Tag Archives: project management

Spotting a Good Leader

GUEST POST from Mike Shipulski

When the team can get things done without the leader, that’s the sign of a good leader.

If the organization bypasses the leader and goes directly to the subject matter experts, that’s because the leader trusts the subject matter experts.

When subject matter experts are trusted, they do amazing work. Good leaders know that.

When a team leader tells you they made a mistake and take full responsibility for it, they make it safe for you to do the same.

When the team can write a good monthly report while the team leader is on vacation, that’s good for the company and the people who can write a good report on their own.

Good leaders know that they make mistakes and know you will too. And, they’re okay with all that.

When a leader won’t tell you what to do, it’s because she believes in you and knows you’re the best person to figure it out.

When a leader says “I don’t know.” they make it safe for team members to do the same.

When a team leader defers to you, that leader knows the limits of their knowledge and yours.

When a leader responds to your question with a question, the leader is helping you answer your question so you can answer it next time on your own.

Good leaders know that sometimes good people don’t know the answer. And they’re okay with that.

When a leader is comfortable with you reaching out to their boss without their knowledge it’s because that leader has told you the truth over the last several years.

Good leaders don’t celebrate failure, they celebrate learning.

When a leader asks you to use your best judgment, that’s a compliment.

When leaders show their emotions in front of you, it demonstrates that they trust you.

Judge a leader by the performance of people on their team.

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From Sticky Notes to Digital Transformation

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How to Properly Leverage Kanban Boards

From Sticky Notes to Digital Transformation

GUEST POST from Dainora Jociute

Whether it’s a bunch of sticky notes on an office wall or a clever digital tool with color-coded boxes, most of us are familiar with the ingenious concept of a Kanban board.

Perhaps that’s not the name you use. Maybe for you and your team, it’s Trello or simply a whiteboard, yet at the very core of it all, hides a little neat Japanese invention that sparks joy – Kanban.

It is not exactly a new concept, however over the years Kanban remains largely unchanged and its popularity unwavering. In this article, I will try to take a deeper look at what it is and how to make it work for you.

A Short History of Kanban

The word Kanban translated from Japanese means sign or signboard. Back in the day, and I am talking way back – 17th century – that was exactly what Kanban was. It was a signboard signaling to passersby what services or products a business offered.

In a more recent chapter of history, in the wake of the Second World War, the Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota was in a pickle. The company struggled to make any profit, and they realized that something must be done. This is where Taiichi Ohno, the so-called founding father of Kanban comes into the picture.

A budding industrial engineer, Ohno was sent to the US to scout and gather inspiration for improving manufacturing back at the Toyota plant. The revelation hit Ohno in the most inconspicuous place – a grocery store. He noticed that some supermarkets stocked their shelves based only on customer demand. Customers would pull products they need off a shelf, and the store would restock them only once it was gone, avoiding unnecessary overloading of the shelves with excess products in advance. This system ensured that the store only sold products with real demand.

This pull approach (on that a little later) clearly reduced waste: it saved the time wasted on restocking, resources spent on overproduction, produce thrown out, and much more. Aiming to eliminate waste without sacrificing production back at the Toyota plant, Ohno introduced the pull system in the shape of paper cards that he later named Kanban.

Each Kanban card contained a clear description of each step in the production line, be it the number of materials needed or a particular task of the production chain to be done. It controlled amounts of production ensuring that only what is needed will be created. These cards moved systematically along the whole manufacturing process and guided what must be done throughout the journey. It became a simple yet ingenious tool for managing the whole manufacturing process ensuring that no waste will be created along the way.

Later down the line, other brilliant minds realized that the same approach can be applied to other industries too, not just manufacturing.

One of the key figures responsible for this adaptation was David J. Anderson. He is known for adapting Kanban principles from their origins in manufacturing to knowledge work, particularly software development and project management.

Although there were other prominent advocates of Kanban in software development, Anderson’s 2010 book on Kanban gained significant popularity, leading him to gain widespread recognition as one of the main proponents of the Kanban we all know today.

What is Kanban?

With all that said, it is time to go into more detail about what Kanban actually is.

In the simplest words, Kanban is a visual tool, a signboard for mapping and tracking planned work, work in progress, and work done.

Kanban is a visual tool for mapping and tracking planned work, work in progress, and work done.

While Toyota mainly used the original Kanban system to track inventory in their manufacturing processes, today’s Kanban can be applied to a much broader range of work areas.

Today, Kanban is widely used in knowledge work to visualize and map the value stream. It helps teams and individuals self-organize and minimizes the need for constant supervision.

However, it takes a bit of time to reach that harmonious sync with your team and squeeze the full value from the board. There are key things in the process that should be known before kicking one off, so let’s break the Kanban down.

Kanban, the Pull System

Now, you read it in this article and most likely you heard it before: Kanban is based on the pull process. But what does that entail?

In Kanban, the concept of “pull” means that tasks or projects are pulled into the process based on the team’s skills, readiness, and capabilities. Similarly, to the pull that Ohno observed in American grocery stores, in Kanban, you take action when there is a need and capability. This approach ensures that tasks are not imposed on individuals who might not have the time but are instead taken up by those who are more likely to complete them.

This enhances efficiency and effectiveness, prevents bottlenecks, increases the completion rate, and prevents waste. In the end, by pulling tasks based on readiness, the team can maintain a sustainable workflow and deliver outcomes within the expected timeframe.

