Managing Software for Growth: Without Fear, Control, and the Manufacturing Mindset

Chapter 10. Thinking Differently

The ladies at a family reunion were having an argument over the right way to boil a chicken. One argued for breaking off the legs and wings before putting it in the pot. Somebody asked her why she did that. She said, “Because mother did it that way.” She didn't know why, so the group went and asked her mother. She said, “Because grandmother did it that way.” She didn't know why either, so the group went and asked grandmother. She said, “Because we only had one pot, and it was too small.”

The reason we get stuck has a lot to do with what I would call thought lock-in. This happens when we make some assumptions, and those assumptions lock us into a certain way of thinking. Brian Arthur describes that phenomenon ...