November 4, 2015 Industry Forum Blog Lauded as a “Mandatory read for entrepreneurs” I wanted to see if the book by Eric Ries had anything to do with lean or was it just a name to grab attention. What I discovered were some “light bulb moments” for adapting lean in an environment that is uncertain and chaotic. And then I realised just how much this book had to offer a much wider audience than entrepreneurs running startups, including: Anyone who sets and uses KPIs. Anybody deploying lean. Anybody who runs projects using stage gate and waterfall processes. Here are my top four. To explore and understand the difference between actionable and vanity metrics Ries gives excellent examples of the need to clearly understand the cause and effect of any changes you make to your product or system. This can be done if you use actionable metrics that allow you to learn from your actions. Vanity metrics make it easy to assume you are doing the right things, but they provide no reasons to back that up. Worse is when results go the wrong way and there are no reasons to explain why. Armed with this distinction I am currently reviewing all metrics I use! To get a different angle on value adding and waste In manufacturing we define value adding as work which changes the nature, shape or characteristics of the product in line with customer requirements. In the environment of a startup, where it isn’t always clear who the customer is or what they want, a different definition is required. Reis defines value adding tasks as those that help us learn what the customer actually wants, as opposed to what the designer thinks they want. Activities that involve working on flawed assumptions and building products or features that the customer doesn’t require, result in a waste of time, energy, money, resources, passion and skills. This is a clever interpretation that should challenge us to adapt our lean definitions for different environments. To reinforce the value of working in small batches and using pull systems Traditionally designers build and internally test the complete product before release. Unfortunately many new products fail as they have been designed using flawed assumptions. Result – the customer just doesn’t want them. Ries encourages designers to conduct their “build” in small batches – i.e. test one hypothesis or feature at a time to avoid waste. Just like in manufacturing we know that producing in large batches results in waste and hides quality problems. By testing one hypothesis at a time and using the results to guide the next piece of development you introduce a pull system from design. We should now be asking ourselves what other functions and processes can benefit from working in small batches. To strengthen your existing NPI system While Ries’s Lean Startup methodology is largely focussed on organisations doing disruptive innovation, I can see many elements that will strengthen established systems. This includes companies that have partial design responsibility or are build to print. A few examples: Introducing frequent testing cycles involving the customer to test each assumption or development before moving through the stages. Adjusting the options at the gate review to include a Pivot option instead of Re-do. Including a measure on “learning about customer requirements”. Launching a successful product isn’t all about adherence to project plan and budget. I read my borrowed copy twice and then bought one. Now I am lending it to everyone I know! I hope you find it valuable as well. For more information about NPI please see our web site or contact us.
