Reduce factors increasing product complexity

Description

In large Composite Value Streams there are several other parameters impeding the path to a single Product. While these are real constraints of the current organisation, these dimensions contribute to the overall complexity of the organisation and it is imperative for the leadership to work to remove these obstacles.

Rationale

Every organisation is characterised by a certain level of complexity. Inspired by the work of Fredrick, we could consider the organisational complexity as being composed by two parts: one “essential”, i.e. absolutely needed for the organisation to be able to function, and an usually large component of “accidental” complexity, i.e. complexity that an organisation has taken on over the years for several reasons and that it could be reduced by applying proper organisational design ideas. This principle is suggesting that while an organisation might be too complex now, the leadership should work to reduce the accidental complexity and make the organisation simpler.

The Constraints Dimensions that create accidental complexity are:

• Technological - amount of different technological domains involved in creating the Product[s]
• Technical - Technical competence of the people involved, including development practices
• Product Size - While Larger Composite Value Streams usually require more complexity, many companies fragment the Value Stream much more than what is needed
• Value Stream Complexity - It is important to look at why the value stream is complex: often accidental complexity creeps in for various reasons: organisational history and structure, habits, no refactoring on the process, power structures, different locations, information silos, …
• Human Factors - Silos knowledge, lack of communication skills, multiple locations and remote communication, interpersonal problems, latent conflicts, …
• Internal Company Politics
• Organisational Structure - The more organisational silos, the more the information are isolated, resulting in more fractalised development. Loyalty to managers and organisational silos is also a reason. A properly organised product development organisation helps organise teams around customer value. Changing this often requires a radical management-led restructuring: a kaizen approach usually fails at the department boundaries, requiring a Kaikaku instead. This is why it is important for management not to just “support” an agile organisation, but to be directly involved in creating it. Organisational Design principles help in informing the change
• [There might be some more dimensions relevant in your organisation...]