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Living Complexity: Practical applications of Human Complexity in software and digital products development
This book describes 15 practical applications of Human Complexity in the context of software and digital products development. And suggests a new strategy for introducing Complexity thinking to your team and your organisation. It connects the dots between all the practices presented to give a glimpse of the modern organisations able to cope with and exploit Complexity, their traits and characteristics. It contains stories, practical tips, and insightful conclusions.
This book is for leaders, managers, facilitators, change agents (Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches), and all team members.
This book is for leaders, managers, facilitators, change agents (Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches), and all team members.
245 pages, Paperback
Published October 22, 2020
2 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Luca Minudel
4 books3 followersLuca Minudel (he/him) is an Engineering/Product management advisor, mentor, and Agility/XP/Lean and Complexity-thinking practitioner. He has over 20 years of experience in professional software delivery and digital product development.
He is passionate about agility, lean, complexity science, and co-creation.
He contributed to the adoption of lean and agile practices by Ferrari's F1 racing team. For ThoughtWorks, he delivered training, coaching, assessments and organisational transformations in top-tier organisations in Europe and the United States.
Companies such as Lloyds Banking Group, Japan Tobacco International, BP energy company, The AA, HSBC, and LexisNexis, are among his clients.
Luca is the founder and CEO of SmHarter.com, a company that helps organisations turn their way of working into their competitive advantage.
Mastodon: https://mstdn.social/@lukadotnet/
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucaminudel/
Blog: https://www.smharter.com/blog/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/lucaminudel....
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lukadotnet
He is passionate about agility, lean, complexity science, and co-creation.
He contributed to the adoption of lean and agile practices by Ferrari's F1 racing team. For ThoughtWorks, he delivered training, coaching, assessments and organisational transformations in top-tier organisations in Europe and the United States.
Companies such as Lloyds Banking Group, Japan Tobacco International, BP energy company, The AA, HSBC, and LexisNexis, are among his clients.
Luca is the founder and CEO of SmHarter.com, a company that helps organisations turn their way of working into their competitive advantage.
Mastodon: https://mstdn.social/@lukadotnet/
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucaminudel/
Blog: https://www.smharter.com/blog/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/lucaminudel....
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lukadotnet
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
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July 23, 2020The world is becoming more interconnected and faster-paced resulting in ever-increasing unanticipated change. This increasing complexity is a challenge for individuals and organisations accustomed to predicting and controlling their environments. To navigate the world by predicting and controlling is becoming increasingly impotent.
Over the years, Luca and I have spent much time discussing our experiences in helping clients benefit from complexity thinking. Often debated over meals and drinks, we have shared our challenges in conveying to organisations the nature of the increasingly complex world in which they operate.
We’ve recognised that working with complexity is an emergent phenomenon which isn’t apparent to many leaders and organisations. Even if those individuals recognise complexity’s relevance, there are few techniques and approaches that are appropriate and easily at hand. This is where Living with Complexity comes in.
Living with Complexity is a compendium of practices which helps individuals and organisations deal with complexity at a team-level. This book provides approaches to those wanting to employ complexity thinking without needing to become complexity theorists. It is also relevant to complexity theorists interested in accessible practices to apply their thinking.
I thank Luca for addressing a gap in the market in offering support for those wishing to recognise and work with complexity. I would invite you to make use of and then reflect upon these practices. I would also invite you to offer Luca insights and experiences to continue to close that gap.
With this resource at our side, together we can support others to live with complexity.
Dean Latchana
Business Agility Consultant
July 2020
Over the years, Luca and I have spent much time discussing our experiences in helping clients benefit from complexity thinking. Often debated over meals and drinks, we have shared our challenges in conveying to organisations the nature of the increasingly complex world in which they operate.
We’ve recognised that working with complexity is an emergent phenomenon which isn’t apparent to many leaders and organisations. Even if those individuals recognise complexity’s relevance, there are few techniques and approaches that are appropriate and easily at hand. This is where Living with Complexity comes in.
