pivoting without pain is impossible
TRANSCRIPT
Nyari Samushonga@nyarisam
pivoting… without pain is impossible
▸ 0,70 Gini coefficient (highest measured inequality in the world)
▸ 33% unemployment (54% youth unemployment)
▸ ZAR 3 650 average wage of a low skilled worker
▸ ZAR 26 400 estimated living wage for a family
State of employment in South Africa
“We can’t talk about economics without talking about the means of production - this is about employment and the right to a living wage”
Source: Statistics SA
Until we realise:
▸ dignity before wealth
▸ sufficiency before excess
Because we have not yet effected transformation
We should remain uncomfortable...
Partner with organisations that...
▸ gather and analyse data on the current state of labour in SA
▸ lobby for a living wage for low skilled workers
▸ increase awareness of the material conditions of the working class
Our discomfort compelled us to ...
Impactful change demands agitation
be precise
Current State Agitation Future State
Murapazvose...agile heals everything
Exception Reports
Status & Trend Reports
Standardise System Input
ValidationsIntuitive UIUser training
employersemployees collection
statistics
waste
Inaccurate data
usage
slow
Backlog, MVP, Release Plan
CD, CI, TDD, continuous refactoring
Standups, Showcases, Retros, etc
▸ From developers, to product owners to execs...we all converged on a definition of “value”
▸ We understood the complexity in the domain
▸ We recognised points of failure and points of waste between teams and the system of processes
▸ We adopted strong agile engineering practices - CD, TDD, Agile UX...
Life was agile good...
We had set the project up right, our rituals were on fleek and we were ready to conquer Kilimanjaro….
We thought we knew...
▸ What was value
▸ The complexity in the domain
▸ The points of failure and points of waste between teams and the system of process
For all the great agile practices...we were building the wrong software
And then...
Pivot #1
What is unemployment about? Efficiency is meaningless if you are
collecting the wrong data.
?��
Focus on Employers
Focus on Employees
… then you get some view of
income in relation to profit
… then you get some view of income in relation to place of work and movement of people
The disruption is significant The prioritisation of the backlog changes!The design is questionable!
A predicament of
understanding
! Focus on employer datapivot
This is nothing but a choice - a big bet.
Pivot #2
Collect data fast or collect lots of data in the shortest possible time
?��
Put effort into
employer compliance
Put effort into catering for variable data formats
… effort into negotiation
… effort into complex software data transformation
The disruption is about locus of control We can control what software we build!We can’t control the outcome of a negotiation!
A predicament
of control
! Build complex softwarepivot
The hard choices are often the right choices
Pivot #3
Design a new solution for
an unfamiliar domain
Complex domains need simple designs
?��
Apply a well known design from another domain
… ignore the abstractions
and design for implementation
… simplify with a well known higher level abstraction
The disruption is about simple solutionsDesign is a journey to realise simplicity!
A predicament of complexity
! Leverage accounting principlespivot
Sometimes new question have old answers
Pivoting is painfulbut absolutely necessary!
If there isn’t a new context after you pivot, then you didn’t pivot!
Every pivot creates a new context
!pivot
The new context must be socialised
My observation is that we ...
1pivot
Pivot to gain deep understanding
2pivot
Pivot to gain control
3pivot
Pivot to simplify
Pivoting is Leadership
Leadership is about making decisionsPivoting is about making decisions
* All decisions are correct
* All decisions are lonely
* Making decisions instills humility
Having done all you can do to stand
Nyari Samushonga@nyarisam
STAND