Double loop learning: question assumptions & start thinking outside the box - retrospective method

Teams tend to & #8211; if at all & #8211; eventually only incrementally, in small increments. And that’s very good for now. But at the same time you sometimes have familiar behaviors with which you have come to terms. Here it is difficult to break out of the rut. 

If this is the case with you, it is time for the following workshop that opens your eyes and encourages lateral thinking. And through “double loop learning”. But read for yourself.

The exercise

The following exercise will help you & #8211; and most of all, helping the team understand what double loop learning is. Just follow the steps below:

• The team lines up in a circle.
• An order is defined in the team, from 1 to X = number of team members. The order is determined in zigzag with the person always opposite & #8211; see image.
• Each team member throws a ball (eg tennis ball) to & #8211; according to the order of the opposite person (person 1 to person 2, person 2 to person 3; see picture). as fast as possible and if possible without the ball falling.

• 

1. The time is measured & #8211; and the number of mistakes (how often the ball falls). You can record the results of each experiment on a flipchart so that everyone can see the “incremental improvements” of the team.

2. Then repeat the same with two balls & #8211; possibly three.

   1. Here you should do a few rounds so that the team motivates each other to get better.
   2. The record is likely to be around 20 & #8211; 40 seconds (depending on the number of team members)

3. Now the Scrum Master * gets a call from Japan & #8211; a team from Japan accomplishes the same challenge in under 5 seconds! One could also say that the Japanese can produce the product much better.

   1. So the Scrum Master calls the offer: tossing the balls back and forth is practically your product, and the customer has the criterion “as quickly as possible” for the product. Can you manage as a team to develop a better product than the Japanese? So do the exercise in under 5 seconds?

4. At this point, the team becomes thoughtful: “Oh, you can question the rules ?!” Typically, the (quite permitted) ideas now come: “Okay, we don’t have to throw the ball at us & #8211; we can just put it in our hands. And besides, we don’t always have to zigzag & #8211; you can also stand side by side in the right order. ”

   1. Possibly. the team thinks that you create a spiral with your hands and that everyone touches the ball only once with one hand & #8211; or other creative solutions. Less than 5 seconds is then feasible.
   2. The team can be given a few minutes to do this again. However, a deadline of 3 minutes should be set soon after trying out a few minutes. 

5. A small tip can also be given in an emergency so that the team has a sense of achievement. A really good time could be 2 seconds.

6. In the end, everyone can sit down again. And the (hopefully experienced) “moral of history” is then: If you question the rules, you can get radically better.

For discussion in the retro

When you’re done with the exercise, it’s the right time to look at the results of the retro. The following items you should have asked:

• In my team, we regularly question our usual procedures.
• We question decisions once made, if new experiences or facts speak for them.
• If I don’t understand the meaning of tasks, I question them instead of simply doing them.

If you get the retro feedback from the team in advance, you have an “unbiased” opinion of the team and can answer the following questions validly: Would you really say that you are questioning your usual procedures? Do you really question decisions? Or the sense of tasks? At what points could this perhaps reveal potential?

One step further

Hopefully you have the team’s attention now. To use this attention and willingness, and to lay the foundation for radical further developments, you can follow the steps: 

• Ask the following question, which everyone first answers for themselves: What are your assumptions as a team & #8211; for no reason? Be radical: “You shouldn’t disappoint management. You have to be on time. Younger team members must respect older team members. ”What are the unspoken rules?

• After you get the results & #8211; without mutual comments & #8211; For example, in small groups, there comes the point where you can openly and critically question:

  • Is this justified for each of these firmly accepted assumptions?
  • What would happen if you did the opposite of these statements? What are you afraid of? Would it be justified?
  • If you would only consider these assumptions as hypotheses & #8211; which of them would you like to check? With which experiment would this be possible?
  • What rule would we have to break to create a huge lever? 
  • Where could there be little resistance?

This is not about creating anarchy. But the point is to raise awareness that many things are simply accepted without being questioned. Although there is great potential to be dormant in such places.

Psychological background

What takes place here in the team is also called “double loop learning”: You question twice, and thus come to the basic assumptions of your world view. You can then use it to further refine your view of the world and lay the foundation for further developments.

You can find more information in this (mediocre) video, which explains double loop learning more clearly. 

We are excited to see what rules you let go unspoken about you. 

Now that you may have become a little more innovative, next time you have yours  Improve communication  or the  Increase motivation  would like, then please have a look at the corresponding  Retros with Echometer .