This is a presentation about how to go about mapping the context of a client org.

1. Mapping Context
The secret sauce of agile consulting

3. Who am I
Caoilte Dunne

4. You’re a firefighter , in the middle of
the night the phone rings

5. You arrive

6. What can you do right now ?

7. What is the bigger picture ?

8. Who is on your team ?

9. What does your experience tell you ?

10. You have just mapped your context
Now you can decide on the best action to
take.

11. What I am going to cover
Context : the basics
Mapping context - the theory
Mapping context - Practice
Using your map - Changing context

12. 1. Context : the basics

13. Context
The set of circumstances or facts that surround a
particular event, situation.

14. Your context changes your
behaviour

15. Consider

16. Consider

17. Consider

18. Your behaviour can change who you
are
Via Cognitive Dissonance : When we act in
a way that contradicts our beliefs , it hurts
our brain.
Overtime we change our beliefs so it hurts
less.

19. You’re honest

20. You're stressed about an exam

21. You cheat

22. Now you have choice
OR

23. The likely outcome is
Rationalization

24. How does context affect your view of
others?
The effect context has on how you view
other people is fairly well documented
In fact this phenomenon even has a name
…

25. The Fundamental Attribution Error
My context justifies my actions and they do
necessarily reflect who I am.
I ignore your context and consider your
actions a reflection of who you are

26. I was stressed.
The lecturer was
unfair.
Everyone else was
doing it
Rationalization
You

27. You’re a cheater
A bad person
Everyone else

28. Empathy is looking past the fundamental
attribution error
Being Judgemental is being swayed by it.

29. Context
● Changes your behaviour
● Can change your beliefs
● Gives you an excuse

30. How can we turn it to our advantage ?
Let’s look at some research

31. What good are experts ?
Researcher Daniel Kahneman thought
experts are useless
Researcher Gary Klien thought experts are
awesome
They decided to work together to see when
experts are worthwhile

32. What did they find ?
Two main conclusions

33. Planning

34. Planning - experts suck

35. It’s not just experts ...
The research just
suggests everyone
sucks at planning.
Experts are just no
better than anyone
else

36. Context - experts rock

37. Which makes sense
● Regularly placed into similar situations
● Expected to deliver value quickly
● Normally difficult situations

38. It’s how our brains work
Experts are
placed in
situations
where Neural
connections
form.

39. It’s how our brains work
Our brains
become
specialized -
handling the
context of where
we are regularly
placed

40. Context - the basics
● Context determines a lot of your
behaviour.
● Experts get good at understanding their
context.
● It is much better to focus on mapping
your context than making long term
plans.

41. 2. Mapping context - The theory

42. Stop me if this sounds familiar
As a consultant I am
● Regularly placed into new organizations
● Expected to deliver value quickly
● Face difficult challenges
What if I could deliberately try to map my
context ?

43. A concrete example of mapping
context

44. They are not about the likelihood

45. If a fire happens , how bad will it be

46. They are the map to your context

47. Understanding the context
Lets us make the
right decision in
the event of a
fire.

48. Context will have its impact
regardless of your awareness of it

49. Mapping an organization

50. How deep do you map
Let’s look at the levels of context the
consultant pays attention to. These levels
will be
● A lens through which you can
understand context
● A guide to a consultant's level of maturity

51. First level of context : Solution
How we help when
we don’t listen.

52. Second Level of context : Problem
What we learn when
we listen.

53. Third Level of context : Power
Who do you need to
convince ?

54. Fourth Level of context : Mindset
How does the
client think ?
How does the
client change ?

55. A note on Mindset Vs Culture
Culture : What you do
Mindset : How you think

56. My company's main purpose is not
agile transformation
We are normally brought in to help a
company deliver.
However ...

57. An example - Acme Inc

58. Into Acme we bring
Our solution
● Technical quality
● Iterative
Development
● New tech and
process
● Focus on delivery

59. What Acme needs …
● Their devs are
really good
● The problem is
what is being
delivered is having
no effect on the
company's bottom
line.

60. Who or what is enabling this ?
● The UX lead has
little power
● HiPPO decisions
are being made

61. What is root cause ?
● There is a mindset
that delivery alone
equals success, not
the impact of what is
delivered.

62. Sometimes we must work a little
deeper to be able to deliver
Changing their
mindset will allow
for client success.

63. When we start working for a client we
know little
We don’t know what we
don’t know.

64. Enter : The Johari window
Public
Private
Blind Spot
Hidden
Known to only the client
Known only by meKnown to both the client and me
Known to neither of us

65. Over time - what we want
Public
Private
Blind
Spot
HiddenKnown to only the client
Known only by me
Known to both the client and me
Known to neither of us

66. Mapping context - The theory
● We can view an org context through
different lenses.
● The most important context to
understand is mindset.
● Creating shared understanding of a
client's context will allow for trust and
better decisions.

67. 3. Mapping Context - Practice

68. First rule : pay attention
From before we sign the contract.
Until after we roll off.

69. The gap between what they say and
what they do

70. The gap between what they say and
what they do

71. How they treat failure : blame

72. How they treat failure : shame

73. How they treat failure : vulnerability

74. How they deal with the new:
Fixed or Growth mindset

75. First rule : pay attention
Public
Private
Blind Spot
Hidden
Known to only the client
Known only by meKnown to both the client and me
Known to neither of us

76. Second rule : Relationships matter

77. Moving beyond prescription
The client needs to have a foundation
to engage with you on a deeper level.
We need to aim for some measure of
vulnerability on both sides.

