Less Frameworking more
Tailoring
Less Frameworking more
Tailoring
Less Frameworking more
Tailoring
Challenging Rigid Processes
Let’s take design thinking as an example. The goal of design thinking is helping non-designer to think like a designer to tackle challenges. That in itself is noble idea, only if it is used the correct way though. As I mentioned, you need a clear problem to solve first.
Challenging Rigid Processes
Let’s take design thinking as an example. The goal of design thinking is helping non-designer to think like a designer to tackle challenges. That in itself is noble idea, only if it is used the correct way though. As I mentioned, you need a clear problem to solve first.
However, the general notion is: „Let’s just do design thinking. That’ll drop the next innovation“. This is something you’ll hear from company’s that have either too much money and most probably no testing in place and simply want to build something. Sorry to hit you with reality, but design thinking is not a framework designed for that, if used mindlessly it’ll drop anything and most probably just a bunch of half-assed ideas that are good for nothing. And then the frustration starts - a lot of time invested and the user’s don’t like it. Who is to blame? Unfortunately the designers - assumed to be a bunch of people playing with glue, paper and scissors.
But this is a reality which is true for so many frameworks out there. They're often sold as the ultimate solution to success. But here's the thing - no matter which framework, applying a framework blindly in hopes of achieving a desired outcome is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It's a one-size-fits-all approach that rarely works in practice.
However, the general notion is: „Let’s just do design thinking. That’ll drop the next innovation“. This is something you’ll hear from company’s that have either too much money and most probably no testing in place and simply want to build something. Sorry to hit you with reality, but design thinking is not a framework designed for that, if used mindlessly it’ll drop anything and most probably just a bunch of half-assed ideas that are good for nothing. And then the frustration starts - a lot of time invested and the user’s don’t like it. Who is to blame? Unfortunately the designers - assumed to be a bunch of people playing with glue, paper and scissors.
But this is a reality which is true for so many frameworks out there. They're often sold as the ultimate solution to success. But here's the thing - no matter which framework, applying a framework blindly in hopes of achieving a desired outcome is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It's a one-size-fits-all approach that rarely works in practice.
However, the general notion is: „Let’s just do design thinking. That’ll drop the next innovation“. This is something you’ll hear from company’s that have either too much money and most probably no testing in place and simply want to build something. Sorry to hit you with reality, but design thinking is not a framework designed for that, if used mindlessly it’ll drop anything and most probably just a bunch of half-assed ideas that are good for nothing. And then the frustration starts - a lot of time invested and the user’s don’t like it. Who is to blame? Unfortunately the designers - assumed to be a bunch of people playing with glue, paper and scissors.
But this is a reality which is true for so many frameworks out there. They're often sold as the ultimate solution to success. But here's the thing - no matter which framework, applying a framework blindly in hopes of achieving a desired outcome is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It's a one-size-fits-all approach that rarely works in practice.
ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTIONS RARELY WORK BY ITSELF
ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTIONS RARELY WORK BY ITSELF
ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTIONS RARELY WORK BY ITSELF
EVERYONE IS UNIQUE,
SO ARE COMPANY'S & THE PEOPLE RUNNING IT
EVERYONE IS UNIQUE,
SO ARE COMPANY'S & THE PEOPLE RUNNING IT
EVERYONE IS UNIQUE,
SO ARE COMPANY'S & THE PEOPLE RUNNING IT
Take OKR’s for example - it’s a way to manage goals, a very complicated one that requires clear roles an responsbilites and somehone spearheading the process. How often do you see that someone’s employed just for the job of championing the OKR’s in the company? rarely, only in the big firms, leading not only frustration to the one in charge (usualy any department head taking additional workload and frustration from the whole company, having no clue why all of a sudden) but also the people who now have to deal with, somehow, finding measurable results.
The truth is, we're all unique individuals with different needs and preferences and so are company’s, their business landscape, organizational structure and the people running it.
Take OKR’s for example - it’s a way to manage goals, a very complicated one that requires clear roles an responsbilites and somehone spearheading the process. How often do you see that someone’s employed just for the job of championing the OKR’s in the company? rarely, only in the big firms, leading not only frustration to the one in charge (usualy any department head taking additional workload and frustration from the whole company, having no clue why all of a sudden) but also the people who now have to deal with, somehow, finding measurable results.
The truth is, we're all unique individuals with different needs and preferences and so are company’s, their business landscape, organizational structure and the people running it.
Take OKR’s for example - it’s a way to manage goals, a very complicated one that requires clear roles an responsbilites and somehone spearheading the process. How often do you see that someone’s employed just for the job of championing the OKR’s in the company? rarely, only in the big firms, leading not only frustration to the one in charge (usualy any department head taking additional workload and frustration from the whole company, having no clue why all of a sudden) but also the people who now have to deal with, somehow, finding measurable results.
