Leading By Hindsight

Agile is based on empirical process control: transparency , inspection and adaptation are the three pillars of empiricism. Empiricism is the mantra for agile practitioners.

Leading by hindsight therefore is expected… not leading by foresight. No big-up-front-design needed; plan as you go is expected… observing and adjusting all the time… prioritizing and refining work all the time… adapting accordingly as the need or situation requires.

This approach bothers all control-centric project managers… they want to lead by foresight. However, in a dynamic and ever changing environment, picking a design at the highest cone of uncertainty just to be able to ‘lead by foresight’ is silly, ridiculous, and foolish!

Instead, be agile … better still, be lean and agile! Embrace uncertainty! Narrow down uncertainty by continuously exploring, inspecting and adapting.

Thomas A. Edison narrowed down uncertainty by exploring different approaches — 10,000 times he did — leading to the first incandescent light bulb!