78. Caring , curious and committed
We need to listen , the client needs to feel
listened to.
Meet them where they are , not where
you wish them to be.

79. Second rule : Relationships matter
Public
Private
Blind Spot
Hidden
Known to only the client
Known only by meKnown to both the client and me
Known to neither of us

80. Third rule : Embrace change
As a consultancy we
lean heavily into lean
and agile practice.
It’s not a an accident
that we choose these
tools.

81. Tools of the trade : Agile and lean
Both of them are focused
on mapping context.
Agile probes your current
context by doing.
Lean analyzes your current
context and then acts.

82. Adaptive Moves
Learning by doing is a key underpinning of
agile consulting.

83. Third rule: Embrace change
Public
Private
Blind Spot
Hidden
Known to only the client
Known only by meKnown to both the client and me
Known to neither of us

84. These are the moments you pay
attention to
This starts from the first interaction with
the client.
These are the points where the client
comes into sharpest focus.

85. Phase 1 : Getting the job

86. A ‘Tender’ moment

87. Show me your budget …

88. Those that came before me

89. Phase 2 : Before the first release

90. The First prioritization

91. The Second prioritization

92. The ‘Trust me I’m a consultant’
moment

93. Phase 3 : After the first release

94. When it fails

95. When it succeeds

96. The ‘Slower to go faster’ moment

97. Mapping Context - Practice
● Use every interaction as a chance to
learn.
● Build your relationships.
● Look for patterns.

98. 4 . Using our map

99. Your map
You have moved past
your default solution to
the real problem. You
have built power base to
enable the changing of
the mindset of the
team/organisation.
Problem
Solution
Power
Mindset

100. How do you use the map ?
1. Understand how working for your client is
changing your behaviour
2. You use your map to change the
landscape

101. Being aware

102. Context changes our behaviour
You need to know when you’re making the
right call because you are wisely responding
to your context
Or are making the call because it is easy.

103. Are you going there because it’s
where everyone else has gone ?

104. Using your map for change

105. You now
understand the
rules
You can start to
play the game

106. Lets apply this to our previous Acme
Inc Example
● Problem exists with
poor choices on
features.
● UX has no power ,
HiPPO decisions.
● Focus on delivery
not impact.

107. Is our default solution the right one ?
Agile delivery
Is it hurting or helping
the client ? Well ...

108. Are we solving the real problem ?
Delivered features have no
impact on bottom line.
Currently no , this where we
ask permission to change our
focus.

109. Do we have powerful backers ?
Hopefully we have been
building our relationships.
We need to influence and at
the right moment teach.
We can never stop listening.

110. What's the mindset that needs to shift
?
Output over outcome.
How do you change mindset ?

111. There is no one way
This is why you mapped the context.
All contexts are different.
However there is a common technique ...

112. Your Context changes you

113. Your Context changes you

114. Your Context changes you

115. Deliberate Practice

116. A practice can do more than one
thing
A showcase is both a checkpoint for
feedback/celebration
AND
A way of highlighting the continuous
delivery mindset.

117. When trying to change a mindset
Choose practices that highlight , broadcast
or reward the desired mindset

118. People learn by modeling
● Exemplar Teams
● Blended Teams
● Hiring for mindset

119. Transparent Failures
● Showcases - when you would prefer not
to
● Information Radiation
● Daily Case

120. From certainty of outcome to
certainty of learning
● “What will we learn” as the point
● RAT - Riskiest assumption test
● Ease of Rollback over perfect release

121. Being Deliberately Developmental
● Practice your backhand
● Feedback culture
● The Coaching habit

122. Your context will change

123. Sometimes suddenly

124. Sometimes because of your action

125. Changing context
● Focus on the side effects of practice -
both existing and what you want to
introduce.
● Never stop mapping.
● You're in a complex adaptive system -
sometimes there will be unwanted side
effects.

126. Summary
Context shapes us but can be shaped by us
acting deliberately.

127. You may have noticed ...
That these techniques can be used by
anyone.
If you're in an organization you can map an
organization.
If you can map an organization you can
change an organization.

128. My goal is not that you leave with answers
but that you leave with questions.

129. Have the vulnerability to admit
ignorance
Public
Private
Blind Spot
Hidden
What is the problem in your organization
that is obvious to outsiders ?

130. Have the courage to ask the
unpopular questions
Public
Private
Blind Spot
Hidden
What is the problem that your
organization knows about but chooses to
ignore ?

131. Be prepared for the challenge to
come
Public
Private
Blind Spot
Hidden
What is the adaptive move that you can
make to see the next problem?

132. You have been
marinating in
your context
long enough

133. Map your
context
Pot
Boiling
Water
You !

134. Change
your
context !!

135. That's it
When you are finished
finding your own
questions
Do you have any for me ?

136. Resources Thanks to my girl ,
ricky , dius for the
feedback.
Twitter :
@CaoilteDunne
Linked in : Caoilte
Dunne