Tag: ModellingAndTesting

Posted on

How to resuscitate a brief – stage 3

The final stage in our brief resuscitation process is to test it. We test a design brief by developing ideas in response.

When we do this we may discover: 

  • Zero solution — when we add up all the requirements and discover there isn’t a way to meet them all. We need to loosen the constraints.
  • The ideas are unambitious — ideas that meet the requirements of the brief don’t achieve very much then maybe the brief is too limiting
  • The ideas are uninspiring — when we come up with ideas that meet the brief but fail to delight, it may be that the brief stipulates the minimum that should be achieved, rather than provoking the heights we should be aiming for.
  • The brief missed the point — sometimes we stumble upon ideas that don’t meet the brief, but would be a good idea in any case. In which case maybe the original brief missed the point, and a better outcome is possible by changing the assumptions.

Ultimately the brief and the ideas should match, but the two evolve to reach compatibility. Coupling a brief with the ideas it enables helps us to ask questions that challenge the brief, and keep it moving – that keep it alive. 

Posted on

Machine work

Inputs

Outputs

KPIs

Tools

Models

Performance

Quantitative analysis

Scaling up

Accelerator

Dashboard

Timesheet

Human resources 

Bottom line 

When we think of our work as the work of a machine, then is it any surprise that the incredible machines that we have built will one day starting doing it for us.

But we do ourselves a disservice if we only think of ourselves in machine terms. If we leave out empathy, care, collective knowledge, grounded understanding of place, knowing that is not describable in words, trust, passion, play… then we are not bringing our whole selves to the work we need to do. 

There are so many more ways of knowing than the knowledge we can enter into a computer. Let the computers do the computational part – they will be very good at it – and let us step into our wider intelligence as engineers (and other humans).

This blog post was inspired by Reinventing Organizations, by Frederic Laloux. 

This post originally appeared on eiffelover.com in September 2024.

Posted on

Decide now or decide later?

Sometimes it’s worth designing your decision-making process before you make any decisions at all. Setting your decision-making criteria. Defining the minimum requirements. Figuring out the go/no-go questions. Clarifying your preferences. Determining who decides and who signs it all off. 

And sometimes it’s worth starting with the ideas. 

Wouldn’t it be great if…? 

What if we tried…? 

What would it look like if…?

The first approach creates more certainty. It reduces risk, aids delivery and creates a clearer record of how and why you did what you did. 

The second can create magic. It leaves room for surprise. It allows new possibilities that would never have fitted the plan — but which might just be better.

At some point you always have to decide. 

But when you decide changes what you get.