try to quickly process all the post-its while giving enough time for people to understand the nature of the problem.

Exploring Complexity

Exploring Complexity

From “Exploration versus Exploitation in Design-Driven Enterprises,” Will Evans

On Context

“The notion of context has been adapted to computing from its original use referring to language, which is reflected in the structure of the word itself: con(with) text, either written or oral, intended to be interpreted by one or more people. The text is not an encapsulated representations of meaning, but rather a cue that allows the anticipated audience to construct appropriate meaning.” - Terry Winograd

Three Horizons View

From “Exploration versus Exploitation in Design-Driven Enterprises,” Will Evans

Dispositions to Domain

Wardley, Simon, “On Pioneers, Settlers, Town Planners and Theft.”

Situational Dynamics

Wardley, Simon, “On Pioneers, Settlers, Town Planners and Theft.”

CONTEXTUAL AWARENESS

What are requisite variety of dispositions and practices for pioneers (heretics*), as well as the processes and methods deployed which are fundementally different in the Complex Domain?

CONTEXTUAL AWARENESS

What are requisite variety of dispositions and practices for pioneers (heretics*), as well as the processes and methods deployed which are fundementally different in the Complex Domain? It’s about the movement between domains, and the interactions between teams and across domains where novelty can turn into capability.

CONTEXTUAL AWARENESS

What are requisite variety of dispositions and practices for pioneers (heretics*), as well as the processes and methods deployed which are fundementally different in the Complex Domain? It’s about the movement between domains, and the interactions between teams and across domains where novelty can turn into capability. Exploration is expensive, and must be managed through the appropriate application of constraints.

Mapping

Spend 10 minutes clustering all the problems together that seem to be similar. All the ones where the problem / solution was relatively obvious Ones that required an expert to help out Ones that needed more information, more data, perhaps some experimentation Ones that seemed completely hopeless, no one knew what to do, why they were there, what the goal was.

Constraints

Just as the constraints of syntax allow meaning to be expressed, constraints on behavior thus make meaningful actions possible. -Alicia Juarrero

From “Enabling Constraints,” Alicia Juarrero, LeanUX15

Constraints

•  Within different groups, introduce new constraints related to context, channel, customer, budget, timeframe to spur new ideas.

•  Introducing different contexts can catalyze exaptative innovation (application of a solution from one context into a totally new context).

Example: “You team’s solution cannot rely upon digital devices, smart phones, or the internet. Only analog solutions you can buy at a hardware store.” “Your concept cannot use language or words to provide affordance to the customer/user.” “Your concept should be something the team can execute in 5 days.”

“There seems to be some purposeful correlation between cultures that seek to control variability in throught through the imposition of rigid grammatical structures, and the death of those cultures.” - Jabe Bloom

Framing

“A frame is, simplistically, a point of view; often, and particularly in technical situations, this point of view is deemed “irrelevant” or “biasing” because it implicitly references a non-objective way of considering a situation or idea. But a frame – while certainly subjective and often biasing – is of critical use to the designer, as it is something that is shaped over the long-term aggregation of thoughts and experiences.” - Jon Kolko

Timeboxing

The first constraint to apply in facilitating co-creative activities in the complex domain is time. It is better to have 4 cycles of 10 minutes than 1 60 minute cycle.

Externalization

By taking ideas, concepts, perspectives out of the cognitive domain (your head), removing it from the linguistic realm (oral/aural/ talk), and making it tangible in the physical world in one cohesive visual structure (post-it, sketch, wall), designers are freed of the natural memory limitations of the brain and teams can begin to map visualizations to internal patterns and mental models.

Example: Sketch concepts that solve for the problem. No bulleted lists, no sentences. Just sketches that solve the problem. If it’s not in the sketch, the element doesn’t exist.

Divergence

Abduction goes upon the hope that there is sufficient affinity between the reasoner’s mind and nature’s to render guessing not altogether hopeless, provided each guess is checked by comparison with observation… The effort should therefore be to make each hypothesis…as near an even bet as possible.” - Charles Pierce

Example: Quantity over quality. Generate at least 6 different concepts that solve for the problem. Each concept must be unique.

