There is a huge amount of evidence that without theory, people learn much more slowly and even resist adopting what are good practices.

Telling people to follow until they understand is demeaning, disrespectful, and a poor way to lead.

This is a part of the Amplio’s Foundations learning path.

1. Evidence Without Understanding Is Often Ignored. Empiricism alone is not enough. We need a theory to explain it or people will often ignore it. “Experience teaches nothing. There is no experience to record without theory. Without theory, there is no learning, and that is their downfall. People copy examples and then wonder what the trouble is. They look at examples, and without theory, they learn nothing.” Edwards Deming
2. Why You Need Theory as Well as Evidence to Enroll Management In Better Methods. We think that much of the challenge with enrolling stakeholders and management in Agile is that many Agilists don’t present a model explaining why Agile works. It’s actually missing from much of Agile. Explaining why, with validated theory, can bridge this gap.
3. Teaching With Theory. You truly learn something when you experience it. But that doesn’t mean you have to start from scratch when given a new concept. People have a lot of experience related to new concepts. They just need to connect the dots between a new concept and their experience. Theory can create this bridge.

What Happens When You Don’t Have Theory

Besides slowing down learning, people have to start from ground zero. Not having theory creates resistance so that even good practices are often ignored.

Trying to convey new ideas or convince others of already well-founded ideas is more difficult. This is especially true when talking to your management.

Eli Goldratt remarked, “A comfort zone has less to do with control and more to do with knowledge.”

By this he means that people will revert to old habits if they don’t understand why they should change their behavior.

It is also difficult to get alignment across multiple teams without having verifiable theory on which to align. 

Without theory it is difficult to get managers to understand why you must work in short iterations and focus on quick delivery.

Much of the theory that is needed can be learned here.

Favorite Quotes on Theory

“We do not think and talk about what we see; we see what we are able to think and talk about” Edgar Schein (theory expands what we can see)

 “Experience teaches nothing. In fact, there is no experience to record without theory… Without theory there is no learning… And that is their downfall. People copy examples and then wonder what is the trouble. They look at examples and without theory they learn nothing.” Edwards Deming

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Einstein

“Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play.” Immanuel Kant

“Theory without practice cannot survive and dies as quickly as it lives.” Leonardo da Vinci

“He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may be cast.” Leonardo da Vinci

“There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” Will Rogers

Immanuel Kant “Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play.”

Leonardo da Vinci

“Theory without practice cannot survive and dies as quickly as it lives.”

“He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may be cast.”

W. Edwards Deming. “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”

Go to Amplio University curriculum