A Deeper Look at the Amplified Organisation Blueprint
Implementing Deep Tech from a Systemic and Regenerative Perspective
1. Defining Deep Tech
In my previous Medium article I explored the need to create an expanded conception of Deep Tech in order empower organisations to create sustainable and regenerative impact within the context of the most cutting-edge technologies and the digital economy. The definition of deep tech that we arrived at is the following:
Deep tech is the development of advanced technologies built from a foundation of human values by conscious ecosystems.
In this article I would therefore like to build on the foundations of this elevated understanding of deep tech by explaining how we at Holonomics are helping businesses, organisations and tech ecosystems achieve meaningful regenerative impact through the implementation of our Amplified Organisation Blueprint.
2. Why create a blueprint?
Before taking a deep dive into the blueprint, it is first important to understand exactly what the blueprint is, how it works and also importantly what it is not, to be able to unlock its power and work with it in regenerative digital, design and strategic initiatives.
The parts and the whole
One of the great obstacles to organisations implementing deep tech across their entire organisation or ecosystem is the presence of silos and the different mental models leading to a lack of alignment, communication and understanding of the platform architectures and business model logic necessary to implement complex technologies, products and services. Our amplified blueprint can be used by facilitators to open up new forms of dialogue in organisations, allowing leadership teams to explore, understand and nurture the relationships across the parts, thereby allowing amplified organisations to develop and evolve as living systems, making them future-fit and ready to adapt structurally and culturally for this new mode of operating.
The Implementation of Deep Tech Frameworks
From a strategic perspective, before implementing the Amplified Blueprint, an organisation needs to be strategically ready. We have therefore developed a series of interconnected frameworks including The New 4Ps of Platforms, Purpose, People and Planet, the four pillars of Deep tech which are Deep Thinking, Deep Impact, Deep Talent and Deep Collaboration, and the three movements of deep tech which are Elevation, Scaling and Amplification. These are systemic process-driven frameworks which work in unison to spotlight where an organisation needs to focus its strategic efforts in relation to innovation, business model design and digital and cultural transformation.
The Foundation of Universal Human Values
The foundation of our blueprint is made up of the five universal human values of peace, truth, love, righteousness and non-violence. These five universal human values describe the highest articulation of humanity. When these values are truly present, organisations seeking a more humanised approach to their workplaces and the technological solutions they are developing have a much greater chance of achieving their desired goals and visions.
3. The Amplified Organisation Blueprint
Our Amplified Organisation Blueprint was created to describe the dynamics and structural relationships the constitute our approach to deep tech and the ways in which our frameworks interconnect strategic, design, architectural, operational and technological perspectives.
As can be seen, it has been built on the foundation of universal human values and operates within the context of a the New 4Ps of platforms, purpose, people and planet.
The blueprint was developed from the perspective our of Holonomics approach to organisational transformation, and therefore references the need to take a systemic and context-based approach to deep tech design, taking into account economic, social and planetary impacts.
Below I will provide a few opening pathways into the way in which the blueprint operates.
Everything starts with the elevated value proposition
At the heart of any business strategy is the value proposition which describes how the business provides value to customers, clients, and from a wider regenerative perspective, to the stakeholders, communities and ecosystems in which it operates.
We created the concept of Elevated Value Proposition after seeing a number of companies (not just startups) get stuck on getting to the essence of why they were using technology to create something new. It seemed to us that their leadership teams were feeling the pressure to innovate based on new technology and platform functionality rather than having a deep connection with a new form of value they were aiming to provide for their customers.
Augmented Agility in Strategy and Design
Augmented agility is the methodology we created within our conception of deep tech for that focuses on the human dimension of agile projects and which emphasises the need for human values to ensure the highest quality relationship between people and teams. It can be thought of as a way of being that allows organisations to reach higher ground.
Achieving augmented agility occurs when there is a clear understanding of the mission, vision and values of an organisation. This drives the need for leaders to be able to communicate their vision in a way which inspires and supports people to ‘live the mission’. The ethos which underpins augmented agility is to ensure that people are empowered to take ownership of the challenges they face and to learn from mistakes
Platform Architectures and Digital Operating Models
Digital transformation initiatives fail when leadership teams fail to fully comprehend the required platform architecture and the structure of a digital operating model. As we describe fully in Deep Tech and the Amplified Organisation, an organisation’s digital operating model consists of four interconnected layers. The first layer describes an organisation’s technical foundations: cloud and on-premise digital infrastructures, technical reference architectures and advanced technology mechanisms which empower digital services.
The second layer refers to digital services. This is where automation, data analytics, artificial intelligence, digital innovation and security and privacy services are all located.
The third layer describes an organisation’s platform capabilities. This layer contains platform services, growth capabilities and developer services. The digital capabilities, offers and platform interactions are built using combinations of AI services and operational services provided by the digital services and technical foundations, hence they are located in a higher level layer of the model.
The final layer in the digital operating model is the customer journey. The platform vision, future-fit vision, strategic scenarios, transformation portfolio and roadmap collectively drive operational value stream enhancements and customer experience innovation.
Computational Sensemaking
In the last two decades, organisations have faced the massive challenge of collecting, processing and storing big data, a term used to describe high volume, high velocity and highly variable data. What is now required is to develop artificial intelligence in such a way that allows humans together with artificial intelligence to make sense of the world collectively. In order to achieve this, we need to make the shift from big data to computational sensemaking. The catalyst for this shift is computational ontologies.
When an organisation understands computational ontologies, it has the ability to become amplified through its mastery of data, information and knowledge. Computational ontologies provide the essential foundations for enterprise architectures and digital operating models. They enable organisations to standardise and align complex digital architectures with enterprises goals, objectives and business functions.
4. Regenerative business practice
At the heart of any organisation’s strategy is the value proposition. Within our conception of deep tech, the design process therefore starts with the definition of the elevated value proposition starts which articulates organisational values, future-fit vision and appreciation of regenerative and sustainable practices.
It is the elevated value proposition that articulates the fundamental essence of an organisation by stating exactly how that organisation benefits the lives of customers and wider stakeholders. Due to its central importance, time is required in the discovery phase of Deep Tech projects to collectively define the base proposition and then ideate in order to reach the elevated value proposition.
An amplified organisation’s ability to deliver this elevated level of value can only be as good as the level of collective mastery within that organisation. The creation of next generation regenerative business therere calls up conscious leaders to develop new rituals, a higher quality of culture and an understanding the organisation as a living dynamic whole. This new form of leadership requires an ability to develop not just higher levels of personal mastery in individuals, but also to have an ability to develop the collective mastery across their ecosystems.
As guardians of collective mastery, by taking on this new role, leaders will have the ability to open up new worlds to those who are a part of their organisations, and in doing so, through the collective efforts and intelligence of their ecosystems, will be able to use their wisdom to create something extraordinary, opening up new horizons to those they are ultimately serving.
The opportunity for regeneration through digital ecosystems is immense, with new perspectives opening up new opportunities. The amplified blueprint therefore helps leaders and decision-makers to facilitate multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary forms of teamwork within their organisations and in ecosystem-wide initiatives which cut across organisational boundaries, opening up new conversations, dialogues and questions, and new pathways of growth, value and impact.
Further Information
The Amplified Organisation Blueprint is described and illustrated fully in the book Deep Tech and the Amplified Organisation (2021), Simon Robinson, Igour Couto and Maria Moraes Robinson, Holonomics Publishing, which is also available in Portuguese (Deep Tech e a Organização Amplificada, Alta Books, 2023)
