The Tripod Schema: Applying Game Theory and Basketball to Enterprise Operational Design

A recent conversation with a colleague reminded me of some of the lessons of 2023:

The Importance of Information Systems: 

As an entrepreneur and business owner focused on knowledge and information work, my livelihood is highly dependent on the freeflow of information in and out of my organization. Emails, texts, calls, and Slack messages are importance to the projects, deliverables, time, and value, I'm able to offer, exchange and conduct commerce. 

Annual Communications Goals:

Directly related to information systems comes in the form of communicating my value and receiving communications, or informations, regarding opportunities. Developing an annual communications goal helps to develop a solid strategy in terms of the internal and external communications I'll need to focus on in order to scale as a business owner in 2024. 

Auditing Digital Tools, Systems and Processes: 

Has been an unexpected part of this journey. Digital tools, or a technology stack, is only as good as the builder responsible for constructing the pieces of a well architected system. Your systems and processes, combined with your digital tools, offer the lens of the capacity of your capabilities, creativity, and creations. 

Grateful for an Enterprise Resource Planning Tool: 

Odoo continues to be my tool of choice. I've consolidated most of my project management and enterprise related tasks into Odoo. Navigating my personal system has allowed for deeper flexibility integrating into the systems of customers, clients, friends and strangers. 

Digital Operations and Special Projects 

2023 was a bit of a whirlwind in that I was fired from my job. Losing a job is tough, however, through the process, I was able to broadly navigate my capacity in the ever evolving world of communicating direct value. This journey, a culmination of sorts and beginning in others, allows for new opportunities to explore my role as in Informations Communications and Technology professional. Working through Digital Operations and leading Special Projects at Silicon Valley Leadership Group was a great opportunity to develop lessors around softwares, interoperatbility, data models, databases and more. 

Digital Transformation, Remote + Hybrid Work 

Currently based in the Joshua Tree Gateway Communities, a relatively rural community with large potential and nuanced aspirations, I've learned the importance of technology is as it relates to connectivity. Digital Transformation has the ability to preserve and restore communities typically siloed based on infrastrcture including roads, trains, and planes. 

Seeking new challenges 

including coaching basketball. Basketball has always been a passion of mine, and the recent All-Star game has indicated a relatively lackluster relationship with the professional game today. a lack of fundamentals has me primarily upset with the sons of Steph Curry, including names such as Trae Young. As a student of life, I'm interested in changing my relationship with basketball to better understand my love of the game through analysis.

Operational Design and the Military

is a relatively new concept which I haven't been too interested in exploring prior to now. This particular topic outlines opportunities to leverage strategy and campaign management, to leverage and understand the design patterns responsible for the tactics, techniques and procedures leading to professional growth and development. 

Lessons on The Market

• Interest Rates: How can operational and enterprise architecture create models that rapidly adapt to interest rate fluctuations, allowing businesses to make informed financial decisions?
• Supply Chain: Discuss supply chain design and resilience. Can architecture be leveraged to create early warning systems and build in 'what-if' scenario capabilities?
• Blockchain: Explore the role of enterprise architecture in building blockchain-powered applications that streamline data security and enhance trust in business ecosystems.
• Scaling and Collaboration: How can enterprise architecture become a blueprint for successful scaling? It's about understanding what data, communication, and processes need seamless interoperability as you partner with others.
  

Getting into Publishing

• Necessity vs. Opportunity: Often, entrepreneurship starts out of necessity. But can it also be an empowering choice? Explore this tension. Are you discovering new skills and opportunities within the entrepreneurial mindset?
• Thriving at Capacity & the Role of Collaboration: This is a key insight. You've realized that scaling up isn't about doing it all alone. Discuss how collaboration and ownership models allow you to leverage your strengths while filling in gaps.
• Publishing as Core Identity: Your passion for writing and publishing is your foundation. Talk about how these skills translate into an entrepreneurial venture. Do you see opportunities in self-publishing, freelance editing, or building communities for other writers?
• Peace as a Legacy: This final statement is powerful. Connect it back to your work: Are there stories you want to tell that promote peace? Can the entrepreneurial spirit itself be an act of building a better future?
  

