All comparisonsRead Automate or Obliterate Read Strangler Fig
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Redesign the work, or replace it gradually?
Hammer says don't automate the old process: redesign the work around the outcome. The Strangler Fig says replace an old system piece by piece, never all at once. One is about what the target should be; the other is about how to get there safely.
Automate or Obliterate
Speeding up an old process with new technology mostly preserves its waste; redesign the work around the outcome, using what the technology makes possible.
Reach for it when
- Deciding what an AI-enabled process should look like
- The current process exists mainly to work around old constraints
Strangler Fig
Replace a legacy system gradually by growing the new one around it until the old one can be removed.
Reach for it when
- Moving users, data and integrations off the systems that run today
- The business cannot pause while the change happens
Together
Design the target boldly, as if starting from the outcome, then deliver it in small slices that run alongside the old way until it can be retired.