Amplio is not a framework in the normal sense. It can be considered a framework in the way physics is a framework. That is, it gives you what to look at and way to make decisions, but doesn’t tell you what to do. To make it easier to use it has default starting points.
Amplio can best be thought of as a transformation Kata. That is, it is a structured, repeatable discipline for guiding meaningful organizational change. It integrates diagnosis, visioning, improvement planning, education, and support into a continuous cycle—helping teams and leaders identify systemic causes of their challenges, design practical improvements, and sustain progress. Unlike prescriptive frameworks, it provides a way to learn and adapt while staying grounded in stakeholder value, systems thinking, and inherent simplicity.
Tagline:
Amplio Transformation Kata: A disciplined path to continuous, value-driven change.
Amplio is based around an extension of the jobs to be done framework both to identify the jobs required for an organization to be effective and in gathering requirements. It provides jobs to be done for the organization in the form of playbooks so that people don’t need to reinvent good practices while being able to tailor them to their context.
Amplio is designed to be extended as well. By being based on the first principles of flow, Lean, and the Theory of Constraints it can be applied anywhere.
It has an integrated coaching kata to enable its users to know how to teach it to others.
The purplish boxes show the high-level sequence Amplio suggests. Start where you want, run a diagnostic to see how to improve, and then work the improvement backlog.
The main components of the Amplio System
“The physics of flow”
The “physics of flow” comprises the science of knowledge work as described with Flow, Lean, and the Theory of Constraints. This is also called “the physics of flow.” While there is complexity in knowledge work too many approaches ignore what we do know. When you eliminate the waste from known causes you can better focus on the risk of the unknown.
Take this link to see more.
The Amplio Learning Kata
While it’s not effective to tell people to do, merely asking questions to get them to figure things out themselves isn’t as effective as it could be either. The intention of coaching is not to convince someone of what is right. It is to guide them in convincing themselves of what is more effective for them. Doing this quickly is important because otherwise people may flounder.
Amplio integrates a breakthrough how to coach in all of its workshops.
The distinction between training, consulting, and mentoring is artificial. We must always be looking to improve. In some sense, starting a new initiative is just the next step. What’s important is always to be looking to improve via better decision-making, collaboration, and learning.
Learn more here.
Jobs to be Done Thinking
Jobs to be done thinking is an integration of the Jobs to be Done Framework with Design Thinking, Human Centered Design, and Lean Product Management. Success Engineering continues to expand on this framework in the Amplio Learning Center. Here’s a presentation on it that describes the basic Jobs to be Done Framework.
Value by design
Value by design is a method used to enable more value to be created in less time and with less cost. It was co-created by Al Shalloway and Tom Gilb and was inspired by how the Toyota Production System overcame the “Iron-Triangle.” The Penta is described in Amplio Axiom #7. The relationshps between scope, time, and cost are not fixed.
The focus is on designing your value adding system to produce more value with less rework and waste to enable more of your capacity to be use for creating value.
Focus on Value
Our purpose should be creating value for our most important stakeholder’s consistent with their values, success criteria and constraints. This provides an overall view that enables alignment across the organization. Amplio follows much of Tom Gilb’s work on value.
See this conversations by Tom Gilb and Al Shalloway on critical stakeholder values and success criteria and what it takes to achieve success. A discussion about the importance of identifying critical stakeholders along with their values, success criteria and constraints will be a part of this. Get a copy of Super Secrets & Strategies for Efficient Value Delivery in Projects and Programs, and Plans. Video. Transcript.
Quick, fit for purpose, starts
Al Shalloway pioneered the concept of the generic value stream in the Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant workshop. Amplio’s diagnostic is much more advanced while being simpler to use. There are diagnostics at both the organization level and the team level. See Why Scrum and SAFe Don’t Suggest Doing a Diagnosis Before Implementing Them which provides insights into the weakness of both frameworks and how to go beyond them.
Amplio provides for ways to start with preset options or to create a custom approach. It has a diagnostic system to help you see what your real problems are before suggesting what to do.
The Amplio Diagnostic for an Organization
Amplio does not presume a one-size-fits-all approach but believes improvement initiatives must be based on the situation of the organization. This means first discovering your goals. Then, see what challenges you are discovering to achieving these goals. We jointly then work to create an evolving roadmap so everyone can align on what we need to do. Finally, we start implementing it.
We accomplish the first step by having discussions with your leadership and management to discern the degree of clarity of the success criteria and values of the organization. We use the Amplio Diagnostic for seeing your challenges and creating a plan for solving them. Then, we can start implementing it.
The Amplio Diagnostic for a team
The diagnostic for a team is much simpler. Only a couple of decisions need to be made:
- What is the value creation structure to be used
- Should an iteration or flow model be used
We also recommend running a premortem.
Effective management
Management is the forgotten step-child of Agile. Yet, there role is more critical than ever.
Many people complain about lack of management engagement but don’t tell you how to get them engaged. It is absurd, and demeaning, to expect them to “follow to understand.” You want them to use their experience and energy to help move things forward. This not only requires concepts that most Agilists don’t explain to managers, but many deny they exist. This talk lays out what concepts will help managers to understand their role in the new world.
Watch the seminar here.
Effective organizational structure
While teams having all of the skills needed to create value have some theoretical value, in practice, they can’t aways be formed. Amplio takes a pragmatic approach here and has several ways to create effective value creation structures. Amplio has several structures that work at the team level as well as the small organization level. See the Basic Lean-Agile Solution Team presentation and article. You can see the history of BLAST in this post How my history with Scrum @ Scale illustrates why Scrum continues to stay behind the times.
Attend to the Cost of Delay
Attend to the cost of delay is the key for quick delivery of value. Amplio’s approach creates alignment about what is of greatest value to the stakeholders involved. Alignment is both more effective and less expensive than coordination.
Most organizations have difficulty coordinating working on the most important increments of value. Coordination is much harder to achieve than alignment. Being able to sequence work is essential for this and requires the concept of the quickest valuable release (which is not the same as an MVP or SAFe’s MMF).
Continuous learning
Amplio uses a combination of the Deming PDSA cycle and Boyd’s OODA loop. “Inspect and adapt” is an extremely limiting and slow way of learning. See Disempowering Agile beliefs series #2: “Inspect and Adapt” and PDSA are the same.
In addition to the above, it is useful to understand the best way to do a change initiative.