The Olympics-themed Platform Development Internal Competition Problem

Last week I wrote about The Platform Monopoly problem and one of the first comments was from my excellent colleague Lorenzo Murrocu , who wanted to know more about the concept of healthy competition, which I described as the antidote to undesirable monopolistic behaviours.

It's currently the 2024 Olympics in Paris, so obviously the right way for an employee of Paris-headquartered 凯捷咨询 to answer that question is via an Olympics themed blog!

How can the principles of this global event guide us in cultivating a high-performing, innovative development culture that enables us to create a safe space for healthy competition within an enterprise, particularly in managing an Internal Developer Platform (IDP)?

Cultivate a Spirit of Openness and Innovation

Just as the Olympics brings together athletes from diverse backgrounds to compete and showcase their talents, an organisation should encourage a culture where every developer feels empowered to contribute their ideas and innovations. Recognise and reward initiatives that push boundaries and offer new solutions.

This encourages a continuous flow of fresh ideas, just as new records and feats are achieved at the Olympics by athletes such as the incredible Simone Biles – whose performances are packed with innovation and creative ways to maximise her scoring potential - so much so that even if she doesn't make a perfect landing, she can still outscore other competitors.

Introduce the Product Mindset

The Olympics treats each event as a distinct, highly focused competition, with athletes continually refining their skills. Similarly, treat the internal platform as a set of distinct products, each of which has a clear focus, rules and objective – and that objective evolves based on user feedback and needs, just like the Olympic organisation evolves its rules for each sport.

Regularly gather feedback, focus on user experience, and iterate improvements. This ensures the platform remains relevant and effective, just as athletes remain competitive through constant training and adaptation.

Ensure Flexibility and Freedom

While Olympic athletes have various, creative and innovative training regimens and techniques tailored to their unique strengths, it’s extremely common to find them training in the most basic parts of their discipline.

Similarly, while providing well-defined Paved Roads for common, basic tasks, ensure these aren't the only paths available. Developers should have the flexibility to explore alternative solutions. This freedom fosters creativity and innovation, akin to how athletes innovate in their training to excel in their sports.

Create Guardrails, Not Railways

Olympic events have rules and guidelines to ensure fair play and safety, yet athletes have the freedom to perform their best within those boundaries. Implement guardrails that provide essential standards and best practices without stifling creativity. These guardrails act as safety nets, ensuring quality and security while allowing innovation, much like the regulations in the Olympics ensure fair competition without hindering athletic performance.

In the 2012 Olympics, several competitors were disqualified for not trying hard enough – it appeared they were trying to lose matches to create a more favourable draw. Researchers concluded that ill-considered rules were at fault and had created a perverse incentive counter to the intention of the rules, (see this LinkedIn post about 'When sports rules go awry' for more).

It’s crucial for platform designers, operators to collaborate with security policy makers to ensure that guardrail policies are effective and don’t lead to unintended consequences.

Encourage Transparent Communication and Collaboration

In the Olympics, transparent communication and collaboration among team members and coaches are crucial for success. Maintain open channels of communication where developers can share feedback, report issues, and suggest improvements.

Regular meetings, surveys, and feedback sessions help in understanding and addressing needs promptly, similar to how athletes and coaches communicate to refine strategies and improve performance.

Promote Internal Competitions and Hackathons

Internal hackathons and coding competitions can be likened to Olympic trials, where developers compete to showcase their skills and solutions. These events spark creativity and innovation, fostering a competitive yet collaborative spirit. Just as Olympic athletes strive for excellence in trials, developers are motivated to excel and bring out their best ideas in such competitions.

Establish Clear Metrics and Objectives

Olympic athletes have clear goals and metrics for success, such as winning medals or setting records. Similarly, define clear, balanced metrics and objectives for both the platform and individual projects. The pentathlon, heptathlon and decathlon are analogous, because there is an overall objective and separate metrics and scoring for each discipline. Athletes compete for the same prize, strategising how they score points in each of the disciplines to maximise their strengths and balance their weaknesses.

Transparent and agreed-upon goals ensure everyone is aligned and working towards a common purpose, just as athletes who work towards their Olympic dreams know that the rules are fair and equitable.

Support and Resources for Independent Projects

Olympic athletes receive extensive support and resources to train and compete. Provide resources such as sandbox environments, tools, and documentation to support developers in building their solutions. This infrastructure encourages experimentation and innovation, much like how athletes utilise resources to refine their techniques and strategies.

Leadership and Advocacy

Finally, and possibly most importantly: Olympic leaders and coaches play a crucial role in advocating for and modelling the desired behaviours. Similarly, leaders within the platform organisation should advocate for openness, support independent projects, and must appreciate constructive competition. Sometimes when platform users are innovating and find ways to achieve it can seem like they are misusing platform features or working around them. Their ability to do this is an indication of success if they are overcoming challenges to meet their targets. Leaders must recognise this positive outcome and learn from it, even if it superficially seems like a failure of the platform. Leaders who do this epitomise the desired behaviours in a high performing team, set a positive tone and foster an environment where innovation thrives.

Conclusion

By implementing these strategies, organisations can create a safe space for healthy competition, driving innovation and ensuring the internal platform remains dynamic and valuable. This environment not only prevents the stagnation associated with monopolies but also leverages the collective creativity and expertise of the entire development team.

Like the Olympics, where healthy competition leads to record-breaking achievements and high-performing teams, an organisation that embraces these principles will see continuous improvement and alignment with developer needs, ensuring long-term success and satisfaction.

If you want to know about how we can introduce healthy competition and gamify activities, you know where I am.

P.S. You can now read part 3: Building an IDP: avoid Rail Tracks, create Guardrails & Paved Roads.