The truth is, we're all unique individuals with different needs and preferences and so are company’s, their business landscape, organizational structure and the people
running it.
Challenging Rigid Processes
Let’s take design thinking as an example. The goal of design thinking is helping non-designer to think like a designer to tackle challenges. That in itself is noble idea, only if it is used the correct way though. As I mentioned, you need a clear problem to solve first.
Let's call it -
The Wabi-Sabi-Design-Process
Wabi-Sabi, is a Japanese aesthetic concept that embraces the beauty of things that are imperfect, incomplete, and transient, finding harmony in asymmetry. In processes, embracing the wabi-sabi philosophy means acknowledging and even embracing imperfections, inefficiencies, and fluctuations. It involves recognizing that perfection is elusive and that there is beauty and value in the imperfect and the evolving. Rather than striving for rigid adherence to predefined standards or processes, wabi-sabi encourages a more flexible and adaptive approach, where changes and imperfections are seen as opportunities for growth, learning, and refinement.
Wabi-Sabi goes beyond just accepting imperfections. It encourages us to find beauty and value in the impermanent, the asymmetrical, and the simple. In the context of business processes, this translates to embracing the fact that environments are constantly changing. Rigid frameworks can't keep up with this constant flux. Instead, Wabi-Sabi principles like acceptance of change and celebrating unconventional solutions empower businesses to adapt and thrive.
Frameworks are initial guidelines
And this is what frameworks actually are, initial guidelines, to follow in the beginning but eventually adapting to make it fit for you, whatever you are trying to solve, incorporating the learnings along the way. To make it even simple, blunt even - it’s just like putting on a shirt, you might follow the initial guidelines but eventually find your own way of doing things that suits you best. Maybe you start putting your head through the neckline first before your arms, maybe you cut parts of it, adjust by ironing pictures on it, dye it - it's about adapting to what works for you.
The Zappos Example*:
As an example, a small marketing team might not need the full structure of a complicated marketing campaign framework. Instead, they could adopt a Wabi-Sabi approach, focusing on a core set of activities and adapting them based on real-time data and customer feedback. This aligns with the philosophy behind Zappos' exceptional customer service. They don't follow a rigid script for customer interactions. Instead, they empower their service representatives to focus on building relationships with customers and finding creative solutions to problems. This approach embraces the Wabi-Sabi principle of embracing asymmetry and finding unconventional solutions that prioritize customer satisfaction over a one-size-fits-all script. *Harvard Business Review - How I did it: Zappo's CEO on going extremes for customers
Practical steps with the example of setting up a product development process:
1. Understand your problem
Talk with your peers, superiors and team to understand their needs, problems, way of working and take the organizational structure into account. Are departments working seperately or in collaboration such as project teams? Who is involed, when and what for?
2. Cluster the needs and challenges
You won’t be able to solve it for everyone. Remember it is not a one-size-fits-all, compromises need to be made. Try to find the biggest intersection of needs. In our case it was creating mission teams consisting of employees from different departments based on the project needs.
3. Mindful adaptation
Draw inspiration from existing frameworks while remaining mindful of your unique context and constraints. Think of the phase your company is in and what teams need to perform at their best. Sometimes there is not enough time to have everything right from the beginning. Let things evolve as you run through the process.
4. Build your way forward
Start making to experience, see and think. This is a very crucial and ongoing step. As an example project brief’s may be important in the beginning to create mutual understanding but they can be misleading as in taken too literally and causing frustration in goal alignment. As you progress the more you learn and the more those briefs take shape and need to be adapted (in case you work with project briefs). Embrace an iterative approach to implementation, experimenting with different elements of the framework and adjusting as you learn what works best for your team and organization.
5. Flexible Application & Adaptation
Maintain flexibility, recognizing that circumstances may change and require adjustments. Adapt the framework as needed to address evolving challenges and opportunities. It’s best to set a clear timeline when to check back with the team members for feedback and to adapt the process to avoid unnessecary drama. Involve team members in the process to foster ownership and commitment.
6. Continuous Optimization
Continuously optimize and refine the framework based on feedback, outcomes, and lessons learned. Regularly review and update your approach to ensure that it remains effective and relevant.
–
Starting with rails to guide and give you a starting point (could be a generic framework even), to eventually start seeing what needs to be adapted to make it fit to your needs. Like in wabi sabi, when something is broken and mended with gold laquer and becomes truly yours, same goes for frameworks, such as this process. It is a work in progress, living and breathing through the people that work with it adapting to organizational requirements.
Think of it as your own personalized framework for success. And let’s face it, we all want a custom approach, that works for us. It's important to clarify that Wabi-Sabi doesn't equate to abandoning quality control or established best practices. Instead, it encourages us to find the right balance between flexibility and structure. The Wabi-Sabi-Design-Process is iterative, meaning you constantly learn and refine the process based on experience and feedback.