Elements of the Kanban Board

When it comes to Kanban, the true beauty hides in its simplicity, and here, less is truly more. All you need is just a few elements to have a working Kanban board:

Column: an element indicating the stage of the process (most commonly to be done, doing, and done.
Card: an element visually representing a work item. This is where you write what has to be done, when, how, and who is responsible for it.
Work-in-progress (WIP): a number indicating the number of tasks in the respective column. Having a WIP limit set for each “active” column helps with workload management.
Swimlane: horizontal lines that split the columns, used to indicate the team responsible for the tasks, urgency, or just differentiate other relevant categories. The swimlanes are particularly useful for larger projects that involve multiple departments.
Commitment point: a step in the process that signals when a task is ready to be taken to the next step of the development process. For example, when a team member selects a task from the backlog and moves it to the next column, the task crosses the commitment point. This means that the responsible person is committed to completing the task to the best of their knowledge.

Kanban Board

Kanban Board

In addition, it is worth knowing the following definitions:

Cycle time: This is the time need to complete a work item or progress a card from the backlog to the done column. Cycle time starts from the moment the work item crosses the very first commitment point and ends at the moment the work item is completed. It measures the actual time spent working on a task and is an essential metric for understanding how long it takes to complete individual items within the workflow.
Lead time: It is the total time taken for a work item to move through the entire workflow, starting from the moment it is requested or initiated until it is completed and delivered to the customer. It includes not only the time spent actively working on the task (cycle time) but also any waiting time or delays while the task is in progress or in queues.

Cycle time measures the actual time spent working on a task.

Lead time measures the whole time spent on a task, both active work time and inactive waiting time.

These elements, paired with a clear process policy are all you need for the Kanban process to work.

How to Make Your Kanban Work

So, while the elements of Kanban are simple and straightforward, the success of the Kanban process and results heavily depend on the implementation of policies and effective communication practices.

There are a few of those that should be set in place before you start your Kanban initiative:

Process policies. Essentially, this is a set of rules, guidelines, and agreements that will define how work needed to be done will be executed by the team. Having policies set before you start managing projects with Kanban will ensure that the team knows how to handle different types of tasks, and how to tackle possible issues along the way, it will assist in prioritization of work. Process policies act as the standard of your Kanban process.
Commitment. Tasks should not cross commitment points because a member was bored or had extra time on their hands. Goals and expectations for each task should be communicated clearly. Assigning a responsible department or team for certain tasks helps to keep track and ensure that tasks remain in competent hands.
Defined workflow. This refers to the specific stages (columns) through which work items move as they progress from initiation to completion. By defining your workflow in Kanban, you create a clear and visible representation of how work progresses through your process. This allows everyone to have a shared understanding of every step involved and the sequence of work.
Limited WIP. It is a crucial aspect in reducing the cycle time for each project. By placing a cap on the number of tasks in progress, teams can allocate their capabilities and resources more effectively, avoiding the inefficiencies of multitasking. Having a smaller number of WIPs enables rapid identification of bottlenecks and prevents overburdening the team.
Feedback. It helps to make iterative adjustments to optimize workflow, catalyzes learning, and promotes a culture of continuous improvement. Feedback in the Kanban process can be provided in many different ways, for example, daily stand-up meetings or code reviews done after the work item moves to a respective column (i.e. from doing to testing).

Benefits of Using the Kanban Method

Kanban is flexible, easy to use, and quick to master and there are plenty of benefits of using the method. To name a few:

Workflow visualization. Visualization allows transparency, immediate feedback and real-time updates. And Kanban is an excellent way to visually represent and manage workflow, no matter how simple or complicated it is. By visually breaking down the process into small steps and putting it on a board, you can get a great view of who is working on which tasks and the overall progress of your project.
Improved communication and collaboration. The possibility to see everyone’s progress with each task and who is responsible for what fosters more transparent communication. Regular meetings and check-ins on the board allow teams to provide feedback and leave comments. Knowing who is responsible for certain tasks improves collaboration by making it easy to give feedback or suggestion.
Bottleneck identification. By leveraging the visual nature of Kanban, teams can proactively identify and address bottlenecks in the workflow. This helps optimize the flow of work, reduce delays, and increase efficiency and productivity.
Reduced waste and increased productivity. Kanban allows gathering information about the processes quickly and changes might be made on the spot eliminating time for rework needed. Visualizing work and identifying bottlenecks enable streamlined processes, while work-in-progress limits prevent overload, leading to faster task completion.
Continuous improvement. All the best aspects of Kanban culminate in Continuous Improvement. It is the most significant benefit of using Kanban in project management. With a clear and visual representation of the workflow, teams can easily identify areas in need of improvement and address issues quickly. By making incremental changes based on real-time feedback, teams can enhance their workflow, deliver higher-quality outputs, and be more responsive to customer needs.

The transparency provided by Kanban fosters a culture of ongoing optimization, making it an amazing tool for driving continuous improvement.

From Sticky Notes to a Digital System

Some years back, I worked in a company where we used a real, physical Kanban board. And I don’t mean a whiteboard, I mean a full wall, covered from top to bottom in sticky notes (big organization, big team, and a huge process). And part of me loved it.

We all worked like busy bees, with our individual tasks, tied to a common goal. Kanban was the place where everything fell into place.

Every morning we would hover over that wall, with a cup of coffee in our hands, checking where those stickies are traveling. It was a whole story unfolding in front of our eyes.

