Understand Types of Components

Communication

Motivation

There is a strong correlation between awareness and performance, so focus on this. Try to understand the landscape that you are competing in. Understand any proposals in these terms. Look before you leap.

Consider these first

Understand Evolution

Illustrative description

Components can represent different types of things: activities, practices, data, and knowledge.

Detailed description

Components can represent different types of things: activities, practices, data, and knowledge. All these types of components can evolve driven by competition. The terms we use to describe the separate stages of evolution are different for each type.

A chart delineating the stages of evolution in a business or technological context. It categorizes activities, practices, data, and knowledge across four stages of evolution: I (Genesis), II (Custom), III (Product + Rental Services), and IV (Commodity + Utility Services). In the first stage, activities are novel and knowledge is conceptual with unmodelled data. As it progresses to stage II, practices are emerging, knowledge is at the hypothesis stage, and data is divergent. The third stage sees practices as good, knowledge based on theory, and convergent data. In the final stage, practices are at their best, knowledge is widely accepted, and data is modelled, reflecting standardization and widespread understanding. This table serves as a framework for understanding how various components in a business mature over time.

We often label stages of evolution as Genesis, Custom, Product, and Commodity. We do this for simplicity, regardless of component type.

The image is a table outlining different classes or phases of a concept's lifecycle, divided into six types. It categorizes the evolution of a concept from initial idea to standard practice across various dimensions such as key descriptive terms, theme, properties, activities, practices, data, and knowledge. Type 1 is described with wonder and exploration, themed as 'Uncharted', with properties like uncertainty and being poorly understood. It is associated with 'Genesis' activities, 'Novel' practices, 'Unmodelled' data, and 'Concept' knowledge. Type 2 relates to construction, awareness, and validation, labeled as 'Transitional'. Its properties suggest a phase of development with divergent activities like 'Custom Built', emerging practices, divergent data, and is in the hypothesis stage of knowledge. Type 3 continues in the 'Transitional' theme but focuses on operation, maintenance, and feature differentiation and refinement. This phase has more defined activities such as providing a 'Product (Rental Service)', good practices, convergent data, and theory-level knowledge. Type 3b is not explicitly labeled but implies a further stage in the 'Transitional' phase, perhaps a subdivision of Type 3. Type 4 shifts into an 'Industrialised' theme and is dominated by use, becoming an invisible subcomponent of other systems. It signifies a mature phase with properties like predictability and being a standard, defined as 'Commodity (Utility Service)', with the best practices, modelled data, and universally accepted knowledge. Type 4b, similar to Type 3b, seems to be an extension of Type 4 but is not explicitly detailed in the table. Overall, the table maps the evolution of a concept from being a novel idea to becoming an industrialized standard.

For each of the components in your value chain, identify what type of component it is.

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Map the Landscape

Adapted from writings by Simon Wardley under CC BY-SA 4.0