The Agile Organization as a Learning System With Tom Gilb and Simon Holzapfel
Description
BONUS: The Agile Organization as a Learning System
Think Like a Farmer, Not a Factory Manager
"Go slow to go fast. If you want to go somewhere, go together as a team. Take a farmer's mentality."
Simon contrasts monoculture industrial thinking with the permaculture approach of Joel Salatin. Industrial approaches optimize for short-term efficiency but create fragile systems. Farmer thinking recognizes that healthy ecosystems require patience, diversity, and nurturing conditions for growth. The nervous system that's constantly stressed never builds much over time—think of the body, trust the body, let the body be a body.
Value Masters, Not Scrum Masters
"We need value masters, not Scrum Masters. Agile is a useful tool for delivering value, but value itself is primary. Everything else is secondary—Agile included."
Tom makes his most provocative point: if you asked a top manager whether they'd prefer an agile person or value delivery, the answer is obvious. Agile is one tactic among many for delivering value—not even a necessary one. The shift required is from process mastery to value mastery, from Scrum Masters to people who understand and can deliver on critical stakeholder values.
The DOVE Manifesto
"I wrote a paper called DOVE—Deliver Optimum Values Efficiently. It's the manifesto focusing on delivering value, delivering value, delivering value."
Tom offers his alternative to the Agile Manifesto: a set of principles laser-focused on value delivery. The document includes 10 principles on a single page that can guide any organization toward genuine impact. Everything else—processes, frameworks, methodologies—are secondary tools in service of this primary goal.
Read Tom's DOVE manifesto here.
Building the Glue Between Social and Physical Technology
"Value is created in interactions. That's where the social and physical technology meet—that joyous boundary where stuff gets done."
Simon describes seeing the world through two lenses: physical technology (visible tools and systems) and social technology (culture, relationships, the air we breathe). Eric Beinhoeker's insight is that progress happens at the intersection. The Gilbian learning loops provide the structure; trust and human connection provide the fuel. Together, they create organizations that can actually learn and adapt.
Further Reading To Support Your Learning Journey
Resources & Further Reading
Explore these curated resources to deepen your understanding of strategic planning, value-based management, and transformative organizational change.
📚 Essential Reading
Tom Gilb's seminal book on requirements engineering and value-based development approaches.
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