Let's call it - The Wabi-Sabi-Design-Process
Wabi-Sabi, is a Japanese aesthetic concept that embraces the beauty of things that are imperfect, incomplete, and transient, finding harmony in asymmetry. In processes, embracing the wabi-sabi philosophy means acknowledging and even embracing imperfections, inefficiencies, and fluctuations. It involves recognizing that perfection is elusive and that there is beauty and value in the imperfect and the evolving. Rather than striving for rigid adherence to predefined standards or processes, wabi-sabi encourages a more flexible and adaptive approach, where changes and imperfections are seen as opportunities for growth, learning, and refinement.
Wabi-Sabi goes beyond just accepting imperfections. It encourages us to find beauty and value in the impermanent, the asymmetrical, and the simple. In the context of business processes, this translates to embracing the fact that environments are constantly changing. Rigid frameworks can't keep up with this constant flux. Instead, Wabi-Sabi principles like acceptance of change and celebrating unconventional solutions empower businesses to adapt and thrive.
Frameworks are initial guidelines
And this is what frameworks actually are, initial guidelines, to follow in the beginning but eventually adapting to make it fit for you, whatever you are trying to solve, incorporating the learnings along the way. To make it even simple, blunt even - it’s just like putting on a shirt, you might follow the initial guidelines but eventually find your own way of doing things that suits you best. Maybe you start putting your head through the neckline first before your arms, maybe you cut parts of it, adjust by ironing pictures on it, dye it - it's about adapting to what works for you.
The Zappos Example:
As an example, a small marketing team might not need the full structure of a complicated marketing campaign framework. Instead, they could adopt a Wabi-Sabi approach, focusing on a core set of activities and adapting them based on real-time data and customer feedback. This aligns with the philosophy behind Zappos' exceptional customer service. They don't follow a rigid script for customer interactions. Instead, they empower their service representatives to focus on building relationships with customers and finding creative solutions to problems (Source: Harvard Business Review). This approach embraces the Wabi-Sabi principle of embracing asymmetry and finding unconventional solutions that prioritize customer satisfaction over a one-size-fits-all script.
Practical steps with the example of setting up a product development process:
1. Understand your problem
Talk with your peers, superiors and team to understand their needs, problems, way of working and take the organizational structure into account. Are departments working seperately or in collaboration such as project teams? Who is involed, when and what for
2. Cluster the needs and challenges
You won’t be able to solve it for everyone. Remember it is not a one-size-fits-all, compromises need to be made. Try to find the biggest intersection of needs. In our case it was creating mission teams consisting of employees from different departments based on the project needs.
3. Mindful adaptation
Draw inspiration from existing frameworks while remaining mindful of your unique context and constraints. Think of the phase your company is in and what teams need to perform at their best. Sometimes there is not enough time to have everything right from the beginning. Let things evolve as you run through the process.
4. Build your way forward
Start making to experience, see and think. This is a very crucial and ongoing step. As an example project brief’s may be important in the beginning to create mutual understanding but they can be misleading as in taken too literally and causing frustration in goal alignment. As you progress the more you learn and the more those briefs take shape and need to be adapted (in case you work with project briefs). Embrace an iterative approach to implementation, experimenting with different elements of the framework and adjusting as you learn what works best for your team and organization.
5. Flexible Application & Adaptation
Maintain flexibility, recognizing that circumstances may change and require adjustments. Adapt the framework as needed to address evolving challenges and opportunities. It’s best to set a clear timeline when to check back with the team members for feedback and to adapt the process to avoid unnessecary drama. Involve team members in the process to foster ownership and commitment.
6. Continuous Optimization
Continuously optimize and refine the framework based on feedback, outcomes, and lessons learned. Regularly review and update your approach to ensure that it remains effective and relevant.
–
Starting with rails to guide and give you a starting point (could be a generic framework even), to eventually start seeing what needs to be adapted to make it fit to your needs. Like in wabi sabi, when something is broken and mended with gold laquer and becomes truly yours, same goes for frameworks, such as this process. It is a work in progress, living and breathing through the people that work with it adapting to organizational requirements.
Think of it as your own personalized framework for success. And let’s face it, we all want a custom approach, that works for us. It's important to clarify that Wabi-Sabi doesn't equate to abandoning quality control or established best practices. Instead, it encourages us to find the right balance between flexibility and structure. The Wabi-Sabi-Design-Process is iterative, meaning you constantly learn and refine the process based on experience and feedback.
Let's call it -
The Wabi-Sabi-Design-Process
Wabi-Sabi, is a Japanese aesthetic concept that embraces the beauty of things that are imperfect, incomplete, and transient, finding harmony in asymmetry. In processes, embracing the wabi-sabi philosophy means acknowledging and even embracing imperfections, inefficiencies, and fluctuations. It involves recognizing that perfection is elusive and that there is beauty and value in the imperfect and the evolving. Rather than striving for rigid adherence to predefined standards or processes, wabi-sabi encourages a more flexible and adaptive approach, where changes and imperfections are seen as opportunities for growth, learning, and refinement.