People with Sticky Notes

However, everyone agreed that tracking each sticky note took a big bite of our mornings.

Was the task I worked on approved by legal and moved to the next stage, or was it sent back to be reworked?

That’s why I see the digitalization of Kanban as a blessing. It makes things easier to track and increases readability, which reduces waste.

Also, think about the analytics and reporting. Our manager used to take pictures of the wall and show them during the Monday team meetings. Zooming and deciphering individual handwriting… yeah, not the best. Luckily, digital tools save us from this burden.

Pros and Cons of Digital Kanban Board

There are some obvious benefits of a digital Kanban board:

Remote collaboration. Digital Kanban provides coherent communication and coordination among distributed teams. The team can access the Kanban board from anywhere, enabling real-time updates, tracking, and smooth communication. This fosters a sense of unity and efficiency, even when team members are geographically dispersed, ensuring that projects move forward cohesively and productively.
Security. Digital Kanban tools often provide encryption and secure data storage, protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access, and in case of unexpected issues, you can often rely on automatic data back-ups and easy data recovery. Finally, such tools eliminate the risks of post-it falling off, being removed without a trace or simply getting damaged. In addition, it allows you to keep all the possible sensitive data hidden away from the curious eyes of office visitors.
Automation. Most of the tools come with certain automation features. For example, notifications and email reminders ensure that Kanban stays active, deadlines are not forgotten, or finished tasks progress automatically. All relevant data is just a few clicks away, and integration with other relevant tools makes reporting and process improvement much easier.
Document management. Most digital tools provide one safe and easy-to-access place to gather information, supporting files, and leave comments and feedback by the team.
Customization. Most of the tools allow flexible customization, you can adapt the Kanban to your unique workflow, limit WIPs, add swimlanes, or add additional columns. As a secondary bonus, customization gives a chance to create a visually appealing board or a board that perfectly fits your brand.

However, as with most tools, there is no one right way. Digital Kanban tools has some disadvantages too:

Lack of communication. Digital tools allow us to check information when we want, from wherever it is comfortable for us, meaning that we can finish the whole process barely ever meeting our team.

So, without a physical board, people might end up working in isolation. While it might sound like a dream for an introvert, in the grander scheme of things, lack of communication might cause an array of issues like misunderstandings, misalignment, delayed issue resolution, and others.
Unfiltered input. The digital board might open the gate to idea dumping. While shooting as many shots as possible can be a good thing in a brainstorming session, only planned and discussed tasks should end up on a Kanban board to ensure that planned projects are finished efficiently.
Dependency on third-party vendors. Using digital tools means relying on third-party vendors, and if the vendor faces issues or discontinues the product, it could disrupt the team’s workflow.

With that said, if you will look deeper into the pros and cons of digital vs physical, you might find a lot of contradicting information. Some articles might argue that digital tools can be time-consuming, requiring people to navigate additional applications, while others claim that physically going to a board might take extra time.

Similarly, some articles highlight concerns about communication issues and working in silos, whereas others praise digital tools for facilitating communication, especially among remote teams. The contrasting viewpoints can lead to different interpretations and opinions on the impact of digital tools in the workplace.

So, physical, or digital? As predictable as my answer will sound – it all depends on your unique way of working.

Going Digital

There are a lot of tools that could be used as a digital Kanban board. From the good old Excel to a dedicated digital Kanban tool such as Kanbanize, you have plenty to choose from. However, such tools are not necessarily equal to one another. If you were to take the digital route, here are some points worth considering before committing:

Integration: i.e.: does the tool work with systems and other tools you already use?
Visualization: i.e.: does the allow easy visualization of the workflow?
Customization: i.e.: can you change and add elements as columns, WIPs, etc?
Automation: i.e.: are you able to get reminders, or do finished tasks move automatically to the next column?
Analytics: i.e.: can you extract data on cycle time or lead time?
Ease of use: i.e.: how steep is the learning curve?
Price: i.e.: does additional features, like the number of users, or analytics cost extra?

Conclusion

Kanban has come a long way from its inception as a simple manufacturing process management tool to the project management tool that it is today. And while Kanban is often associated with development, software, Lean, Agile, and Scrum… do not get tricked. Kanban can be used to manage wide-ranging projects with multiple stakeholders and at the same time, it can be used to help with organizing and managing personal projects.

As discussed earlier, it is obvious that the simplicity, flexibility, ease of deployment, and effectiveness in visualizing workflows, promoting collaboration, and continuously improving processes make Kanban an attractive tool for a variety of industries. It brings a myriad of benefits such as the reduction of bottlenecks, enhanced productivity and efficiency, improved communication and so much more. So, it is a no-brainer when it comes to giving Kanban a shot.

As to why it remains mostly unchanged, the good old rule of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it applies here perfectly. From the 1940s to 2023, from automotive manufacturing to software development, Kanban has been and still is a simple tool that simply works.

Image credits: Viima, Unsplash

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Why Not Now?

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Why Not Now?

GUEST POST from Mike Shipulski

If you are anxious, you’re worried about what might happen. You’re living in the future. If you are sad or angry, you’re reacting to what happened. You’re living in the past. Nothing can be accomplished when living in the past because the die is cast. And nothing can be accomplished when living in the future because it’s all in your head. The only time we have is now.

