What my 12 y.o. taught me about empiricism

By Nicola Brown

Inspection, adaptation and transparency - the 3 pillars of empiricism, the foundation of Scrum. But do we also realise that these pillars, applied to any area of our lives, can help us become more purposeful in pushing towards our goals? Let me show you how I came to this conclusion.

There's a sign hanging in our home with a list of rules, one of them being, 'Try new things'. My 12 year-old son, who likes to come up with (what i'll call) meal concoctions, uses this rule as his justification for trying some very unique combinations. Now, when I started thinking about what the 3 pillars of empiricism meant in a practical sense, my son's approach to his food experiments came to mind.

Photo by Eaters Collective on Unsplash

Usually he'll see a restaurant ad and it sparks ideas for him to try cooking a new combo. Almost immediately after tasting any of his concoctions, you'll hear him verbalising his thoughts - whether or not it's delicious, what it may be lacking and what he'll do differently next time. 

And, because he is aspiring for ultimate deliciousness, the next time, he always adjusts, based on the learnings from previous attempts.

Interestingly too, even if we're not partaking in these taste tests, he somehow makes sure to inform us (whether or not we really want to hear) about what he's doing. Now that I'm thinking about it, it may be because, we are the ones providing the ingredients for these experiments, so in essence, we are his stakeholders. 

Empiricism asserts that knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on what is known. 

- Scrum Guide 

And just by observing my son, in one of his favourite pastimes, it became clearer how powerful the 3 pillars of empiricism can be in our day to day. So here's my simple view of what each pillar means.

Inspection: frequently assess if what you're doing drives results. After each of these assessments, identify possible areas for improvement. 

Adaptation: This is where you shift gears. In some cases, it'll just be a slight shift, but other times, a significant change may be needed. The point is to adjust as necessary. And, these adjustments are not to be based on gut feelings or be knee jerk reactions, but should be informed by the learnings and insights gained from your inspection.

And since there's hardly any plan that would not affect some other person, whether family, friends, business colleagues, whoever, then we must try our best to be transparent throughout the process.

Transparency: be open, keeping all persons who are somehow involved (or may be impacted) in the know. Be deliberate about identifying who these people are. When you've identified them, also determine the level of detail the different parties may need, and be intentional in keeping them updated.

For me, this is how you drive results and make an impact. It's using the facts received through data gathering; constantly iterating and improving, based on the facts and keeping communication very clear. That's empiricism - a fact based approach - and this is how my son taught me to apply that approach to any scenario.