Wabi-Sabi goes beyond just accepting imperfections. It encourages us to find beauty and value in the impermanent, the asymmetrical, and the simple. In the context of business processes, this translates to embracing the fact that environments are constantly changing. Rigid frameworks can't keep up with this constant flux. Instead, Wabi-Sabi principles like acceptance of change and celebrating unconventional solutions empower businesses to adapt and thrive.
Frameworks are initial guidelines
And this is what frameworks actually are, initial guidelines, to follow in the beginning but eventually adapting to make it fit for you, whatever you are trying to solve, incorporating the learnings along the way. To make it even simple, blunt even - it’s just like putting on a shirt, you might follow the initial guidelines but eventually find your own way of doing things that suits you best. Maybe you start putting your head through the neckline first before your arms, maybe you cut parts of it, adjust by ironing pictures on it, dye it - it's about adapting to what works for you.
The Zappos Example:
As an example, a small marketing team might not need the full structure of a complicated marketing campaign framework. Instead, they could adopt a Wabi-Sabi approach, focusing on a core set of activities and adapting them based on real-time data and customer feedback. This aligns with the philosophy behind Zappos' exceptional customer service. They don't follow a rigid script for customer interactions. Instead, they empower their service representatives to focus on building relationships with customers and finding creative solutions to problems (Source: Harvard Business Review). This approach embraces the Wabi-Sabi principle of embracing asymmetry and finding unconventional solutions that prioritize customer satisfaction over a one-size-fits-all script.
Practical steps with the example of setting up a product development process:
1. Understand your problem
Talk with your peers, superiors and team to understand their needs, problems, way of working and take the organizational structure into account. Are departments working seperately or in collaboration such as project teams? Who is involed, when and what for
2. Cluster the needs and challenges
You won’t be able to solve it for everyone. Remember it is not a one-size-fits-all, compromises need to be made. Try to find the biggest intersection of needs. In our case it was creating mission teams consisting of employees from different departments based on the project needs.
3. Mindful adaptation
Draw inspiration from existing frameworks while remaining mindful of your unique context and constraints. Think of the phase your company is in and what teams need to perform at their best. Sometimes there is not enough time to have everything right from the beginning. Let things evolve as you run through the process.
4. Build your way forward
Start making to experience, see and think. This is a very crucial and ongoing step. As an example project brief’s may be important in the beginning to create mutual understanding but they can be misleading as in taken too literally and causing frustration in goal alignment. As you progress the more you learn and the more those briefs take shape and need to be adapted (in case you work with project briefs). Embrace an iterative approach to implementation, experimenting with different elements of the framework and adjusting as you learn what works best for your team and organization.
5. Flexible Application & Adaptation
Maintain flexibility, recognizing that circumstances may change and require adjustments. Adapt the framework as needed to address evolving challenges and opportunities. It’s best to set a clear timeline when to check back with the team members for feedback and to adapt the process to avoid unnessecary drama. Involve team members in the process to foster ownership and commitment.
6. Continuous Optimization
Continuously optimize and refine the framework based on feedback, outcomes, and lessons learned. Regularly review and update your approach to ensure that it remains effective and relevant.
–
Starting with rails to guide and give you a starting point (could be a generic framework even), to eventually start seeing what needs to be adapted to make it fit to your needs. Like in wabi sabi, when something is broken and mended with gold laquer and becomes truly yours, same goes for frameworks, such as this process. It is a work in progress, living and breathing through the people that work with it adapting to organizational requirements.
Think of it as your own personalized framework for success. And let’s face it, we all want a custom approach, that works for us. It's important to clarify that Wabi-Sabi doesn't equate to abandoning quality control or established best practices. Instead, it encourages us to find the right balance between flexibility and structure. The Wabi-Sabi-Design-Process is iterative, meaning you constantly learn and refine the process based on experience and feedback.
Have an Idea but don't know how
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I help you to turn things into reality, have clarity on what's to be done, setup and align processes to move from vision towards reality.
Have an Idea but don't know how
to move forward?
I help you to turn things into reality, have clarity on what's to be done, setup and align processes to move from vision towards reality.
Have an Idea but don't know how to move forward?
I help you to turn things into reality, have clarity on what's to be done, setup and align processes to move from vision towards reality.
Have an Idea but don't know how to move forward?
I help you to turn things into reality, have clarity on what's to be done, setup and align processes to move from vision towards reality.
Have an Idea but don't know how to move forward?
I help you to turn things into reality, have clarity on what's to be done, setup and align processes to move from vision towards reality.
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