All playbooks
Playbook · Strategy and influence · 8 steps
Your first 90 days as an architect
Understand a new organisation before you try to change it.
- 1Circle of CompetenceWhat don't I know yet about this business, and who does?Know the boundary of what you genuinely understand, and act differently inside and outside it.Open
- 2Capability MappingWhat does the business do, and which systems support each part?Describe what the business does, independent of how, by whom, or with which system.Open
- 3The Map Is Not the TerritoryDo the diagrams and documents match the systems that actually run?Every diagram, model, and dashboard is a simplification. The running system is the truth.Open
- 4Chesterton's FenceBefore changing anything, do I know why it is the way it is?Don't remove a fence until you know why it was put up.Open
- 5IncentivesHow are teams and leaders measured, and what does that make them do?Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.Open
- 6Power–Interest GridWho holds power and interest in the decisions ahead?Map stakeholders by how much power they have over the outcome and how much they care, and engage each group differently.Open
- 7Influence Without AuthorityWhat can I offer each team before I ask anything of them?When you can't tell people what to do, trade: offer what they value in return for what you need.Open
- 8CynefinWhich problems need analysis, and which are complex enough to need small experiments?First work out what kind of situation you are in, because clear, complicated, complex and chaotic problems each need a different way of deciding.Open