Living with Complexity is a compendium of practices which helps individuals and organisations deal with complexity at a team-level. This book provides approaches to those wanting to employ complexity thinking without needing to become complexity theorists. It is also relevant to complexity theorists interested in accessible practices to apply their thinking.
I thank Luca for addressing a gap in the market in offering support for those wishing to recognise and work with complexity. I would invite you to make use of and then reflect upon these practices. I would also invite you to offer Luca insights and experiences to continue to close that gap.
With this resource at our side, together we can support others to live with complexity.
Dean Latchana
Business Agility Consultant
July 2020
September 29, 2020
Giving a five star review for a book indicates that I know I will refer back to it multiple times and recommend it enthusiastically to those working in the agile sphere.
In this “catalogue of practices”, Minudel presents and interprets the work of several thought leaders, past and present, in an accessible and concise style whilst demonstrating practical applications of complexity sciences. There is a consistent structure throughout the book, with each practice being logically laid out into four parts: overview, purpose, relation to complexity and description.
Part one introduces self-organisation as a social process, by means of six models.
Part two demonstrates how to assess and adapt to complexity, with another six models.
Part three is for other useful practices, followed by an appendix of resources and a “who is who” guide.
“Human Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) are specific kinds of complex systems where agents are human beings that have free will, disposition, spontaneity, creativity, and are able to learn, adapt to the circumstances and co-evolve with the surrounding environment.”
Those of us working with teams do not need cookie-cutter directions, rather we need “Manoeuvre Agilty” and tools to help us effectively intervene and influence the dynamics of social complexity. There is much here to excite agile practitioners, there being an assumption of experience and skill in group practice. If you’re already familiar with using the “cone of uncertainty” to explain estimation in a complex environment, or Cynefin to assess an appropriate approach, then “Living Complexity” will take you further on a real world journey of discovery.
Living Complexity: A catalogue of practices for everyday Software and Digital Products Development
Luca Minudel
In this “catalogue of practices”, Minudel presents and interprets the work of several thought leaders, past and present, in an accessible and concise style whilst demonstrating practical applications of complexity sciences. There is a consistent structure throughout the book, with each practice being logically laid out into four parts: overview, purpose, relation to complexity and description.
Part one introduces self-organisation as a social process, by means of six models.
Part two demonstrates how to assess and adapt to complexity, with another six models.
Part three is for other useful practices, followed by an appendix of resources and a “who is who” guide.
“Human Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) are specific kinds of complex systems where agents are human beings that have free will, disposition, spontaneity, creativity, and are able to learn, adapt to the circumstances and co-evolve with the surrounding environment.”
Those of us working with teams do not need cookie-cutter directions, rather we need “Manoeuvre Agilty” and tools to help us effectively intervene and influence the dynamics of social complexity. There is much here to excite agile practitioners, there being an assumption of experience and skill in group practice. If you’re already familiar with using the “cone of uncertainty” to explain estimation in a complex environment, or Cynefin to assess an appropriate approach, then “Living Complexity” will take you further on a real world journey of discovery.
Living Complexity: A catalogue of practices for everyday Software and Digital Products Development
Luca Minudel
August 19, 2023
This is not a comprehensive guide for the theory of complexity but a small collection of simple (but in many cases - useful) mental models that can be applied to understand, classify & tackle complexity in various situations.
My favorite ones: the basic model (how it's split into "control knobs"), the heat model (that nicely resonates with me being convinced that maintaining a fragile balance is a keep to succeed in literally everything <3), certainty x agreement matrix, and RUDE. Some models are already well known (so they were not a novelty for me) - e.g., the flow model of Cynefin. All the models are covered briefly but in a clear way & using the same (yet not perfect) format.
3.7 stars - some nice tools that are worthy getting familiar with.
My favorite ones: the basic model (how it's split into "control knobs"), the heat model (that nicely resonates with me being convinced that maintaining a fragile balance is a keep to succeed in literally everything <3), certainty x agreement matrix, and RUDE. Some models are already well known (so they were not a novelty for me) - e.g., the flow model of Cynefin. All the models are covered briefly but in a clear way & using the same (yet not perfect) format.
