The Design of business

Following on from the Opposable Mind, I checked out another book by Roger Martin called The Design of business.

I loved this book. It’s a great addition to the Opposable Mind and it felt to me like an extension of it too. The knowledge funnel particularly stuck with me and it was probably the most valuable thing I took away from the book. I apply it to everything I do now, so that I can try to get a better understanding of where I sit within the bigger picture.

The Knowledge Funnel

Roger Martin argues that when it comes to understanding something, it can be broken into three sections (with the exception of a few areas).

Mystery - Heuristic - Algorithm

Mystery - Why do leave and apples fall at different rates?

Heuristic - Gravity!

Algorithm - Newtons law of universal gravity.

The book mentions that the likes of McDonalds have everything down to an algorithm, from how to interview people through to how long you should cook a burger for. However, the likes of law firms dealing with complex cases cannot simply apply an algorithm to every case. They may use a heuristic to loosely deal with the given situation, but they will need to address each case as a highly unique and individual scenario.

The book does focus on a lot of business, but I don't think anyone should let that put them off. I feel that you can easily apply the concepts in this book to everyday life. Saying that however, there is an amazing section on reliability Vs Validity.

Reliability Vs Validity

“Reliability aims to produce consistent, predictable outcomes, Validity aims to produce outcomes that meet a desired objective.”

Roger Martin - The Design of Business.

The book discusses that in order for a company to remain successful and innovative they need to find a balance between the two, but it also says that the two are inherently incompatible.

Validity is uncertain, you can't give it a budget because no one knows how long it will take to develop something from a mystery into a heuristic, or from a heuristic into an algorithm. The negative side of this is that if a company sticks only to what is reliable, there is a good chance that they will stagnate and a competitor will release a more innovative product, making their own obsolete.

Final Words

This book is excellent and I advise everyone to read it. However, I strongly suggest reading The Opposable Mind first and then going on to The Design of Business.

Let me know what you think and if you know of any similar books, please comment below and tell me about them.

If you like what you've read so far, or would like more details on the book, you can head over to Amazon for a closer look.

Phil.