War Games

• Rewatching game of thrones
• reminded of the nature of capitalism at its core
• Not always a game I like to play, and the balance becomes in playing the game andreonsutruct it all at once
• Various opportunities to revisit and review, as part of ones reevaluation process
• The focus comes in the form of understanding the living, breathing organizsm that is humanity
• Exploring opportunities to understandwhere we're going
• How people plan on survigng
• and understanding and interpretaing fate into the data model

Game Theory

Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. It has applications in many fields of social science, used extensively in economics as well as in logic, systems science and computer science. Traditional game theory addressed two-person zero-sum games, in which a participant's gains or losses are exactly balanced by the losses and gains of the other participant. In the 21st century, game theory applies to a wider range of behavioral relations, and it is now an umbrella term for the science of logical decision making in humans, animals, as well as computers (Wikipedia).

Operational Design

To support and improve detailed planning, Army and Marine Corps design-related

initiatives have been exploring methods that use critical and creative thinking to

understand and describe ill-defined problems and visualize broad approaches to solve

them. The joint community has been considering the potential beneficial effect of this

effort on joint doctrine, training, and professional military education, and is codifying key

design-related ideas (Joint Chiefs of Staff).

Introduction: Frameworks & the Importance to the Future of Tech Biz ​

• The Hubspot Flywheel
• Lean Sigma Six
• Bliztscaling
• Words and Language: Sensationalizing Ideas to Get Buy-In
• Scaling Organizations
• Labeling and Naming Conventions in the Food System
• The Tripod Schema: Food Tribe's path to Efficiency
• Food Tribe's 2021 Goals

The Food Tribe Ecosystem​ 

• Food Tribe 2021 Internal: Departments + Team
• Food Tribe Org Chart
• Food Tribe Business Model: Content and Data
• Working with External Stakeholders: Product, Sales and Content
• Food Tribe Milestones, Work Breakdown Schedule, 
• 2021 Project Goals
• Understanding the Ecosystem: Content we interpret, build and grow
• Integrating #RestaurantBailout into the Ecosystem Efficiently during Covid-19

The Pro's and Cons of Blitzscaling During the Time of the Doughnut 

• Blitzscaling: The Good and the Bad
• The Triangle: Business Model + Management + Strategy Innovation
• Blitzscaling: The Five Stages of Scale
• The Problem of Blitzscaling: Capitalism and the Consequences of War
• The Doughnut Economy: Abundance + Collaboration and the Future
• Food Tribe Year Six: Efficient NOW While Creating the Future
• Combining the Triangle with the Doughnut

Game Theory and Basketball: Combining the Doughnut and the Triangle

• The Overlap of the Doughnuts
• The Sweet Spot: Innovation
• Playing Games versus going to War: The Difference
• The Tripod Schema: Basketball and Game Theory
• Blitzcaling wants us to go to war
• Food Tribe wants to play a game
• What if played Business like Basketball?
• The Triangle Offense: The Most Efficient Team Wins
• Spacing the Floor

The Triangle Offense and the Doughut Economy: The Tripod Schema & Food Tribe​

• The Lakers and the Triangle Offense
• Sam Barry: Driving Efficiency with a Triangle
• Creating Spacigin with the Triangle
• The Center, the Point Guard and the Shooting Guard
• The Power Forward and the Small Forward
• Applying the Triangle Offense to the Food Tribe team
• Each department = a Position on the Court
• The Point Guard = Growth Team, Floor general
• The Shooting Guard: Product Development and Design = Shooter or passer
• The Center: Tech and Innovation: Big and slow, easy buckets
• The People Team: Off Ball
• SCR = on the Bench
• The Board = Coaching Staff
• The Other Team

Offense and  Defense Combine to Win Games​

• How does our defense hold up?
• Double-teaming or Man-to-Man?
• Everyone has to play together
• Who are the starters?
• Who's coming off the bench?
• Cross Collaboration x Training
• Creating Equity
• Automation
• Principles, Values + Vision
• Increased Decision Making

How the Tripod Schema Works to Guide Our Annual Strategy and Long Term Vision + Mission

• Quarterly or Monthly Meeting
• Lets grade how we're doing in terms of:
• Innovation across the triangle
• Annual goals
• Who runs the triangle for the next quarter or period of time?
• How long
• Group collaboration, quorums, problem-solving, decision making, getting the collective involved

Terence Latimer is an Information Communications & Technology professional, consultant, and entrepreneur based in the Mojave Desert.

I write about my experience in startups, tech, and the art of business. I’m also the Founder of Food Tribe, a socially conscious restaurant review platform.

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