Assent and Expansion

In the first few rounds of critique, only positive aspects of the concepts can be commented on. Similar to Improve’s “Yes, and…” Absolutely nothing negative can be said. Only positive additions to the design.

Example: “Highlight two concepts you absolutely love, or elements that you would steal, integrate into your own concept.”

Cognitive Displacement

In the second round of generative ideation, it’s important to seed the ideas of one person into the head of another. The easiest way to do this is through “Cognitive Displacement,” or having a person pitch a designed concept they have not created.

Example: “Hand your concept to the person to your left. You cannot explain it and you cannot look them in the eye. They have 5 minutes to pitch your concept back to you.” This allows the person who’s work is being presented to check their concept for coherence and identify gaps in their communication. It also has the benefit of building empathy.

Convergence

Convergence is the slow contraction of available options through the application of constraints and the checking for coherence. Does a concept or designed element make sense? How does it solve the problem? Of all possible options, which are most elegant.

Example: You have 4 minutes, using coloured dots, to indicate only the designs and elements that should be carried forward to the next round. These may be integrated with other concepts, with weaker ideas falling behind.

Ritual Dissent

From ” Everything is fragmented—The art of “ritual dissent”, David Snowden, Cognitive Edge

“A complex problem is not the sum of its parts. It cannot be broken down with each solution aggregated; it must be solved as a whole. Another issue is that of entrainment, especially in consensus-seeking environments. The more time we spend in a group, the more groupthink sets in, and we can create our own reality, only to suffer a rude awakening when we engage with the external world.” - Dave Snowden

Ritual Dissent

•  The approach involves a spokesperson (for a team) presenting a series of concepts to a group of stakeholders who listens in silence.

•  Spokesperson only has 5 minutes to prepare, 5 minutes to present •  Team must imagine they are a group of stakeholders hearing a pitch

to fund a new initiative to be added to the portfolio •  No questions can be asked of the spokesperson •  Spokesperson must face away from stakeholders, and listen whilst

taking notes. They cannot challenge any critique. •  Stakeholders must find all the things wrong with the concept, why it

solves no problem, the problem is not worth solving, the concept is not elegant, requires too many resources, etc…

•  Absolutely nothing positive can be said about the solution •  Only dissent the concept, not the people.

From “Ritual Dissent,” David Snowden, Cognitive Edge

Design Studio Process

1.  Framing the Problem 2.  Solo Ideation (Silent, 8 Concepts) 5 minutes 3.  Generative Critique (Yes, and…) 5 minutes 4.  Steal & Integrate 5.  Solo Ideation (Silent, 1 Concept, 5 minutes) 5 minutes 6.  Cognitive Displacement (Pitch another’s concept) 5 Minutes 7.  Solo Ideation (1 Concept, 10 minutes) 8.  Transference & Seeding 9.  Synthesis (Team Design, 1 Concept) 30 minutes 10.  Ritual Dissent (Only Negative) 10 Minutes 11.  Active Decision Making (Ignore, Innovate, Remove, Best Practice) 10 Minutes 12.  Kill Your Babies 13.  Final Design, Ritual Assent 60 minutes.

From “The Design Studio Methodology,” Will Evans

It is hardly possible to overrate the value… of placing human beings in contact with persons dissimilar to themselves, with modes of thought and action unlike those with which they are familiar.      - John Stewart Mill

Final Thoughts

§  Start with the context. §  Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation,

Abstraction, Active Experimentation §  Start by explicitly stating freedoms, removing tacit

constraints §  Clearly articulate the problem §  Tight Cycles, Timeboxed §  Adjacencies & Exaptations §  Displacement & Coherence §  Optionality & Experimentation

COLOPHON

This talk was conceived and designed based on conversations and work done with Jabe Bloom from 2011 - 2015 All typefaces are from Heoffler & Jones.

§  Header Text is in Vitesse Black §  Body Text is in Quarto Medium §  Labels are in Quarto Medium Italic

WILL EVANS \\ @semanticwill \\ Melbourne, Australia