Presentation: Ending the Chain-of-Blame: Continuous Consequence

Location:

Duration

Duration: 
5:25pm - 6:15pm

Day of week:

Key Takeaways

  • Understand how the idea of ‘continuous consequence’ can positively and negatively affect cultural collaboration along the whole decision chain
  • Learn technique’s founded in Eastern philosophy that you can use to develop positive collaboration upstream as a broader cultural trait
  • Rethink how to turn short term, selfish thinking into longer term, community thinking and address the ‘Chain-of-Blame’ more effectively

Abstract

Any tech is well familiar with the frustration that, in corporate culture, there is often a long chain-of-blame, cascading down from corporates to the average team – hiding behind finance.  At its worst it becomes a black hole where great ideas and initiatives silently dissolve.   But are things starting to change….?  Is change really possible?

In this talk Katherine suggests it might, and explores how she is seeing an effect of the ‘Continuousness-trend’ (continuous improvement, delivery, innovation etc etc) and how the cultural change we sometimes see might be down to an effect she calls ‘Continuous-Consequence’.

However, she warns that in her experience this is a double edged sword: although ‘Continuousness’ brings in a useful data view of ‘cause and effect’, in large corporations it can create hell-politics upstream that stick like mud and, surprisingly can sometimes cause unexpected negative outcomes.  Its not all rainbows!

So - in our corner of the world, how could we avoid the mud and how could we capitalize on the cultural effect ‘Continuousness’ has to our team’s advantage?  

In this talk, Katherine draws from her practical, recent on-the-ground experiences in multi-national large corporates, including a tough 200 people IT departmental merger to explain what she learned and what might help others – and suggests some Eastern Philosophical models and lenses she found useful.

Interview

Question: 
QCon: What is Continuous Consequence?
Answer: 
K Kirk: In this context it is the idea that with our industry’s Continuousness ‘trend’ (e.g. Delivery, Innovation, Improvement etc) we now deliberately position ourselves within a permanent, sometimes rapid, feedback loop – action, reaction... over and over – in order to reap sustained improvement.
This means that now, culturally, we have rapid, constant, real feedback on our activities and choices – for sustained periods of time. I’m calling that ‘Continuous Consequence’.
In my experience of the last few years, this can give a real shock to culture, as it changes approach to decision making: primarily, ‘getting-constantly-hit-in-the-face’ with the effect of decisions can create a shift from reacting in the short term to beginning to consider the longer term goals and broader context. But it can also have surprisingly negative affects too – especially on the ‘Chain of Blame’ (upstream politics).
Question: 
QCon: What are some of the things you use to help people adjust to continuousness?
Answer: 
K Kirk: I have a lot of methods. But primarily, I think I utilise techniques founded in Eastern Philosophy that help people become aware of the constant ‘onslaught’ of change they are under and will continue to be under – and then collaborate together with them on how they can adjust their circumstances in their own way to make reacting to ‘continuous consequence’ a really positive thing, avoiding negative outcomes.
Question: 
QCon: What do you think will be the major takeaways for the talk?
Answer: 
K Kirk: I hope to inspire the audience to become conscious of ‘Continuous Consequence’ , as a real ‘thing’ – what it is, and its potential effects on the ‘Chain of Blame’ (upstream politics). So that they can use their own intelligent and innovative ways to navigate away from potentially negative outcomes, and instead reap the fantastic rewards that can be had.

Tracks

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Conference for Professional Software Developers