The only time to start is now. Even if your project is a short one, you’re in a day-for-day slip with your completion date for every day you don’t start. And this is doubly true for long projects. If you’re living in the past, you block yourself from starting because the last project was difficult, you didn’t have the resources or it didn’t come out as expected, and you want to protect yourself from a rerun. If you’re living in the past, you block yourself from starting because you don’t know how it will turn out, you don’t have all the answers, you don’t have sufficient resources, and you don’t know what you don’t know. Acknowledge the problems with the past and potential problems with the future, and start anyway.

Starting starts with starting.

The only time to say something is now. If you’re living in the past, you block yourself from saying something controversial or thought-provoking because you remember how it went the last time someone did that. If you’re living in the future, you prevent yourself from saying something radical because, well, you weren’t paying attention and missed your opportunity to change history. Acknowledge that there may be some blowback for your insightful comments, live in the now and say them anyway. And live in the now so you can pay attention and use your sharp wit to create the future.

If you don’t say something, nothing is ever said.

The only time to help is now. Living in the past, you block yourself from understanding the significance of the situation because you see it through old lenses. Living in the future, you block yourself from helping because you worry if the helping will help or worry the helping will get in the way of your future commitments. If someone needs help, help them now. They will understand that the outcome is uncertain, and they’re okay with that. In fact, they will be happy you recognized their troubling situation and made time to check in with them. When you live in the now, people appreciate it. The time to help is now.

When no one helps, no one is helped.

When you find yourself living in the past, close your eyes, recognize your anger or sadness, and focus on your breath for ten seconds. And if that doesn’t work, put your hand on your chest and do it again. And if that doesn’t work, tell yourself your sadness is temporary and do it again. This is a fail-safe way to bring yourself into the now. Then, sitting in the now, start that project, say what must be said, and help people.

And when you find yourself living in the future, close your eyes, recognize your anxiety, and focus on your breath for ten seconds. And if that doesn’t work, put your hand on your chest and do it again. And if that doesn’t work, tell yourself your anxiety is temporary and repeat. This will bring you into the now. Then, sitting in the now, start that project, say what must be said, and help people.

The only time to shape the future is now.

Image credit: Pixabay

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3 Innovation Types Not What You Think They Are

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But They Do Determine Your Success

3 Innovation Types Not What You Think They Are

GUEST POST from Robyn Bolton

The Official Story

When discussing innovation, you must be specific so people know what you expect. This is why so many thought leaders, consultants, and practitioners preach the importance of defining different types of innovation.

Clayton Christensen encourages focusing on WHY innovation is happening – improve performance, improve efficiency, or create markets – in his 2014 HBR article.
The classic Core/Adjacent/Transformational model focuses on WHAT is changing – target customer, offering, financial model, and resources and processes.
McKinsey’s 3 Horizons focus on WHEN the results are achieved – this year, 2-3 years, 3-6 years.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the options and worry about which approach is “best.” But, like all frameworks, they’re all a little bit right and a little bit wrong, and the best one is the one that will be used and get results in your organization.

The REAL story

Everything in the official story is true, but not the whole truth.

“Innovation” is not peanut butter.

You can’t smear it all over everything and expect deliciousness.

When doing innovation, you must remember your customer – the executives who make decisions, allocate resources, and can accelerate or decimate your efforts.

More importantly, you need to remember their Jobs to be Done (JTBD) – keep my job, feel safe and respected, and be perceived as competent/a rising star – because these jobs define the innovations that will get to market.

Three (3) REAL types of innovation

SAFE – The delightful solution to decision-makers’ JTBD

Most closely aligned with Core innovation, improving performance or efficiency, and Horizon 1 because the focus is on improving what exists in a way that will generate revenue this year or next. Decision-makers feel confident because they’ve “been there and done that” (heck, doing “that” is probably what got them promoted in the first place). In fact, they’re more likely to get in trouble for NOT investing in these types of innovations than they are for investing in them.

STRETCH – The Good Enough solution

Most like Adjacent innovation because they allow decision-makers to keep one foot in the known while “stretching” their other foot into a new (to them) area. This type of innovation makes decision-makers nervous because they don’t have all the answers, but they feel like they at least know what questions to ask. Progress will require more data, and decisions will take longer than most intrapreneurs want. But eventually, enough time and resources (and ego/reputation) will be invested that, unless the team recommends killing it, the project will launch.

SPLATTER – The Terrible solution

No matter what you call them – transformational, radical, breakthrough, disruptive, or moonshots – these innovations make everyone’s eyes light up before reality kicks in and crushes our dreams. These innovations “define the next chapter of our business” and “disrupt ourselves before we’re disrupted.” These innovations also require decision-makers to let go of everything they know and wander entirely into the unknown. To invest resources in the hope of seeing the return (and reward) come back to their successor (or successor’s successor). To defend their decisions, their team, and themselves when things don’t go exactly as planned.

How to find the REAL type that will get real results.

“You said you want X. Would you describe that for me?” (you may need to give examples). When I worked at Clayton Christensen’s firm, executives would always call and ask for our help to create a disruptive innovation. When I would explain what they were actually asking for (something with “good enough” performance and a low selling price that appeals to non-consumers), they would back away from the table, wave their hands, and say, “Oh, not that. We don’t want that.”
“How much are you willing to risk?” If they’re willing to go to their boss to ask for resources, they’re willing to Stretch. If they’re willing to get fired, they’re willing to Splatter. If everything needs to stay within their signing authority, it’s all about staying Safe.
“What would you need to see to risk more?” As an innovator, you’ll always want more freedom to push boundaries and feel confident that you can convince others to see things your way. But before you pitch Stretch to a boss that wants Safe, or Splatter to a boss barely willing to Stretch, learn what they need to change their minds. Maybe it will be worth your effort, maybe it won’t. Better to know sooner rather than later.

