Fredrik Delin

Decoding Human behaviour: Laws every business leader should know As business and tech leaders, we're not just accountable for outcomes but driving change through others in complex organisational systems. Effective leadership today transcends traditional notions of ...

Read the full article I wrote to collect these leadership laws here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/decodi...

these laws remind us that leadership is more than just making choices; it's about the continuous effort to improve human connection, enabling collaboration, and creating a shared sense of purpose.

While we will never be able to "decode" human behaviour, these laws and principles offer valuable insight to understand better the intricate dynamics of communication, teamwork, and organisational change.

Weinberg's Law of Prerequisite Variety: highlights the need for adaptability and diverse skill sets. Weinberg's Law of Strawberry Jam: Spreading ourselves too thin diminishes our impact. Focus your efforts, build deep relationships, and prioritise one-on-one interactions for maximum influence.

The Laws of Unintended Consequences: Every action has a ripple effect. Our decisions, however well-intentioned, can have unforeseen outcomes. Before implementing a new policy or technology, consider the potential impacts on different stakeholders and anticipate potential pitfalls.

The Law of Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall: In the digital age, innovation is a constant race. Competitive advantages erode over time. This requires a culture of continuous learning, experimentation, and adaptation to stay ahead.

Shirky Principle: Institutions resist change, even when it's in their best interest. Change management is often more about navigating human dynamics than implementing identified areas of change.

Parkinson's Laws: Work expands to fill the time allotted, and we tend to spend the most time on less important things. Set clear deadlines, define meeting agendas with specific outcomes, and empower teams to make decisions efficiently.

The Pareto Principle: Not everything is created equal, and most of your results will likely come from effort spent in a few specific areas. Identify those high-impact activities, prioritise them ruthlessly, and delegate or eliminate the rest.

Goodhart's Law: When metrics become targets, they lose meaning and can become counterproductive. If you reward developers for lines of code, you'll get a lot of code, but not necessarily good software. Balance quantitative measures with qualitative assessments of outcomes, impact, and value.

Gilbert's Law: Autonomy is key in the age of agile. However, autonomy without direction leads to confusion and frustration. Don't just tell your team to "innovate"; give them a clearly defined problem to solve, a framework to operate within, and the support they need to succeed.

The Streisand Effect: Transparency always wins. Trying to hide problems only makes them worse. Address issues openly and honestly to build trust and enable collective problem-solving.

Occam's Razor: Complexity is the enemy of clarity. When explaining a new architecture or strategy, keep it simple. Ditch the jargon, focus on the core message, and ensure everyone understands. Remember, effective communication is about conveying meaning, not showcasing subject matter prowess.

Hanlon's Razor: Assume good intent. That missed deadline is likely not anyone's fault, but a lack of clarity or unforeseen circumstances. Give colleagues the benefit of the doubt, build psychological safety, and foster a more collaborative and empathetic environment.

While human behaviour is inherently nuanced and unpredictable, there are laws and principles that can improve our understanding of employees and colleagues. As George Box famously said, "All models are wrong, but some are useful."

A thread to explore a collection of timeless laws and principles relating to human behaviour in the context of business management

@allenholub.bsky.social “10X programmers actually slow down software delivery” — eventually leading to a steady state where all knowledge is concentrated in one person and they become a key person risk and bottleneck #yow24

“When I’m working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only about how to solve the problem. But when I’m finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know I’m wrong.”
-R. Buckminster Fuller

Understand the needs of your employees and involve them early and often in your decision making.

Some leaders resist delegating strategic thinking to the crowd and rightly so, but also fail to leverage the intimate knowledge held by those closest to the market and the problem.

a man with a mustache is smiling and looking at the camera while standing in front of a building . ALT: a man with a mustache is smiling and looking at the camera while standing in front of a building .

Can’t make up your mind? Solve the problem by flipping a coin!

Not so that chance will decide for you, but the moment the coin is up in the air you will immediately know what side you’re hoping for it to land.

What change would make the use of our resources more optimised towards the delivery of our business strategy?

From the Atlassian Scrum Master description: If the scrum team isn’t humming, that’s the scrum master’s problem. Maybe that means fixing broken computers, moving desks around, or even adjusting the thermostat. 👈 I don’t much care for the SM role, but is this a joke? www.atlassian.com/agile/scrum/...

And right-wing capitalism = “innovation”. But then again…

Product strategy is rooted in two polar opposites: playful curiosity to explore opportunities and sharp observation based on factual data. It’s a true art to combine them both as one cohesive approach.

Kalles Kaviar

I wonder if 2025 will be the year we see AI slow down. People think more data/compute/training equals an exponential growth of “intelligence”. I believe it will instead follow a logistic growth pattern where constraints slow growth to the point of not being worth additional effort. Time will tell ✨

The year is 2059. Computers have their own union. Children fly to school on personal air scooters. The outer planets are holiday resorts. Business leaders finally realise canned Agile won’t help them be more competitive. They start looking into PRINCE2 @jasongorman.bsky.social