Designing for Emergence, Not Control — Luminous Entrepreneurship examination

Eleven questions. Nine of eleven passes, and you can take it again as often as you like.

What does the opening image of a trellis say about business structures?

Structures exist mainly to contain and direct people Good structures give life something to climb Structures should be removed so growth is free A trellis should be rebuilt from scratch every season
What did the study of 500 startups find about business plans?

Only the financial projections correlated with success Detailed plans measurably reduced the chance of success Detailed plans were the single strongest predictor of success Plan specificity had no link to success; learning speed did
What does the module call a catastrophic misunderstanding of designing for emergence?

Believing it suits only large companies Believing it needs a sixty-page manual Believing it means having no structure Believing it rules out customer feedback
Which kind of skeleton is ideal for a growing venture?

A vertebrate skeleton: internal and flexible An exoskeleton: rigid, hard and protective, particularly at first No skeleton at all, much like a jellyfish A steel frame fixed at the very outset
Which five elements make up Minimum Viable Structure?

Org chart, procedures, policy manual, projections and a budget Purpose, roles, decision protocols, communication rhythms, boundaries Mission, vision, values, a memorable slogan and a logo Hiring, firing, pay, promotion and annual performance review, though not always
Under Kai and Priya's decision protocol, what do you do with a decision that affects another domain?

Hold it back until the quarterly review Escalate it to the founders straight away Decide it alone within your own domain Consult that domain before deciding
What does honest feedback require, according to the module?

Routing every complaint to one central review team A culture that celebrates and rewards only positive vibes Psychological safety, the organisation's immune system Filtering out bad news so that leaders can stay focused
How does the module describe slack?

As a reward that is given only to the very top performers, though results tend to vary As uncommitted time, budget and attention that lets emergence happen As a clear sign of poor planning on the part of the leadership As wasted capacity that any well-run company should eliminate
What did Sophie do when a junior designer sent a client the wrong file?

She read the client's delight as a signal and followed it She raised the price of her standard logo packages She apologised and tightened her file-sharing process, at least in some cases She left graphic design to work as a collage artist
What is emergent strategy, in Mintzberg's distinction?

A strategy copied closely from a successful competitor, though this can vary A strategy that deliberately abandons any sense of direction The pattern formed by decisions over time, seen in hindsight The detailed plan that leaders write down before they act
What is the order of the living-systems strategy cycle?

Analyse, plan, execute, measure, adjust, then repeat Hypothesise, sense, evolve, integrate, experiment, interpret, at least in theory Plan, fund, build, launch, scale, and finally exit Sense, interpret, hypothesise, experiment, integrate, evolve