Image credits: Pixabay

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Sprint Toward the Innovation Action

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Sprint Toward the Innovation Action

GUEST POST from Mike Shipulski

Companies have control over one thing: how to allocate their resources. Companies allocate resources by deciding which projects to start, accelerate, and stop; whom to allocate to the projects; how to go about the projects; and whom to hire, invest in, and fire. That’s it.

Taking a broad view of project selection to include starting, accelerating, and stopping projects, as a leader, what is your role in project selection, or, at a grander scale, initiative selection? When was the last time you initiated a disruptive yet heretical new project from scratch? When was the last time you advocated for incremental funding to accelerate a floundering yet revolutionary project? When was the last time you stopped a tired project that should have been put to rest last year? And because the projects are the only thing that generates revenue for your company, how do you feel about all that?

Without your active advocacy and direct involvement, it’s likely the disruptive project won’t see the light of day. Without you to listen to the complaints of heresy and actively disregard them, the organization will block the much-needed disruption. Without your brazen zeal, it’s likely the insufficiently-funded project won’t revolutionize anything. Without you to put your reputation on the line and decree that it’s time for a revolution, the organization will starve the project and the revolution will wither. Without your critical eye and thought-provoking questions, it’s likely the tired project will limp along for another year and suck up the much-needed resources to fund the disruptions, revolutions, and heresy.

Now, I ask you again. How do you feel about your (in)active (un)involvement with starting projects that should be started, accelerating projects that should be accelerated, and stopping projects that should be stopped?

And with regard to project staffing, when was the last time you stepped in and replaced a project manager who was over their head? Or, when was the last time you set up a recurring meeting with a project manager whose project was in trouble? Or, more significantly, when was the last time you cleared your schedule and ran toward the smoke of an important project on fire? Without your involvement, the over-their-head project manager will drown. Without your investment in a weekly meeting, the troubled project will spiral into the ground. Without your active involvement in the smoldering project, it will flame out.

As a leader, do you have your fingers on the pulse of the most important projects? Do you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to know which projects need help? And do you have the chops to step in and do what must be done? And how do you feel about all that?

As a leader, do you know enough about the work to provide guidance on a major course change? Do you know enough to advise the project team on a novel approach? Do you have the gumption to push back on the project team when they don’t want to listen to you? As a leader, how do you feel about that?

As a leader, you probably have direct involvement in important hiring and firing decisions. And that’s good. But, as a leader, how much of your time do you spend developing young talent? How many hours per week do you talk to them about the details of their projects and deliverables? How many hours per week do you devote to refactoring troubled projects with the young project managers? And how do you feel about that?

If you want to grow revenue, shape the projects so they generate more revenue. If you want to grow new businesses, advocate for projects that create new businesses. If you need a revolution, start revolutionary projects and protect them. And if you want to accelerate the flywheel, help your best project managers elevate their game.

Image credit: Pixabay

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Moneyball and the Beginning, Middle, and End of Innovation

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Moneyball and the Beginning, Middle, and End of Innovation

GUEST POST from Robyn Bolton

Recently, pitchers and catchers reported to MLB Spring Training facilities in Florida and Arizona. For baseball fans, this is the first sign of Spring, an occasion that heralds months of warmth and sunshine, ballparks filled (hopefully) with cheering fans, dinners of beers and brats, and the undying belief that this year will be the year.

Of course, there was still a lot of dark, dreary cold between then and Opening Day. Perfect weather for watching baseball movies – Bull Durham, Major League, The Natural, Field of Dreams, and, of course, Moneyball.

Moneyball is based on the book of the same name by Michael Lewis and chronicles the 2002 Oakland Athletics season. The ’02 Oakland A’s, led by General Manager Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), forever changed baseball by adopting an approach that valued rigorous statistical analysis over the collective wisdom of baseball insiders (coaches, scouts, front office personnel) when building a team. This approach, termed “Moneyball,” enabled the A’s to reach the postseason with a team that cost only $44M in salary, compared to the NY Yankees that spent $125M to achieve the same outcome.

While the whole movie (and book) is a testament to the courage and perseverance required to challenge and change the status quo, time and again I come back to three lines that perfectly sum up the journey of every successful intrapreneur I’ve ever met.

The Beginning

“I know you’ve taken it in the teeth out there, but the first guy through the wall…he always gets bloody…always always gets bloody. This is threatening not just a way of doing business… but in their minds, it’s threatening the game. Really what it’s threatening is their livelihood, their jobs. It’s threatening the way they do things… and every time that happens, whether it’s the government, a way of doing business, whatever, the people who are holding the reins – they have their hands on the switch – they go batshit crazy.”

John Henry, Owner of the Boston Red Sox

Context

The 2002 season is over, and the A’s were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. John Henry, an owner of the Boston Red Sox, has invited Bill Beane to Boston to offer him the Red Sox GM job.

Lesson

This is what you sign up for when you decide to be an Intrapreneur. The more you challenge the status quo, the more you question how business is done, the more you ask Why and demand an answer, the closer you get to “tak(ing) it in the teeth.”

This is why courage, perseverance, and an unshakeable belief that things can and should be better are absolutely essential for intrapreneurs. Your job is to run at the wall over and over until you get through it.

