Welcome DALL•E 3 — Transformative Analysis for Agile Practitioners
ChatGPT’s Integration Unlocks a World of Possibilities
TL; DR: DALL•3 plus ChatGPT Offer a New Perspective
A short while ago, OpenAI integrated DALL•E 3 into ChatGPT Plus, and I was curious to learn to what extent the new capability would enhance CHatGPT’s potential to support agile practitioners.
Check out the following three examples, particularly if you have been skeptical about generative AI.
Setting up the Session
I ran the session on Sunday, October 22, 2023 from 1:45 pm CEST to 2:30 pm CEST on ChatGPT September 25 Version. Using DALL•E 3 requires upgrading to ChatGPT Plus. I did not apply Grammarly to ChatGPT’s answers.
Example 1: Analyzing the Stacey Matrix
My first example was the Stacey Matrix, here in the adaptation of S. Bradd and D. Finegood.
The prompt was as follows: “Can you explain the diagram to me?”
ChatGPT’s Answer:
“Certainly. The diagram you've presented is known as the Stacey Matrix or Stacey Complexity Model. It's a tool used to understand and categorize the nature of challenges organizations face, helping to decide on the most suitable approaches and methodologies to address them.
The Stacey Matrix plots two dimensions:
Agreement: Reflects the extent to which there's consensus among the group or stakeholders about a specific problem or solution.
Certainty: Represents the predictability of the solution or the clarity of the problem.
Based on these dimensions, challenges can be grouped into four distinct domains:
Simple: Where there is close agreement and high certainty. Problems here are straightforward, well-understood, and have clear solutions. Typically, they follow best practices, and solutions are often termed as "known knowns."
Complicated: Here, there's still a relatively high degree of agreement and certainty. Though problems may need expert analysis, they can still be broken down, understood, and solved. Think of them as "known unknowns," where expertise and analysis can lead to the right solution.
Complex: Challenges in this domain are characterized by a lack of clarity. Even though there might be some level of agreement, the path to the solution is unpredictable. Problems are "unknown unknowns" and require emergent practices. They often involve high levels of innovation and experimentation, with solutions evolving over time.
Chaotic: This is the realm of the unpredictable. There's neither agreement on the problem nor clarity on the solution. Rapid action and decisions are required, often with a focus on stabilizing the situation.
The edge of chaos, as indicated, is a space where systems or problems are unstable and can easily shift from one domain to another.
Implications for Agile and Scrum: For an expert such as yourself, understanding where a problem sits on the Stacey Matrix can be invaluable in tailoring your agile approach. For instance:
Simple and Complicated: Traditional management and predictive methodologies might be effective.
Complex: Agile methodologies like Scrum thrive here, emphasizing collaboration, adaptation, and iterative progress.
Chaotic: Crisis management strategies are often required before any structured approach can be applied.
Reflection for Agile Practitioners: The Stacey Matrix challenges us to introspect. It makes us question if we're applying the right methodologies for the problems at hand. It's not just about being agile but about being adaptive, recognizing the nature of our challenges, and choosing the right tools and practices accordingly.”
Follow-up Questions:
Q1: How can organizations transition between different domains in the Stacey Matrix as their understanding evolves?
Q2: What are the potential risks for organizations that misidentify the domain of their problems and apply inappropriate strategies?
Q3: How can agile frameworks like Scrum be adapted to better address challenges that fall into the 'Chaotic' domain of the Stacey Matrix?
Comment:
It took ChatGPT 15 seconds to provide an acceptable answer. I find it remarkable how well it applied my “custom instructions” to the task, delivering Implications and, more interestingly, Follow-up Questions. The quality of the text on implications is mediocre at best. However, you could dig into the matter, which I decided not to do.
Example 2: A Cartoon w/ Less Information
My second example was a cartoon from my upcoming “Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide” book, introducing classic Scrum anti-patterns from different practitioners.
The prompt was as follows: “What do you make of the cartoon?”
ChatGPT’s Answer:
“The cartoon sheds light on common pitfalls, challenges, and misconceptions related to agile product development and the roles involved, particularly within the Scrum framework. Let's dissect this visually engaging narrative:
"All needs to be in the Backlog!" (Po): This captures a frequent misconception that every potential feature or task must be stored in the product backlog. While it's crucial for visibility and prioritization, overloading the backlog can lead to paralysis by analysis and detract from focusing on the highest value items.
"NO WAY! I won't talk to users. Period." (Dev): This emphasizes a developer's resistance to user feedback. In agile frameworks, direct user feedback is a cornerstone for continuous improvement and delivering real value. Avoiding end-users can lead to building the wrong features.
"You'll BUILD WHAT SALES NEEDS!" (Boss): This portrays the potential top-down approach where sales or business priorities overshadow actual user needs or technical feasibility. While sales are vital, striking a balance is crucial.
"The Committee will decide." (SM): It indicates decision-making by committee rather than empowering the team. This approach can dilute responsibility and often leads to longer decision cycles.
"THE VISION WILL EMERGE!" (Boss): A vague or non-existent product vision can lead teams astray. While agility promotes adaptation, having a clear vision ensures everyone rows in the same direction.
"It's ALL in the Scrum Guide, look no further..." (SM): This reflects a dogmatic approach to Scrum. While the Scrum Guide is foundational, every organization/team might have its nuances. Rigidity can stifle innovation and adaptability.
The positioning of the characters (Po, Dev, SM, Boss) reflects different organizational layers and their varied perspectives. The scattered, sometimes conflicting, dialogue bubbles showcase the challenges of alignment, communication, and clear vision in agile environments.