3.7 stars - some nice tools that are worthy getting familiar with.
October 6, 2020
A great read if your team is migrating to agile working, where change management becomes imperative and where team reactions become akin to complex systems in thermodynamics. In some ways, this feels like an odd homage to Asimov's psychohistory where you can use this catalogue and apply suggested lessons learnt to the initially perceived unpredictability of changing teams and see surprisingly predictable and positive results.
Plus, a great read for nerds in leadership positions :)
Plus, a great read for nerds in leadership positions :)
October 29, 2020
“Living Complexity” is a book that can help leaders and managers to guide their teams through organisational change, especially phenomena known as “digital transformation”. It supplies the tools they may need to make sense of a complex environment and provides a vocabulary to communicate it to teams effectively. The book makes clear that in order for an organisation to be able to experiment, work creatively, innovative, or stay competitive, those doing the work must understand that they are working in a complex environment, and embrace it.
Part 1 of the book presents some of the better-known techniques, models and frameworks for recognising complexity in organisation (Basic, Heat, Flow, Cynefin), and packages them up into an easily digestible compendium. It strikes a balance between academic studies, history and science on the one hand, and practical application (with examples) on the other. Part 2 of the book provides tools needed to diagnose levels of complexity and supplies several options for how to estimate work based on complexity.
“Living Complexity” is a very useful book which leaders will want to reach for as a reference to better understand the theory and then put it into practice.
Part 1 of the book presents some of the better-known techniques, models and frameworks for recognising complexity in organisation (Basic, Heat, Flow, Cynefin), and packages them up into an easily digestible compendium. It strikes a balance between academic studies, history and science on the one hand, and practical application (with examples) on the other. Part 2 of the book provides tools needed to diagnose levels of complexity and supplies several options for how to estimate work based on complexity.
“Living Complexity” is a very useful book which leaders will want to reach for as a reference to better understand the theory and then put it into practice.
November 15, 2020
Living Complexity is a methodical work, that fills a gap in the extensive - and sometimes difficult to navigate - body of work around complexity, and how different approaches and ideas blend and interact with the world of Agile.
I believe its conciseness and structure make it a good companion for Agile coaches, and can be read both cover to cover, as well as by referring to specific parts (although it's worth paying attention to the first chapter, where Luca explains how the book is structured).
This book is more a compass than a primer, it helps the reader navigate through different practices and ideas, while offering pointers and advices on how to apply them. I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the topic!
I believe its conciseness and structure make it a good companion for Agile coaches, and can be read both cover to cover, as well as by referring to specific parts (although it's worth paying attention to the first chapter, where Luca explains how the book is structured).
This book is more a compass than a primer, it helps the reader navigate through different practices and ideas, while offering pointers and advices on how to apply them. I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the topic!
December 7, 2020
Living Complexity is a great book that you can read and reference time and again.
In a clearly structured way, Luca explores some models around managing complexity and self organisation in teams, and then explores practices to understand your situation and context.
It is clearly written, and well indexed to help you quickly find that nugget that you want to use.
It is a great foundation of the topic of Complexity, and provides a practical approach that is framework agnostic - which makes it even more useful on your reference shelf.
In a clearly structured way, Luca explores some models around managing complexity and self organisation in teams, and then explores practices to understand your situation and context.
It is clearly written, and well indexed to help you quickly find that nugget that you want to use.
It is a great foundation of the topic of Complexity, and provides a practical approach that is framework agnostic - which makes it even more useful on your reference shelf.
November 26, 2020
Writer, creator is very important, I am sitting rather on the other bench of implementing and testing. I enjoyed the book and its endeavours. Have spend some time with Lean, by being implemented on me and later implementing it further on other organization in different roles from CRO, COO, and now CEO. I believe is great read and way how to support your use of Luca complex experiences with Lean simpler on on org.
September 14, 2020
Good curation of some models and techniques to help Product teams deal better with the complexity in their work.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews