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It’s hard to argue that humankind’s progress is not the direct result of continuous iterative activity. “Iteration” when used as a verb means the act of repeating, like flipping through social media posts. When used as a noun, it means version, as in the latest iteration of a software application. The Adaptive Project Manager (APM) recognizes the importance of both definitions.

One of the basic foundational aspects of Adaptive Leadership is the notion of experimentation. Experimenting is an extension of the biologic model for evolution. In biology, “experiments” are conducted each time reproduction occurs. Those elements, in this case DNA, that support the organisms survival or ability to thrive, are carried forward. Those that don’t are discarded. This is iteration at its most extreme.

Further, the biology analogy has a heavy dependence on diversity. The “modifications” nature creates with each iteration result in diverse sets of alternative experiments. The best parts of those alternatives survive. The not so good pieces are changed or left behind. Think about the variety and diversity of plant life and how it got that way.

The last piece in the biology comparison is time. As a general rule, nature takes a very, very long time to settle in on something that works. There are exceptions. For “simple” organisms like viruses, mutations (modifications) happen very rapidly. A general rule is that the more complex an organism is, the more time it needs to create diverse iterations of itself in order to thrive.

Adaptive leaders know that optimum solutions are rarely arrived at on the first try. They know that diversity, in this case diversity of thought or expertise, is critical in the search for what’s best. They also know that to create an experiment, carry it out, see what worked and what didn’t, discard the non-working parts, add new parts to try and then repeat the process, takes time. And they know the bigger and more complex the problem, that more time and more iterations are often needed to reach the goal.

There are additional context-sensitive nuances with respect to iteration form, cadence, duration and timing, but working iteratively as a guiding concept is something every APM can use to improve outcomes. Part 2 on this topic discusses two familiar iteration techniques and how APMs use them.