Can logic alone bring success?
Success is often the result of a lucky alignment of probabilities, where timing, circumstances, and actions unexpectedly come together. While effort and planning are important, success happens when the right factors fall into place at the right time, even when they’re outside our control. It’s not about following a strict plan, but rather about being open to change, adapting when needed, and recognising opportunities when they arise. In many ways, success comes from navigating uncertainty and making the most of unexpected moments. It’s the combination of effort and chance working together.
Rory Sutherland a well-known marketer has a maxim: “that for any persistent problem, if there was already a logical solution we would have found it, the fact it eludes us means this problem is not solvable by logic alone”.
One of the ongoing problems with successful IT delivery is that, given its logical and deterministic nature, we see the solutions only in logic and determinism; the reality is that the need for IT comes from business, the success of which is more in line with probability.
To be successful, we must change our approach to align more with human behaviour (as it is humans who design and build our systems).
Agile² recognises that whilst data, logic and process are critical, these must be augmented with behavioural and probabilistic elements. One reason that IT development and agile success remain elusive is that it is a problem which cannot be solved with logic alone.