The Accidental CIO

2Philosophies for a New System

Lean thinking defines value as providing benefit to the customer; anything else is waste.

—Eric Ries

The Toyota style is not to create results by working hard. It is a system that says there is no limit to people's creativity. People don't go to Toyota to “work” they go there to “think.”

—Taiichi Ohno

I think it's very important to have a feedback loop, where you're constantly thinking about what you've done and how you could be doing it better. I think that's the single best piece of advice—constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.

—Elon Musk

How do we approach solving problems in the exploration of new business models and exploitation of incumbent ones? How do we manage development and delivery in the unordered problem space? And how do we gain situational awareness so that we can apply the most suitable method for problem discovery, solution approach, and delivery execution for each specific problem context?

To answer these questions this book will explore a new adaptable operating model for IT, and in this chapter you will learn about the fundamental principles behind four philosophies that will form the foundations of that operating model:

• Design Thinking A creative, nonlinear and iterative approach for complex problem solving based on empathizing with customer needs.
• Lean Thinking A human-centered philosophy focused on increasing the flow of customer value, achieved through continuous ...