The Big “D”, Little “r” Problem and the case for Discovery Truth #1 – The Importance of Discovery. Traditional Management places a strong emphasis on Development “D” over the value of Research “r” which manifests as a tendency to “protect and conserve precious engineering resources” by focusing on development while avoiding the costs of conducting research. However, studies strongly indicate that software product’s most consistent problems are: A lack of Product/Market Fit – (Lack Value Discovery) Software projects are often riddled with instability – (Lack of Chaos Discovery) Value and Chaos Discovery are Research Driven activities. However, The implementation-biased industry has purposefully constrained “r” and, in so doing, they have significantly, negatively impacted profitability which can only be realized by unleashing research activities. Creative Management driven companies are all-in on the Importance of Discovery, and they have embraced the truths inherent in the Theory of Discovery. Case in point: Mark Zuckerberg in a 2017 Masters of Scale Podcast interview with Reed Huffman said: “I think the strategy of Facebook is to learn as quickly as possible what our community wants us to do.” – which speaks to the desire to discover value To facilitate a culture of Discovery, Zuckerberg created a mantra “Move fast and break things” Later, as the cost of dealing with system chaos increased, Zuckerberg refined his mantra to: “Move fast with stable infrastructure” – which speaks to the need to discover Chaos. Practice of R&D in Traditional Companies: The Big “D”, Little “r” Problem. ©2018 iiSM.ORG, All Rights Reserved. Click slide to see in context of slide deck
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