Lean Innovation Practices

Not all "inefficiencies" are bad for business. Yes- you heard correctly- a Lean practitioner saying these words 🙊 Let me explain. And take note of the inverted comma's above... When processes are too tightly controlled and streamlined, they can be restrictive. 🤔 "Inefficiencies" such as having free time or slower periods might seem unproductive, but they can provide important "thinking time". 💡 For example, Google’s famous "20% time"—where employees were encouraged to spend 20% of their time on projects they were passionate about—led to the creation of successful products like Gmail and AdSense. As Lean practitioners, we are taught to root out waste, and get rid of it! Many people are using the 8 wastes framework to help them spot and cut wastes like "waiting" and "defects", but you know what...some of these "wastes" can have the potential to be beneficial! 👉 Waiting gives people breathing space! Time to think, brainstorm or solve problems in innovative ways. 👉 And defects...well, learning (and quality) often requires a trial-and-error process, which inherently involves inefficiencies. When employees are allowed to make and learn from mistakes, they gain practical knowledge and insights. Of course we want to catch the mistakes and learn from them before our product or service reaches the customer- but often, we don't actually do this because people are afraid to say they made a mistake...because of how that would be viewed. Sometimes I think the failure to be curious and positively leverage inefficiencies is the biggest lost opportunity in organizations...Google sees it...Amazon sees it...we need more companies to see it! ⚠️ I'm not advocating here for the acceptance of inefficiencies- this just leads to complacency. I'm saying it's time to choose what to optimize as well as what to eliminate. 👉 So if waiting cannot be cut out in a process (and it can't always), consider how this time could be used more productively. 👉 If mistakes are being made and it's not clear why, it's a chance to spend time exploring why the defect occurred and how the process can be improved and optimized to prevent future occurrences (Think preventative not just corrective). 👉 This even extends to talent management!! A focus on eliminating underutilized talent often leads to punitive measures whereas when we focus on optimizing talent, we are more likely to develop staff through training, new roles, or opportunities- which enhances productivity and innovation. Peter Drucker famously said "Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things". We need to take a deeper look at what is being accomplished rather than just how quickly or cheaply it is being done. Navigating this challenge requires a thoughtful approach. It's crucial to gather input from people at all levels of the organizations through regular review of all processes with the people who do the work. #lean #leanmanagement #leadership #innovation

Have you ever put a project out - maybe a new app, a tool at work, or even a small backyard project - fully expecting people to love it, only to find out they used it in ways you never anticipated? It’s a humbling reminder that we can’t predict all user needs or behaviors without observing how real people interact with what we build. One strategy to address this is starting with a Minimum Desirable Product (MDP). Think of it as the most basic version that still delivers the main benefit to your audience. Why keep it so simple? Because it helps you see what genuinely resonates (and what doesn’t) before pouring effort into extra features. Here’s a quick rundown of the approach: - Focus on the Essentials: Strip everything down to the core function. It’s tempting to add every “cool” feature, but a lean version clarifies the must-haves. - Watch and Listen: Once people start using it, observe where they flourish and where they get stuck. Real-world usage offers insights that planning sessions can’t always predict. - Refine with Intention: Instead of tacking on extras just because they seem interesting, prioritize improvements that address actual user challenges or requests. Underlying this method are regular feedback loops - quick check-ins with real users to keep you from going off track and building things no one wants. It’s not just for software teams, either: any project that involves other people’s interaction can benefit from this kind of iterative design. How do you gather and act on real-world feedback? #innovation #technology #future #management #startups

Are you a Lean Startup evangelist looking to put #leanstartup into practice at your company? Here’s how to do it: 1. Identify one senior executive sponsor who’s willing to sponsor a team for a 10-week Lean Startup pilot 2. Ask the sponsoring executive to select a small number of projects for the pilot (1-6) 3. For the selected project(s), fill out a project charter and hold a kick-off meeting to ensure alignment 4. Train team members and executives on their roles and responsibilities in the Lean Startup approach 5. Over 10 weeks, support teams and executives to run build-measure-learn loops to generate validated learning 6. At the end of the 10 weeks, have the team(s) make a pivot-persevere-kill recommendation to the sponsoring executive based on the body of validated learning they generated 7. Have the sponsoring executive make an investment decision based on the team’s recommendation 8. Hold a retrospective session to document proof points and decide if and how the pilot should be expanded to other initiatives Tips: 1. There’s an adoption curve for Lean Startup inside your company. Don’t try to tackle the whole curve up front by trying to convince everyone of the merits of Lean Startup. Trying to convince everyone won’t work, nor should it. Rather, start by identifying one early-adopter executive who is willing to sponsor the pilot. Then let the results of the pilot do the convincing for the next executives on the adoption curve. 2. Take the time necessary to charter your teams carefully. Make it clear who is on each project team and how much time each one will be asked to dedicate during the 10-week pilot. Choose cross-functional team members who have the skills and connections each project needs for the 10 weeks. 3. Make sure the sponsoring executive is trained on their role. They need to make it clear they expect pivot-persevere-kill recommendations from teams based on validated learning. #innovation #innovationmanagement

