Forth Discipline : Question Traditions
No workplace is free of traditions: in fact, establishing traditions is inherent to our human nature hence computer-related workplaces, whether they deal with software development or IT operations, are also bound to some forms of traditionalism.
We should become very aware of these traditions and by no means be afraid to question them. Very often a tradition acts as disabling force instead of simply being a neutral vector of knowledge. The same way they can turn a living faith into a dead religion, traditions can weight on decision making process and orient them into cumbersome or counterproductive acts.
There are many patterns under which traditions could take place in your working environment: it is crucial to get used to expose them. Here are three examples, that you can use as starting points for your inquiry:
- the “self-perpetuating pain”, where the cause of a problem or the limitation of a system is long time gone, but the workarounds or constrictions that were put in place remain - unquestioned,
- the infamous “we have always done it that way”, where the reason of a particular choice has been forgotten and, or more accurately, hence becomes impossible to change,
- the “myth of the mountain”, where a practice, a system or a person is considered impossible to change or improve simply because communication as given way to prejudice.
Of course, we all know that questioning practices that have reached the status of habits is a very difficult endeavor, if not a risky one. Questioning a tradition goes far beyond the act of merely discussing a decision or a piece of knowledge: it sometimes touches the very fundamentals of an organization and will instinctively be considered as being destructive.
In the course of your adventure through traditional aspects of your organization, you will quickly find out that the most virulent supporters of a particular habit will be the ones who suffer the most of it: for them, enforcing such a painful tradition is close to the psychological trait known as capture-bonding.
Knowing the powerful psychological forces at stake in such a process, a wise craftsman will become a cunning tactician: he will avoid a direct confrontation and favor a more subtle approach, like systematically undermining practices that are peripheral to the targeted tradition or evangelizing intermediaries who can approach its fervent keepers.