Takeaways & Solutions:
Regular Retrospectives: To openly address these challenges, ensure regular retrospectives, allowing teams to voice concerns and collaboratively address them.
Stakeholder Engagement: Engage stakeholders, like sales, to align business needs with product development, ensuring mutual understanding.
Continuous Learning: Encourage teams to embrace both the spirit and the letter of agile practices. Rely on the Scrum Guide, but be open to adapt based on the unique needs of the organization.
Empower Decision-making: Empower teams to make decisions. If committees are needed, streamline the process to ensure agility isn't compromised.
The cartoon is an effective critique and reflection tool, encouraging agile practitioners to evaluate their practices and confront deeply-held beliefs.
Follow-up Questions:
Q1: In your experience, which of these misconceptions has been the most challenging to address in traditional organizations transitioning to agile?
Q2: How do you facilitate communication between developers and users to ensure products meet genuine needs?
Q3: Can you share any specific interventions or strategies you've used to combat these misconceptions, especially in larger, more bureaucratic organizations?”
Comment:
Again, in less than 30 seconds, the LLM delivered a decent interpretation of the cartoon, pointing at common anti-patterns when “Agile” is more lip service than a practical way of working.
Interestingly, although (1) and (4) are identical figures, DALL•E 3 misinterpreted the Product Owner sketch as a Scrum Master.
Both Takeaways & Solutions and Follow-up Questions open a wide field for exploring how to deal with the anti-patterns sketched in the cartoon.
Example 3: A Cartoon w/ Less Information
My last example was another cartoon from my upcoming “Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide” book. This time, it provides significantly fewer explanations on the topic. Moreover, the LLM needs to interpret the graphics in the thought bubble.
The prompt was as follows: “What do you make of this cartoon?”
ChatGPT’s Answer:
“This cartoon serves as a potent commentary on a divergence between surface-level communication and underlying reality within professional environments. Let's analyze it piece by piece:
The Characters:
Boss: Asks the pivotal question, "Are we making progress?" This indicates a need for assurance and a desire to understand the state of the project or task at hand.
Scrum Master (Sm): Responds affirmatively with "Totally..." However, the ellipsis suggests hesitation, uncertainty, or a potential lack of full transparency.
The Thought Bubble:
Pig and Candle: This is symbolic. The pig, often considered a representation of greed, gluttony, or overindulgence, is shown dangerously close to the flame of a candle. This scenario indicates a perilous situation where the pig (or project) might get burned. It's an impending disaster, waiting to happen.
Implications:
Surface vs. Reality: On the surface, everything appears to be progressing smoothly, as suggested by the Scrum Master's affirmative response. However, the thought bubble reveals an imminent threat that is either not being communicated or is being downplayed.
Hesitant Communication: The Scrum Master's hesitation in affirming progress implies a possible reluctance to share bad news or confront the reality of the situation with the Boss. This could be due to fear of repercussions, a culture of avoiding blame, or a genuine hope that the problem might get resolved without escalation.
Risk Management: The image emphasizes the importance of risk management and transparent communication. Ignoring or being unaware of significant threats, like the pig getting close to the flame, can have catastrophic results.
Actionable Reflection:
How often do teams downplay risks or issues to appease leadership?
Is there a culture of open communication where teams feel safe sharing challenges, or is there a tendency to mask problems?
As leaders or agile practitioners, are there proactive measures in place to ensure true transparency and address potential issues head-on?
To avoid such scenarios, fostering a culture of open communication, continuous feedback, and psychological safety is imperative. Leadership needs to ensure that teams feel safe to raise concerns without the fear of blame. Moreover, regular retrospective sessions can be beneficial to assess and address potential risks in a timely manner.
Follow-up Questions:
Q1: How can leadership create an environment where team members feel safe to share both successes and failures?
Q2: In what ways can agile methodologies be adapted to ensure more accurate reflections of project status and risks?
Q3: What strategies can be implemented to ensure that potential issues or risks are escalated and addressed proactively in agile environments?”
Comment:
Here, the analysis starts losing appeal. While the ChatGPT puts the question of the Boss figure in the proper context, it is way off when interpreting the SM speech bubble: “Totally” is sarcasm when you understand the thought bubble correctly. “The phrase to put “lipstick on a pig” means making superficial or cosmetic changes to a product in a futile effort to disguise its fundamental failings.” (Source: Wikipedia.) ChatGPT, in collaboration with DALL•E 3, fails to do so. Moreover, there is no candle depicted.
Interestingly, however, the sections on Implications and Actionable Reflection are more aligned with the original message of the cartoon than the initial analysis of the two figures would support. Also, the Follow-up Questions are helpful.
Conclusion:
Given the integration of DALL•E 3 into ChatGPT 4 is a new feature, the potential is promising, provided the graphics support two prerequisites:
The essential graphical elements are well-known; here: the Stacey Matrix.
The interpretation is supported by descriptive text; see the simple speech bubbles in example 2.
However, the models struggle when graphical elements are unique and largely unsupported by descriptive text. Admittedly, sarcasm is a tricky thing.
Related Articles:
DALL·E 3 is now available in ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise.
60 ChatGPT Prompts Plus Prompt Engineering Guide for Scrum Practitioners.
ChatGPT 4: A Bargain for Scrum Practitioners?
ChatGPT Prompts for Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Developers
Agile Transformation: ChatGPT or McBoston?
A ChatGPT Job Interview for a Scrum Master Position
ChatGPT Product Owner Job Interview — Will You Compete for a Position w/ an LLM Soon?
Agility and Scrum According to OpenAI’s ChatGPT — Be Surprised!