Michael Spradlin

Earning the right to explore

June 07, 2023 (560 days ago)

Standards vs. Exploration

Striking a balance between exploring a new idea or thought or intuition, or working to solidfy something standard, is difficult. There's no easy answer to the question of "what is best to do," basically ever.

We have to choose what to do.

There are different ways to start the internal debate:

Something NewDecision TimeEnforcing StandardsInvest more deeply in what you haveand do more, betterFigure out ifit's worth goingforward or it isn'tExploring a New Approach¹ExplorationStandardizationCost EfficiencyAdaptabilityInnovation✓ Lower costs✓ Streamlined maintenance✓ Easier governance✓ Limited flexibility✓ Faster decisions✓ Familiarity⁴⨯ Increased complexity⨯ More flexibility³⨯ Innovation Potential⨯ Competitive Edge⨯ Long-term cost benefits⨯ Step-change improvement²¹ Needs to have some decision point or clear, objective go/no-go criteria² The tradeoff of doing something new should be deeply worth it. ³ Flexibility in approach can relieve current constraints or diminishing returns⁴ Familiar improvements are the only work an organization can pursue that introduces no new risk(s)

Standards raise the waterline for everyone and add leverage to an organization. You have to earn the right to explore.