How can ordinary business become innovation powerhouses? They can start by embracing four, too-rare practices. Here's a summary of them from my Harvard Business Review article and 50+ interviews across companies like Google, Microsoft, and Levi's: 🔍 1. Trend Sensing Don’t just chase hype; develop systems to spot early, actionable signals. PepsiCo’s "Do Us A Flavor" contest, ostensibly to find its new flavor of Lay's potato chip, was really about surfacing emerging consumer tastes in real time. 🤝 2. Strategic Partnerships Innovation thrives beyond company walls. From Johnson & Johnson’s university incubators to Levi’s collaboration on "smart" clothing with Google, long-term alliances often fuel the boldest moves. 💡 3. Intrapreneur Programs Ideas die without oxygen. Give employees space (and safety) to test bold concepts. Google lets teams pitch and develop ideas for 6 months—no penalty if they fail. 🌐 4. Innovation Communities Innovation is social. Bayer built a 700-person internal network to swap insights across functions—sparking new business models like agricultural finance from unlikely places. A link to the HBR article is in the Comments below. Innovation isn’t just about serendipity—it’s about systems. Are you investing in the right ones?

95% of new products & services fail because they don't meet real customer needs... 👇 Why? ---> Lack of Market Understanding ---> Ignoring Customer Feedback ---> Inflexible Product Development ---> Poorly Defined Value Proposition Innovation doesn't have to be a shot in the dark. How? By embracing methodologies that put the user first and foster agility. Introducing two transformative frameworks: ---> Lean Startup: Rapid Prototyping & Iterative Learning ---> Design Thinking: Empathy-led Innovation & Creative Problem-Solving Each approach brings its unique strengths to the table. Lean Startup ensures your product evolves with real user feedback. Design Thinking dives deep into user needs, uncovering innovative solutions. Together, they're a powerhouse for user-centered innovation. ➟ Understand your market. ➟ Listen to your customers. ➟ Stay agile in development. ➟ Offer compelling value. -- Found this useful? Share the insight. ♻️

Apply the scientific method to your Product development process and you'll be among the top 1% PMs 🔎 I recently had the pleasure of hosting Ben Hafele, CEO of the Lean Startup Co., on the Product Thinking Podcast. We dove deep into the misconceptions surrounding Lean Startup and how to effectively apply its principles in product development. Lean Startup, as Ben explained, is more than just something early stage startups use to launch their first product. It's about adopting the scientific method in business. This means setting clear objectives, hypothesizing, testing, and learning. It's not just building for the sake of building. One major misconception we uncovered is the idea that Lean Startup is all about rapid building. It's not. The core is "learn, build, measure." First, understand what you need to learn about your product or market. Then, build the simplest experiment possible to test this assumption. Finally, measure the outcome and return to learning. It’s a cycle rooted in thoughtful experimentation, not random execution. When Lean Startup first emerged, many jumped to "build" without the crucial step of learning. This led to countless products being launched without a real understanding of the market need or the user problem they were solving. The key takeaway? Start with learning. Only then can you build meaningful and viable products. If you're curious about how to implement these concepts in your product strategy, I highly recommend listening to the full episode. Lean Startup isn't just a framework—it's a mindset shift towards continuous improvement and value delivery. Listen to the episode to grasp these insights and transform your product development approach. Listen to the episode on the Product Thinking Podcast to dive deeper into this transformative approach: Apple: https://lnkd.in/eH7Q3_Un Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eKBb2EUh Let's step beyond the buzzwords and embrace Lean Startup as a tool for real innovation. 🎧