People will follow. The Red Sox did. They won the World Series in 2004, breaking an 84-year-old curse.

The Middle

“It’s a process, it’s a process, it’s a process”

Bill Beane

Context

Billy has to convince the ballplayers to forget all the habits that made them great and embrace the philosophy of Moneyball. To stop stealing bases, turning double plays on bunts, and swinging for the fences and to start taking walks, throwing to first for the easy out, and prioritize getting on base over hitting a home run.

The players are confused and frustrated. Suddenly, everything that they once did right is wrong and what was not valued is deeply prized.

Lesson

Innovation is something new that creates value. Something new doesn’t just require change, it requires people to stop doing things that work and start doing things that seem strange or even wrong.

Change doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not a switch to be flipped. It’s a process to be learned. It takes time, practice, reminders, and patience.

The End

“When you get an answer you’re looking for, hang up.”

Billy Beane

Context

In this scene, Billy has offered one of his players to multiple teams, searching for the best deal. When the phone rings with a deal he likes, he and the other General Manager (GM) agree to it, Billy hangs up. Even though the other GM was in the middle of a sentence. When Peter Brand, the Assistant GM played by Jonah Hill, points out that Billy had just hung up on the other GM, Billy responds with this nugget of wisdom.

Lesson

It’s advice intrapreneurs should take very much to heart. I often see Innovation teams walk into management presentations with long presentations, full of data and projections, anxious to share their progress, and hoping for continued funding and support. When the meeting starts, a senior exec will say something like, “We’re excited by the progress we’re hearing about and what it will take to continue.”

That’s the cue to “hang up.”

Instead of starting the presentation from the beginning, start with “what it will take to continue.” You got the answer you’re looking for – they’re excited about the progress you’ve made – don’t spend time giving them the info they already have or, worse, could raise questions and dim their enthusiasm. Hang up on the conversation you want to have and have the conversation they want to have.

In closing

Moneyball was an innovation that fundamentally changed one of the most tradition-bound businesses in sports. To be successful, it required someone willing to take it in the teeth, to coach people through a process, and to hang up when they got the answer they wanted. It wasn’t easy but real change rarely is.

The same is true in corporations. They need their own Bill Beanes.

Are you willing to step up to the plate?

Image credits: Pixabay

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‘Innovation’ is Killing Innovation. How Do We Save It?

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'Innovation' is Killing Innovation. How Do We Save It?

GUEST POST from Robyn Bolton

How do people react when you say “innovation?”

Lean forward, eyes glittering, eager to hear more
Stare blankly and nod slowly
Roll their eyes and sigh
Wave their hands dismissively and tell you to focus on other, more urgent priorities.

If you answered C, you’re in good company.

Innovation is a buzzword. Quick searches of Amazon and Google Scholar result in 100,000+ books and 200,000+ articles on the topic, while a scan of the SEC’s database yields 8,000 K-1 filings with the word “innovation” in 2020 alone.

“Innovation” is meaningless, like all buzzwords. There’s a reason that practitioners and consultants insist on establishing a common definition before starting innovation work. I’ve been in meetings with ten people, asked each person to define “innovation,” and heard 12 different answers.

But all this pales in comparison to the emotional response it elicits. Some people get incredibly excited, bouncing out of their seats, ready to bring their latest idea to life (whether it should be brought to life is a different story.). Some nod solemnly as if confronted by a necessary evil, accepting a fate beyond their control. Most roll their eyes because they’ve been through this before and, like all management “flavors of the month,” this too shall pass.

“Innovation” is killing Innovation

The emotions and opinions we tie to “innovation” overwhelm the dictionary definition, making it difficult to believe that the process and, more importantly, the result will be different this time.

We need a different word.

One that has the same meaning and none of the baggage.

This may feel impossible, but if “literally” can mean “figuratively” (do NOT get me started on this 2013 decision) and the Oxford English Dictionary can add 700 new words in 2022, surely we can figure this out.

10 alternatives to ‘Innovation’

The following options are sourced primarily from conversations with other experts and practitioners.

Invention
Ideation
Incubation
Improvement
Creation
Design
Growth
Transformation
Business R&D*

Yes, #10 is intentionally missing because…

What do you think?

Finding a new word (or maybe changing how “innovation” is perceived, understood, and pursued) is a group effort. One person alone can’t do it, and a few people on a call complaining about the state of things certainly won’t (we’ve tried).

What do you think?

Do we need a different word for “innovation,” or should we keep it and deal with the baggage?

If we need a different word, what could it be? What do YOU use?

If we keep it, how do you combat the misunderstanding, eye rolls, and emotional baggage?

Let us know in the comments.

* This option came directly from a conversation with a client last week, and I kinda love it.

We discussed the challenge of getting engineers to stay in a discovery mindset rather than jumping immediately to solutions. Even though they work in R&D (the function), he observed that 99.9% of their work (and, honestly, their careers) is spent on the D in R&D (development).

That’s when it clicked.

Research begins with investigation and inquiry to understand a broad problem and then uses the resulting insights to solve a specific problem. It is a learning process, just like the early stages of Innovation. And, just like in the early days of Innovation, you can’t predict the result or routinize the work.

Development focuses on bringing the “new or modified product or process to production,” Just like the later phases of Innovation when prototyping and experimentation are required, and risk is driven out of the proposition.

Traditional R&D focuses on technical and scientific exploration and solutioning,

Innovation focuses on market, consumer/customer, and business model exploration and solutioning.

