Zen and the Nature of Scale

Looks can be deceptive.

16th-century ink painting of a business owner meeting a Buddhist master in a serene temple setting. Detailed line work and ink washes, wooden pillars and curved eaves, incense smoke swirling in the air, a Buddha statue in the background, calm and reflective atmosphere, muted earthy colors, intricate patterns on robes, traditional calligraphy scrolls on the walls, harmonious composition, ethereal and spiritual mood. — A director and a Master. Image created with AI by Midjourney.

“Today was a big day for us, Master,” said the CEO. “We finished implementing the Scaled Agile Framework!”

“That sounds impressive,” said the Master. “But Enlighten me, what does it do?”

“It allows our teams to work together effectively across our entire company!” said the CEO.

“Well, well,” said the Master, “so I reckon they weren’t able to do so before?”

“Not at all, Master,” said the CEO. “Our communication wasn’t structured. Everybody was just talking to everybody. From my perspective, the company looked like a giant ants’ nest!”

“I see,” said the Master, “so you believe that ants do not work together effectively?”

At that moment, the CEO was Enlightened.

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Article index

Scrum: A Scrum Koan; A Daily Scrum Koan; Scrum and the Road to Enlightenment; The Developer who did Everything Right; The Pathway to Heaven is Paved with Thoughtful Questions; A Story Point Koan; Zen and the Definition of Done
Security: A Lightweight Information Security Management System (Part I) ★; A Lightweight Information Security Management System (Part II) ★; A Lightweight Information Security Management System (Part III) ★
Communication: A Developer’s Guide to Collaborative Communication; On The Law of Demeter and the Power of Nuanced Discourse; Marshall Rosenberg and the Angry Luthier
Project management: In Praise of the Messy Development Cycle; Lost in Translation? Build a Project Dictionary; Why the Project Trilemma Doesn’t Apply to Application Development; The Importance of Marrying the Right Project Management Tool; Zen and the Nature of Flow; The Nature of Flow; Stop Asking for Estimates; The Art of Creating More Value With Less Work; How to Achieve Flow in Software Development; A Student and her Tardy Teachers; Zen and the Contest of the Two Teams; A Game of Okaloa Flowlab; A Game of Prisoner’s Dilemma; How to Reduce Lead Times; Why Two is a Great Team Size; How to Turn Around a Stalled Development Process; Two Ways of Achieving Nothing
Technology: A Return to Simplicity
Collaboration: An Inquiry into Liberating Structures (part I) ★; Zen and the Paradox of Liberating Structures; Exploring the 1-2-4-All Micropattern (An Inquiry into Liberating Structures, part II) ★; Scattered to the Four Winds; Exploring The Nine Whys (An Inquiry into Liberating Structures, part III) ★; Zen and the Nature of Scale
Testing: Specification by Example for Reluctant Product Managers ★; Software Testing for Reluctant Product Managers ★; Why You Need a Staging System for Acceptance Testing, and How to Set It Up; Don’t Use Consumers (or Users) as Guinea Pigs; Beethoven, Obama, and the Perils of A/B-testing; Zen and the Art of Rubber Duck Debugging
Design: The Masterpiece; Design as an Emerging Property of User Needs; Zen and the Case of the Blue Roses
Science: A Guide to Understanding Scientific Studies (part I) ★; A Guide to Understanding Scientific Studies (part II) ★; Beware the Man in the White Coat: A Guide to Understanding Scientific Studies (part III) ★; Zen and the Art of Listening; The Story of the Little Fact
Off-topic: My Festive Season’s Wishes to all Reluctant Product Managers
Legal: Dev Agencies, Drop the Fine Print! It’s Plain English That Reluctant Product Managers Need
Business: Zen and the Art of Gambling; The Sunk Cost Fallacy in Software Development; How Cost of Delay Improves Investment Decisions; Zen and the Discovery of Cost of Delay; The Sorcerer and the CFO; Zen and the Nature of Ideas; Zen and the Confident CEO
Hiring: How to Find Great Developers
Contracting: How to Minimize Vendor Lock-In as a Reluctant Product Manager
Marketing: SEO (Mostly) Doesn’t Matter. Focus on the Audience Instead (Part I); SEO (Mostly) Doesn’t Matter. Focus on the Audience Instead (Part II); The Three Shoemakers
Philosophy: Zen and the Principles of Construction; Zen and the Lazy Workers’ Boss; Zen and the Three Door Problem; Zen and the Art of Decision-Making; Zen and the Overzealous Student; Zen and the Feelings of AI; Zen and the Complaining Students; Zen and the Quest for Truth; The Tradesman’s New Kimono; Zen and the Meaning of Why; Zen and the Art of Collaboration; Zen and the Nine Whys; Zen and the Perils of Micromanagement; Zen and the Nature of Quality; Zen and the Nature of Thought
Books: The Books on the Reluctant Product Manager’s Bedside Table
Product management: When is a Product “Viable”? When it’s Finished
Risk management: Don’t be a data hoarder; Why the Risk Matrix is Broken – and What to use Instead
Domain modeling: Zen and the Shopkeeper’s Enigma