Dysfunction Mapping (DMP)

We like to get to know our students, and have them get to know each other. Introductions are informal and voluntary. We follow the introductions with the Ground Rules for class. We value transparency, and want to provide an environment suitable to everyone. So, we ask that students turn their cameras on, be polite, be 100% dedicated to the class, speak up and participate.

Empiricism is the foundation of all Agile and Lean approaches to managing work. We experience something, record our experiences in some way, then use those findings to identify areas of improvement, and actually follow through with continual improvement actions. Empiricism is a large part of Dysfunction Mapping, as it is now considered one of the many Agile Approaches.

People love throwing around the term 'Best Practices', without fully understanding that they just closed the door on improving those practices over time. We recognize that the Agile Values and Principles direct the Practices we adopt, and those Practices lead to determining the organizational culture. We use our understanding of the organization's culture to drive HOW we handle solving Dysfunctions.

A major revelation in Dysfunction Mapping is why we think a Dysfunction is a Dysfunction. Much of problem solving is putting yourself in the right frame of mind and questioning your own intuition. We foster developing a sense of understanding of the entire problem, but we can't succeed in doing that if the reasons for clearing a problem aren't fully understood.

What good is a solution if we can't tell if it is successful or not. We help identify  and suggest measurements that most people will miss.

It's time for an ice-breaker exercise. We all might have different reasons why we are taking a little-known class like this. We share why we are here, and  work to customize each class to the expectations of the students.

Imagine you are a new leader on a team. More than likely you are going to want to observe how the team operates, get a feel for who does what, and establish a mutual relationship, right? We explore how those practices become a fundamental part of problem solving. Through this exploration, we determine the differences between Observations, Symptoms, and Dysfunctions.

Let's face it, not ALL coaches out there are good (I didn't even say 'great'). Some are just BAD! We explore how Effective coaching helps us be more inwardly reflective on our impartiality (or lack thereof). If we operate from a position of bias, or personal agendas, we cannot put together a realistic Dysfunction Map.

All 'solutions' are hypotheses before they actually solve anything. We think a healthy way of describing potential solutions is by calling them hypotheses. That gives us a reason to reiterate on the Dysfunction Mapping process if our first pass is partially, or completely, unsuccessful.

We wrap the class with a summary of what students have done and learned, and appreciate our students. Depending on circumstances, we may setup further check-ins with students.