It is R&D for the business.

Business R&D.

Image credits: Pixabay

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3 Examples of Why Innovation is a Leadership Problem

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Through the Looking Glass

3 Examples of Why Innovation is a Leadership Problem

GUEST POST from Robyn Bolton

Do you sometimes feel like you’re living in an alternate reality?

If so, you’re not alone. Most innovators feel that way at some point.

After all, you see things that others don’t.

Question things that seem inevitable and true.

Make connections where others only see differences.

Do things that seem impossible.

It’s easy to believe that you’re the crazy one, the Mad Hatter and permanent resident of Wonderland.

But what if you’re not the crazy one?

What if you’re Alice?

And you’re stepping through the looking glass every time you go to work?

In Lewis Carroll’s book, the other side of the looking glass is a chessboard, and all its inhabitants are chess pieces that move in defined and prescribed ways, follow specific rules, and achieve defined goals. Sound familiar?

Here are a few other things that may sound familiar, too

“The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday – but never jam today.” – The White Queen

In this scene, the White Queen offers to hire Alice as her lady’s maid and pay her “twopence a week and jam every other day.” When Alice explains that she doesn’t want the job, doesn’t like jam, and certainly doesn’t want jam today, the queen scoffs and explains the rule.

The problem, Alice points out, is that it’s always today, and that means there’s never jam.

Replace “jam” with “innovation,” and this hits a little too close to home for most innovators.

How often do you hear about the “good old days” when the company was more entrepreneurial, willing to experiment and take risks, and encouraged everyone to innovate?

Innovation yesterday.

How often do you hear that the company will invest in innovation, restart its radical innovation efforts, and disrupt itself as soon as the economy rebounds, business improves, and things settle down a bit? Innovation tomorrow.

But never innovation today. After all, “it’s [innovation] every other day: today isn’t any other day, you know.”

“When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more, not less.” – Humpty Dumpty

In this scene, poor Alice tries to converse with Humpty Dumpty, but he keeps using the “wrong” words. Except they’re not the wrong words because they mean exactly what he chooses them to mean.

Even worse, when Alice asks Humpty to define confusing terms, he gets angry, speaks in a “scornful tone,” and smiles “contemptuously” before “wagging his head gravely from side to side.

We all know what the words we use mean, but we too often think others share our definitions. We use “innovation” and “growth,” assuming people know what we mean. But they don’t. They know what the words mean to them. And that may or may not be what we mean.

When managers encourage people to share ideas, challenge the status quo, and take risks, things get even trickier. People listen, share ideas, challenge the status quo, and take risks. Then they are confused when management doesn’t acknowledge their efforts. No one realizes that those requests meant one thing to the managers who gave them and a different thing to the people who did them.

“It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to go somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” – The Red Queen

In this scene, the Red Queen introduces life on the other side of the looking glass and explains Alice’s new role as a pawn. Of course, the explanation comes after a long sprint that seems to get them nowhere and only confuses Alice more.

When “tomorrow” finally comes, and it’s time for innovation, it often comes with a mandate to “act with urgency” to avoid falling behind. I’ve seen managers set goals of creating and launching a business with $250M revenue in 3 years and leadership teams scrambling to develop a portfolio of businesses that would generate $16B in 10 years.

Yes, the world is moving faster, so companies need to increase the pace at which they operate and innovate. But if you’re doing all you can, you can’t do twice as much. You need help – more people and more funding, not more meetings or oversight.

“Life, what is it but a dream?”

Managers and executives, like the kings and queens, have roles to play. They live in a defined space, an org chart rather than a chessboard, and they do their best to navigate it following rules set by tradition, culture, and HR.

But you are like Alice. You see things differently. You question what’s taken as given. And, every now and then, you probably want to shake someone until they grow “shorter – and fatter – and softer – and rounder – and…[into] a kitten, after all.”

So how do you get back to reality and bring everyone with you? You talk to people. You ask questions and listen to the answers. You seek to understand their point of view and then share yours.

Some will choose to stay where they are.

Some will choose to follow you back through the looking glass.

They will be the ones who transform a leadership problem into a leadership triumph.

Image credits: Pixabay

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5 Questions to Answer Before Spending $1 on Innovation

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5 Questions to Answer Before Spending $1 on Innovation

GUEST POST from Robyn Bolton

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

That is one of the very few pieces of advice that seems to apply to everything, including spandex workout clothes, movie tickets, and bank fees.

And innovation.

Just because you can invest in innovation doesn’t mean you should.

Yes, I know this is borderline blasphemy in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. It’s also downright shocking from someone who spends every day trying to help companies innovate.

But it’s true.

And the state of corporate innovation would be infinitely better if executives stopped spending on innovation simply because they can and started exploring if they should.

You can start that exploration with these five (5) questions:

1. What is the current state of the business?

If the business fundamentals aren’t solid – you’re hemorrhaging cash, customers are abandoning you like a sinking ship, and you can’t make or deliver a quality solution to save your life – DO NOT INNOVATE! Do not spend $1 or 1 minute on anything other than fixing your fundamentals.

While innovation theory is very clear about the importance of building your core business and creating new ones, it does not apply in this situation because, in this situation, you won’t be in business long enough to reap the rewards of your innovation investment. Instead, invest in re-building your business into a viable and sustainable enterprise. Then invest in innovation.

If your fundamentals are solid, go to the next question.

2. Why is innovation important?

There is no wrong answer to this question. But your answer has massive implications on what you do next and the results you should expect.

