This is an updated version of the talk I gave in Sep 2016 at Mind The Product. I gave this version of the talk at Webstock in Wellington, NZ in Feb 2017 and then later on that month in Sydney at the IxDA Sydney February event. The set up is a bit different in this version and the focus is more on the principles rather than just the project, program, portfolio structure.
10. GOTHELF.CO / @JBOOGIE
WHY DOES LEAN SEEM TO
BREAK AT SCALE?Established corporations are too concerned about tarnishing their brand with an MVP
— David Baldie (@DavidBaldie)
Process. Everything has a process and 85 approvals and a mysterious “they” blocking anything that’s not the old way.
— Emily Tate (@thedailyem)
"Good enough" doesn't get respected as viable option to SHIP IT!
— Jeremy Caverly (@JeremyCee)
Silo'ed managers unwilling to release team members
— Dan Weingrod (@dweingrod)
Valuing business need over user need (not realizing they are the same thing)
— Simeon Poulin (@simeon_P)
"To approve that we need to see a detailed plan and cost benefit analysis, and you must commit to specific deadlines and targets."
— John Waterworth (@jwaterworth)
"We already know what we need to do. Why do we need to waste time 'learning'?"
— John Waterworth (@jwaterworth)
12. GOTHELF.CO / @JBOOGIE
SEVERAL WAYS TO THINK ABOUT
SCALING
PROJECT
How do we
incorporate more
learning into each
initiative?
PROGRAM
How do we coordinate
multiple discovery/delivery
efforts focused on the same
goal?
PORTFOLIO
How do we coordinate
multiple programs, enforce
governance and meet
shareholder expectations?
13. GOTHELF.CO / @JBOOGIE
SCALING CHALLENGES AT EACH LEVEL
PROJECT
•Optimizing for throughput
(velocity)
•Parallel path discovery &
delivery
•No autonomy to make
decisions
•Incremental, not iterative
•Perceived risk to brand/
current customers
PROGRAM PORTFOLIO
•Cross-team coordination
•Knowledge management
•Legacy systems
•Offshoring
•Distributed teams
•Discipline & business unit
silos
•IT as a service provider
•Business value > customer
value
•Annual planning
•Incentive structure
•Governance
•Conway’s Law but in reverse
21. GOTHELF.CO / @JBOOGIE
TACTIC:
MANAGE TO OKR’S
OBJECTIVE
•Qualitative
•Inspirational
•Time bound
•Actionable by the team independently
(particularly relevant in the enterprise)
KEY RESULTS
•Quantifiable
•How will we know we’ve met our objective?
•Difficult, not impossible
•Cascade down
•Rhythmic
@CWODTKE
EXAMPLE OF OBJECTIVE: BE THE DOMINANT PLATFORM FOR CAR DEALER INVENTORY MANAGEMENT BY Q4 2016
EXAMPLE OF KEY RESULT: 50% OF ALL INDEPENDENT DEALERS ARE OUR USERS
EXAMPLE OF KEY RESULT: 6 OF THE TOP 10 CARMAKERS MANDATE OUR PLATFORM FOR THEIR DEALERSHIPS
EXAMPLE OF KEY RESULT: 40% OF AUTO AUCTION HOUSES USING OUR INVENTORY API
23. GOTHELF.CO / @JBOOGIE
TACTIC:
HORIZON PLANNING
Source: McKinsey, Intuit, et al
THREE TIME HORIZONS TO MEASURE PROGRESS
• Customer-related questions to answer: Is there a need? Can we find a solution that meets that need?
HORIZON 3: SHORT TERM
• Sustainability-related questions to answer: Is the market large enough/sustainable? Can we support growth?
HORIZON 2: MID TERM
• Growth-related questions to answer: How do we scale? How do we continuously improve? How do we stay competitive?
HORIZON 1: LONG TERM
30. GOTHELF.CO / @JBOOGIE
TACTIC:
ACCESS TO CUSTOMERS
The second hardest thing about
Minimum Viable Products is that while
you decide what’s Minimum, the
customer determines if it is Viable.
- @davidjbland
37. GOTHELF.CO / @JBOOGIE
TACTIC:
MODERNIZE TECH STACK
DevOps is a culture, movement or practice that emphasizes the
collaboration and communication of both software developers
and other information-technology (IT) professionals while
automating the process of software delivery and
infrastructure changes.
- Wikipedia
39. GOTHELF.CO / @JBOOGIE
THIS IS A TOP-DOWN EFFORT
“Successful leaders embrace the reality
that their models may be wrong or
incomplete. Only when we admit what we
don’t know can we ever hope to learn it.”
- Ed Catmull, CEO, Pixar
41. GOTHELF.CO / @JBOOGIE
LEAN PRINCIPLES THAT WORK AT
ANY SCALE
PRINCIPLE #1: CUSTOMER VALUE = BUSINESS VALUE
PRINCIPLE #2: VALUE LEARNING OVER DELIVERY
PRINCIPLE #3: RADICAL TRANSPARENCY
PRINCIPLE #4: HUMILITY IN ALL THINGS