Continuous Learning can have a transformative impact on personal growth, innovation, and organizational success. Here are 9 things you should know about Continuous Learning…

For this conversation, we’re joined by Tom Graves, author and world-renowned expert on Enterprise Architecture.

Among the topics covered:

• Why aren’t companies learning from mistakes?
• What are some best practices for continuous learning and continuous improvement in a modern, Agile, DevOps environment?
• How can a technology practitioner incorporate these best practices into daily routine?
• What role does executive management have in ensuring quality is a built-in behavior?

Key Highlights:

• The problem of organizations focusing on speed of software development/deployment rather than learning and continuous improvement (00:05:01 – 00:06:00)
• The importance of doing the right things, not just doing things right (00:06:07 – 00:07:16)
• The lack of feedback loops and learning from mistakes in many development processes (00:08:48 – 00:10:13)
• How continuous learning enables antifragility in systems (00:10:13 – 00:11:08)
• The misalignment of incentives and metrics versus actual delivery of value (00:11:08 – 00:12:04)
• The differences between startups and legacy enterprises in adopting continuous learning (00:12:04 – 00:13:18)
• The role of consultants being to support, not control or tell people what to do (00:13:18 – 00:14:01)
• Examples of integrating software into overall business purpose like at Pixar (00:14:01 – 00:15:07)
• Introducing the 4 questions of the Army After Action Review method (00:15:07 – 00:16:26)
• Issue of metrics like lines of code not capturing actual work and value (00:16:26 – 00:17:52)
• Activating continuous learning as individuals and at different levels of organizations (00:17:52 – 00:20:00)
• Key takeaways: adopt after action reviews, focus on quality, commitment at all levels (00:20:00 – 00:22:25)

9 Takeaways:

1. The group discussed the lack of feedback loops and continuous learning in many software development processes today. There is a focus on speed and methodology over learning from mistakes.
2. Tom Graves argued that many organizations are good at “doing things right” with processes like DevOps, but not “doing the right things” that actually solve customer problems.
3. Continuous learning is key – both as individuals and collectively as teams. Learning from mistakes avoids repeating them.
4. After action reviews, borrowed from the military, are a simple but effective tool for teams to quickly share learnings. It involves answering 4 key questions after an activity.
5. Alignment of business and IT is critical. When IT is seen as just a cost center rather than integral, continuous learning is harder.
6. Quality must be built in upfront, not inspected in later. The end goal should be a “minimally useful product”, not a “minimally viable” one.
7. Commitment for continuous learning needs to come from all levels of an organization, not just individuals. But individuals can drive change even without top-down mandates.
8. Look to other industries like manufacturing that have used practices like Deming’s work for decades that apply directly to software delivery.
9. Key is focusing on purpose and people, not just process. Learning must become habitual.

Tom Graves’ website, http://www.tetradian.com, is a one-stop location for all things Enterprise Architecture related. His blog at http://weblog.tetradian.com/ is updated constantly with useful tools and insight gleaned from decades of work in the field.

Also check out Tom’s deep archive of books and other publications at http://tetradianbooks.com/ and be sure to read his latest semi-fictional business novel, Changes, at https://leanpub.com/tb-changes.

Lastly, to see Tom’s presentation on the topic of Continuous Learning at last year’s BCS Enterprise Architecture Conference, check out the 2-part recording at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKXSNJ_3t-U

Check out the Audio-only version of this episode!
Episode 05 – Audio Only