From No Product To Lean

NO PRODUCT LEANFrom"

Adrian JankProduct Director, Institutional Investor@adrianjank

@adrianjankHi!

@adrianjank

Publication Overview• Highly reputable financial trade

publication for institutional investors

• Known for their equity and fixed income

analyst rankings world-wide

@adrianjank

Publication Overview• Highly reputable financial trade

publication for institutional investors

• Known for their equity and fixed income

analyst rankings world-wide

Product Team • Organization in transition

• A matrixed organization with in a larger

matrixed organization

@adrianjank

Why this talk?

@adrianjank

My Assumptions About You

(the audience)

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What I’ll share• Tips on getting started

• Organizational experiments

• Overcoming obstacles

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Getting Started

Ready, set...

G.O.O.M.C.

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Initial Learnings• Energized by idea of change• Abundance of ideas but lack prioritization

• Want to collaborate• Difficulty reaching customers

Prioritize Your Organizational Cruft

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Organizational Experiments

EXPERIMENT #1FinancialEducation

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EXPERIMENT #1Can the team start to think LEAN on

their own?

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EXPERIMENT #1hypothesis:

Discussing lean in a language set familiar with stakeholders

would make the concept digestible and desirable

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MIXED OUTCOMES

Lean vocabulary quickly entered into the lexicon, particularly assumption, and “how can we test xyz?”

@adrianjank

MIXED OUTCOMES

Lean vocabulary quickly entered into the lexicon, particularly assumption, and “how can we test xyz?”

Needed more education on applying lean.

@adrianjank

MIXED OUTCOMES

Lean vocabulary quickly entered into the lexicon, particularly assumption, and “how can we test xyz?”

Needed more education on applying lean.

Take time to educate stakeholders, encourage those who started their own small experiments.

EXPERIMENT #2Inception

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EXPERIMENT #2What happens when the CEO creates the

experiment?

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EXPERIMENT #2hypothesis:

If I can persuade our CEO to create the first major experiment, then II can make an important decision quickly

and confidently.

@adrianjank

SUCCESS!

Immediately quelled an uproar from a particular department

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SUCCESS!

Immediately quelled an uproar from a particular department

Results made the next steps clear

@adrianjank

SUCCESS!

Immediately quelled an uproar from a particular department

Results made the next steps clear

Got everyone excited to see results, and a decision was made with confidence

EXPERIMENT #3KPIs

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EXPERIMENT #3Can we choose KPIs to help us

prioritize?

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EXPERIMENT #3hypothesis:

If I can obtain early agreement on meaningful KPIs through a

KPI workshop, prioritization will become easier.

@adrianjank

FAIL

People came into the room biased.

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FAIL

People came into the room biased.

More education on various types of KPI was needed.

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FAIL

People came into the room biased.

More education on various types of KPI was needed.

Invested more time guiding the team to the KPIs we are currently focused on.

EXPERIMENT #4

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EXPERIMENT #4What happens when a large group sketches

a small piece of functionality?

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EXPERIMENT #4hypothesis:

Conducting a quick 60 minute team Design Studio will increase collaboration and will shorten our

implementation cycle.

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SUCCESS!

Team created a UI experience

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SUCCESS!

Team created a UI experience

Shorter implementation

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SUCCESS!

Team created a UI experience

Shorter implementation

Empowered developers

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Obstacles

WTF IS PRODUCT?

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WTF is product?• Likely the first obstacle

• Be prepared to step on toes

• Diplomacy works

• “We’ve always done it this way, and it’s not broken”

THE SILO EFFECT

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The Silo Effect• Requires a deft touch

• Willingness to sacrifice

• Resist the urge to involve “dad”

DATA DYSFUNCTION

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Data Dysfunction• Difficult obtaining/capturing data

• Lowers confidence level

• MUST be transparent

• Bribe the BI guy

THE PRODUCT MANAGER’S DILEMMA

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The Product Manager’s Dilemma

• Business need to build vs.

Personal desire to understand

• Accept the process

• Take advantage of opportunities

• Create feedback loops

MULTIPLE METRICS, ONE TEAM

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Multiple Metrics, One Team

• Push for as few as possible

• Related metrics

• Mechanism for prioritization

INCENTIVE SCHEMES

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Incentive Schemes• Often misaligned

• Align your scheme first,

plan for everyone else second

• Short term loss, long term gain

THANK YOUAdrian Jank@adrianjank