If innovation is important because it enables or accelerates a strategic priority, creates or reclaims a competitive advantage, or fundamentally alters the basis of competition in your industry, then invest in it like the Mission Critical endeavor it is and expect game-changing results.

If innovation is important because it builds your reputation as an innovator while helping you attract and retain customers, employees, and investors, then it’s a marketing or PR tactic. Invest in it as you would other marketing and PR tactics and measure success in awareness, trial, and loyalty.

If innovation is important because investors are demanding it, take time to understand why. The answer is probably one of the two reasons above.

3. What does it need to deliver, and by when?

What gets measured gets managed. If it’s measured, it’s important. If it’s not measured, it’s a hobby.

You would never enter a new market, invest in a new plant, or launch a new product without success metrics and KPIs. You start with a plan for measuring success because these investments are important.

If innovation is truly important, you need to do the same thing – determine what you will measure (how we will quantify success), how (specific metrics and tools), and how often (monthly, quarterly, annually). And then do the work of measuring (and managing).

4. How much are we willing to invest before we get ROI?

Innovation takes time to generate meaningful results, but very few executives have the patience to wait years for results, mainly because they know that every dollar or person they allocate to innovation is a dollar or person not generating (almost) guaranteed results this year.

Be honest about when you expect meaningful results and whether you’re willing to continue to invest money and hire people for that long before you get results. If there’s a gap, close it by moving the time to results in (and adjusting expectations) or moving your investment horizon out.

5. ???

I want to hear from you.

What’s a question that you wished leadership asked before investing in innovation?

Drop your suggestion in the Comments, and I promise to respond!
(plus others will thank you)

Image credits: Pixabay

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Innovation and the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

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Why It’s Bad News and Good News for Corporate Innovation

Innovation and the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

GUEST POST from Robyn Bolton

Last week, as news of Silicon Valley Bank’s losses and eventual collapse, took over the news cycle, attention understandably turned to the devastating impact on the startup ecosystem.

Prospects brightened a bit on Monday with news that the federal government would make all depositors whole. Startups, VCs, and others in the ecosystem would be able to continue operations and make payroll, and SVB’s collapse would be just another cautionary tale.

But the impact of SVB’s collapse isn’t confined to the startup ecosystem or the banking industry.

Its impact (should have) struck fear and excitement into the hearts of every executive tasked with growing their business.

Your Portfolio’s Risk Profile Just Changed

The early 2000s were the heyday of innovation teams and skunkworks, but as these internal efforts struggled to produce significant results, companies started looking beyond their walls for innovation. Thus began the era of Corporate Venture Capital (CVC).

Innovation, companies realized, didn’t need to be incubated. It could be purchased.

Often at a lower price than the cost of an in-house team.

And it felt less risky. After all, other companies were doing it and it was a hot topic in the business press. Plus, making investments felt much more familiar and comfortable than running small-scale experiments and questioning the status quo.

Between 2010 and 2020, the number of corporate investors increased more than 6x to over 4,000, investment ballooned to nearly $170B in 2021 (up 142% from 2020), and 1,317 CVC-backed deals were closed in Q1 of 2020.

But, with SVB’s collapse, the perceived risk of startup investing suddenly changed.

Now startups feel riskier. Venture Capital firms are pulling back, and traditional banks are prohibited from stepping forward to provide the venture debt many startups rely on. While some see this as an opportunity for CVC to step up, that optimism ignores the fact that companies are, by nature and necessity, risk averse and more likely to follow the herd than lead it.

Why This is Bad News

As CVC, Open Innovation, and joint ventures became the preferred path to innovation and growth, internal innovation shifted to events – hackathons, shark tanks, and Silicon Valley field trips.

Employees were given the “freedom” to innovate within a set time and maybe even some training on tools like Design Thinking and Lean Startup. But behind closed doors, executives spoke of these events as employee retention efforts, not serious efforts to grow the business or advance critical strategies.

Employees eventually saw these events for what they were – innovation theater, activities designed to appease them and create feel-good stories for investors. In response, employees either left for places where innovation (or at least the curiosity and questions required) was welcomed, or they stayed, wiser and more cynical about management’s true intentions.

Then came the pandemic and a recession. Companies retreated further into themselves, focused more on core operations, and cut anything that wouldn’t generate financial results in 12 months or less.

Innovation muscles atrophied.

Just at the moment they need to be flexed most.

Why This is Good News

As the risk of investment in external innovation increases, companies will start looking for other ways to innovate and grow. Ways that feel less risky and give them more control.

They’ll rediscover Internal Innovation.

This is the silver lining of the dark SVB cloud – renewed investment in innovation, not as an event or activity to appease employees, but as a strategic tool critical to delivering strategic priorities and accelerating growth.

And, because this is our 2^nd time around, we know it’s not about internal innovation teams OR external partners/investments. It’s about internal innovation teams AND external partners/investments.

Both are needed, and both can be successful if they:

Are critical enablers of strategic priorities
Pursue realistic goals (stretch, don’t splatter!)
Receive the people and resources required to deliver against those goals
Are empowered to choose progress over process
Are supported by senior leaders with words AND actions

What To Do Now

When it comes to corporate innovation teams, many companies are starting from nothing. Some companies have files and playbooks they can dust off. A few have 1 or 2 people already working.

Whatever your starting point is, start now.

Just do me one favor. When you start pulling the team together, remember LL Cool J, “Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years.”

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

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