Part V

Introduction

In Part III, The First Way: The Technical Practices of Flow, we discussed implementing the practices required to create fast flow in our value stream. In Part IV, The Second Way: The Technical Practices of Feedback, our goal was to create as much feedback as possible, from as many areas in our system as possible—sooner, faster, and cheaper.

In Part V, The Third Way: The Technical Practices of Learning, we present the practices that create opportunities for learning, as quickly, frequently, cheaply, and as soon as possible. This includes creating learnings from accidents and failures, which are inevitable when we work within complex systems, as well as organizing and designing our systems of work so that we are constantly experimenting and learning, continually making our systems safer. The results include higher resilience and an ever-growing collective knowledge of how our system actually works, so that we are better able to achieve our goals.

In the following chapters, we will institutionalize rituals that increase safety, continuous improvement, and learning by doing the following:

We will also create mechanisms so that any new learnings generated in one area of the organization can be rapidly used across the entire organization, turning local improvements into global advancements. In this way, we not only learn faster than our competition, helping us win in the marketplace, but also create a safer, more resilient work culture that people are excited to be a part of and that helps them achieve their highest potential.