Innovation – find the gap!Using enterprise-architecture to support innovation

Tom Graves, Tetradian Consulting

KPN NL, February 2013

Innovation – find the gap!

• Innovation comes from change, and is change• (somewhat anarchic – change means changing the rules)

• Change can be incremental or transformative• (either type is fine – preference depends on what we need)

• Innovation hides within shifts of perspective• (need to trick it into showing itself – find the gap!)

• Many strategies and tactics to open the space• (gap-analysis, brainstorming, conscious-forgetting etc)

• For here we’ll use an EA tool: the ‘This’-game• (starting with EA leads more directly toward implementation)

Using the ‘This’-game

• The ‘Start Anywhere’ principle – start anywhere!• (business-problem, pain-point, idea – anything will do)

• Give a name to this whatever-it-is• (or, to start off, just call it ‘This’)

• Use the game’s questions to explore this ‘This’ • (innovation as a quest, guided by questions)

• Argue, inquire, explore – see what happens!• (create a space for ideas and suggestions to arise)

• Move up, down, round – explore as you need• (up to abstract, down to detail, move to another ‘This’)

(Using this slidedeck)

You can use this slidedeck in the linear page-by-page way,

or in a non-linear manner, via the icon-bar to the right:

•the Home button takes you to the main visual menu

•the eight graphic icons below the Home button take you to

the respective key question-page for the ‘This’-game

•a right-arrow, if shown, takes you to a ‘child-page’ for the

current key question-page

•a left-arrow, if shown (as on this page), takes you back

towards the ‘parent’ page for the respective section

Start anywhere!

tell us about

thisitem or service

What’s your start-point for your innovation-quest?

Expand outward from an overview of this initial ‘This’…

Overview

tell us about

thisitem or service

delivering with this

opportunity / risk in this

perspectives on this

implementing this

stakeholders in this

making sense of this

interrelations of this

understandings of this

Opportunity / risk in This(Opportunity and risk as flipsides of each other – yin and yang)

•What opportunities are implied by This?•What risks areimplied by This?•How do we leverage the risks to create opportunity with This?•How do we mitigate risks arising from the opportunities of This?

Understandings about This(Understandings as layers of an iceberg – Causal Layered Analysis)

•What are complaints about This? (litany)•How would you analyse This? (systemic)•What is the core paradigm for This? (worldview)•How would a poet or storyteller describe This? (deep-myth)

(More on Causal Layered Analysis)

We can also map Causal Layered Analysis layers onto the SCAN sensemaking-framework – see ‘Making sense of This’.

Making sense of This

(How does your view of This change as you move around

in this concept-space?)

(Using a context-space map – SCAN sensemaking / decision-making framework)

•What is simple and certain about This? (Simple)•How would you control This? (Complicated)•What varies with context for This? (Ambiguous)•What is inherently unique and uncertain about This? (Not-known)

(More on SCAN sensemaking)

Dimensions in the SCAN framework:•horizontal: certainty / order to uncertainty / unorder•vertical: time-available ‘considered’ to real-time ‘now’

(Using SCAN to assess decision-making)

(Same axes as in SCAN sensemaking)

Real-time decision-making needs different support to that for ‘considered’ analysis and experimentation

Interrelations of This(Relations-maps – Five Elements)

•What is the Purpose of This?

•Who are the People of This?

•What Preparation is needed for This?

•What is the Process of This?

•How is Performance assured for This?

• What Values link People to Purpose?• What Policies are needed to guide

Preparation?• What Events start off the Process?

• What Completions finalise Process?• How does Performance create Trust to

link all the way back to Purpose?• What holds this together as a whole?

(More on Five Elements - strategy)

A useful cross-map between the Five Elements set and the emphases for strategy, tactics and operations

(More on Five Elements - effectiveness)

A useful cross-map between the Five Elements set and key themes in effectiveness

Stakeholders in This(Stakeholder-map – Market Model)

• Who organises the services of This?• Who are suppliers or customers for This?• Who would be the prospects for This?• Who are other players in the market for This?• Who else is affected by This, or can affect This?

(More on stakeholders – Service Cycle)

• What builds reputation and trust with stakeholders of This?• How to create respect and relations with stakeholders of This?• How to gain attention with the stakeholders of This?• What are the transactions with stakeholders of This?• What completions to reaffirm trust with stakeholders of This?

Perspectives on This

• Outside-out: What is the big-picture ‘world’ for This?• Outside-in: What is the big-picture view into This?• Journey: What are touchpoints between big-picture and This?• Inside-out: What is the view into big-picture from This?• Inside-in: What is the view into itself for This?

(Perspectives-map – Enterprise Canvas)

(More on perspectives – vision to goal)

Dimensions of enterprise-vision:•What is the focus or concern for everyone in the enterprise?•How is this focus or concern being worked on by / for everyone?•Why is this important for / valued by everyone in the enterprise?

(More on perspectives – Enterprise Canvas)

• Move ‘upward’ in perspective with ‘Why?’• Move ‘downward’ in perspective with ‘How’ or ‘With-what?’

Implementing This

• What are the structures, services, exchanges and flows of This?• What are the interdependencies and support-services for This?

(Service-structure map – Enterprise Canvas)

(Enterprise Canvas: service-content)

Use this checklist to review service-content (assets, functions, locations, capabilities, events, decisions)

(Enterprise Canvas: layers / timelines)

Use this checklist to identify the scope and the type and level of detail for each view of This.

Delivering the services of This

• How do we link inside the service with outside the service throughout all of the service-cycle of This?

• How do we link service-delivery to the aims of This?

(Service-delivery map – Five Elements and Enterprise Canvas)

Overview

tell us about

thisitem or service

delivering with this

opportunity / risk in this

perspectives on this

implementing this

stakeholders in this

making sense of this

interrelations of this

understandings of this

Go explore!

Innovate!

Enjoy!

(Further information)More on themes in this slidedeck:

•Causal Layered Analysis:• http://www.metafuture.org/Articles/CausalLayeredAnalysis.htm• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causal_layered_analysis

•SCAN framework: ebook SCAN: the Tetradian weblogs• https://leanpub.com/tp-scan

•Five Elements: book SEMPER and SCORE• http://tetradianbooks.com/2008/07/semper/

•Market Model and Service Cycle: book Mapping the Enterprise • http://tetradianbooks.com/2010/11/ecanvas/

•Perspectives: blog ‘Inside-in, inside-out, outside-in, outside-out’ • http://weblog.tetradian.com/2012/06/06/inside-in-inside-out-outside-in-outside-out/

•Enterprise Canvas: book Mapping the Enterprise • http://tetradianbooks.com/2010/11/ecanvas/

More on Tetradian:

•Website: http://tetradian.com

•Weblog: http://weblog.tetradian.com

•Books: http://tetradianbooks.com

•Ebooks: http://leanpub.com/u/tetradian

•Slidedecks: http://www.slideshare.net/tetradian