GROWS Overview

This figure shows the central themes of The GROWS Method^®:

• Tight Feedback Loops: for both process adoption and technical questions, GROWS uses a cycle of Identify Feedback → Perform an Experiment → Get Feedback → make Small Adjustments, all in in a very short time frame. Everything in GROWS is driven by experiments and feedback, including software development and delivery, process adoption and pruning, and individual, team, and organizational learning.
• All-Inclusive: GROWS is a way of working together for everyone, including Executives, Developers, QA, Testers, Analysts, Designers, Users… everyone has a part to play, and everyone depends on everyone else to achieve our common goals.
• Generate Success from Seeds: GROWS develops habits and approaches from following a small number of generative seeds:
  • Loops, not Lines
  • Organic, not Robotic
  • Intentional, not Accidental
  • Actuals, not Proxies
• Thinking Guides™: GROWS provides guidance in the more difficult and critical areas needed for success, including topics such as:
  • Systems Thinking Models
  • Critical Thinking Skills
  • Growing Psychological Support
  • Identifying Right Actions with Cynefin
  • Tracking evolution with Wardley Maps
  • Dynamic Models for Budgeting and Accounting
  • …and the Continuous Paradigm

GROWS uses feedback “habits” to help ensure that we’re building the right thing, that is, the thing the Executives and Users actually need (which may or may not be what they thought they wanted). Engineering and technical habits help grow the team to use modern software engineering techniques that shrink the feedback gap to be within short-term memory, minimizing risk and maximizing efficiency. So many aspects of development are not predictable, but a regular rhythm of development and continuous delivery becomes reliable. A stable rhythm keeps everyone motivated, reduces the feedback gap and thus reduces organizational risk.

But these ideas only work in the right environment, which is where the Thinking Guides™ come into play—especially in helping to identify the correct Cynefin domain and establish and grow Psychological Support in the organization.

And of course, any particular approach or concrete habit depends on the skill level of the team members, which can—and should—vary. You need different habits and approaches at different skill levels.

Learn More: Skill Stages

Find Out More...

Follow @growsmethod in the Fediverse, or subscribe to our mailing list:

Sign up for more information on how you can participate and use the GROWS Method®. We will not use your email for any other purpose.