Change & Rapid Response

Martin Fowler is one of those rare people who combine deep knowledge of information technology with the ability to write lucid articles about Business with IT.

His article The New Methodology, posted on his web site, which is about Agile Computing, is for anyone seeking an easy read on new ways of responding rapidly to changing business needs.

In today's rapidly changing and Black Swan environment, a Critical Success Factor (CSF), is how to get rapid IT response in the real world of changing Business-Client needs - which is often driven by changes in the external, competitive, sociological and regulatory environment.

That is, in addition to pro-active changes for innovation through IT.

The interesting thing is that rapid response is not (apart from a flexible/integrated enterprise architecture), about technology.

Rapid response is about people synergy. In other words, the key to meeting the Business-IT CSF of rapid response is effective collaboration between business managers and IT people.

Yet it's unlikely you'll get this without Theory Y management (which is much simpler than it sounds), as described in one of the most important books on management, and is a must-read book:
The Human Side of Enterprise, by the late Douglas McGregor.

What's needed is a Theory Y Culture, both in IT and in the organisation as a whole, if there is to be rapid IT response to business change.

This is demonstrated by another lucid writer on Businesss with IT, Alistair Cockburn, who says (in a highly interesting article), that project success depends on people characteristics, that is, more than methodology or project discipline.

For example, minimalist documentation works best (especially if you have self-documenting code), because heavy documentation is a burden and a chore, and slows down the project, even causing it to fail. Besides, it won't be used, because people don't trust it and prefer to "look around".

Finally the Client/User, notwithstanding business responsibilities, may need to embrace a role as Business Information Systems (BIS) Designer, not just Specifier. This, instead of getting more point-and-click skills, is more likely to add value for the Client/User, and the business.

P.S.
In coal-face systems, it may be well to bring the external customer into the equation as well, to form a Synergy Circle.

What are your experience & thoughts on this?
What are the issues in getting rapid,
if not pro-active & innovative response, to business change?