An Adaptive Organization Can Adjust its Process and Performance to Current Conditions

An adaptive organization is one that automatically adjusts its process and performance to current conditions. This is in contrast to a traditional organization, which is often rigid and bureaucratic.

Adaptive organizations are essential for startups, which operate in an environment of extreme uncertainty. Startups need to be able to learn and adapt quickly to survive.

One of the key tools for building an adaptive organization is the Five Whys. The Five Whys is a technique for getting to the root cause of a problem. By asking "why" five times, a team can uncover the underlying human problem that is causing a technical problem.

Once the root cause of a problem has been identified, the team can then make a proportional investment in fixing it. This means that the investment should be smaller when the symptom is minor and larger when the symptom is more painful.

The Five Whys acts as a natural speed regulator. The more problems a team has, the more it invests in solutions to those problems. As the investments in infrastructure or process pay off, the severity and number of crises are reduced and the team speeds up again.