57 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
57 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 4: Doctrine
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## Definition
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Doctrine = universal business principles applicable across industries. Unlike climatic patterns (which affect you regardless), doctrine represents deliberate principles you choose to adopt. Key distinction: doctrine *principles* (abstract) vs doctrine *implementation* (context-specific).
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## Eight Core Doctrines
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### 1. Focus on User Need
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Anchor decisions on actual customer needs, not business assumptions. Revenue/profit follow from satisfying users. Common pitfalls: confusing customer needs with business requirements, bias toward legacy systems.
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### 2. Use a Common Language
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Maps serve as universal language enabling cross-functional collaboration. Without shared frameworks, translation errors and misalignment proliferate between departments.
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### 3. Be Transparent
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Share maps so assumptions can be challenged constructively. Transparency prevents "walking an Army through a minefield."
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### 4. Challenge Assumptions
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Every member bears responsibility for questioning decisions. Retribution against challengers is "a deadly sin."
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### 5. Remove Duplication and Bias
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Organizations unconsciously duplicate components across units. Real examples: 380 isolated ERP systems (chemical company), 740+ duplications (energy company), 1,000+ risk management systems (bank). Profile diagrams aggregate maps to reveal repetition and bias.
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### 6. Use Appropriate Methods
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Different components need different development approaches. Applying specification-heavy contracts to uncertain components guarantees expensive change-control battles. Maps reveal which to outsource vs build in-house.
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### 7. Think Small
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Decompose systems into components, structure teams around them. Amazon's "Two Pizza" model, Haier's cell-based structure. Teams need defined interfaces, fitness functions, and decision autonomy.
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### 8. Think Aptitude and Attitude
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Three attitudes mapped to evolution stages:
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- **Pioneers**: explore uncharted territory, accept high failure rates, build future possibilities
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- **Settlers**: transform prototypes into products, balance innovation with reliability
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- **Town Planners**: industrialize through standardization, efficiency, scale
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Misaligning attitude with domain creates dysfunction.
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## Design for Constant Evolution
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The "mechanism of theft" cycle:
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1. Town planners industrialize components into utilities
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2. Pioneers build higher-order systems consuming these utilities
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3. Settlers productize repeating patterns
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4. Town planners industrialize those products
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Three success pillars (from Daniel Pink's *Drive*): Purpose, Autonomy, Mastery.
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## Key Takeaways
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1. Doctrine are tools, not universal laws - implementation is context-specific
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2. Transparency and challenge create competitive advantage
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3. Duplication destroys capability - solving same problems repeatedly prevents innovation
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4. Structure drives culture, not vice versa
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5. Appropriate methods by evolution stage prevent cost disasters
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6. Pioneer-Settler-Town Planner structures remain extremely rare but highly effective
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7. Dual structures (only pioneers + town planners) eliminate the critical middle (settlers)
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