strategic kanban: leading business innovation (agile conference tokyo 2013)

Strategic Kanban: Leading Business Innovation

Kraig Parkinson, ThoughtWorks@kraigparkinson #strategickanban

Agile Tokyo, 17 Jul 2013

Friday, June 28, 13

“The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are

for what we could become.”

Charles Dubois

Friday, June 28, 13

“Ford sells computers-on-wheels. McKinsey hawks consulting-in-a-box. FedEx boasts a developer

skunkworks. The era of separating traditional industries and

technology industries is over—and those who fail to adapt right now

will soon find themselves obsolete.”

David Kirkpatrick, “Now Every Company is a Software Company”, Forbes

Friday, June 28, 13

“...The expected lifespan of many products is

shrinking...whole product lines and business models are seeing a massive decrease in their typical

longevity.... We are now in a constant state of transition.”

Jonny Leroy, “Beyond Mobile: Thriving in a Shattered World”, informIT

Friday, June 28, 13

“To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions.”

Steve JobsImage source: http://www.bigvisible.com/2013/05/why-lean-startup-isnt-enough/

Friday, June 28, 13

http://www.bigvisible.com/2013/05/why-lean-startup-isnt-enough/




We face a challenge.

• Successful enterprises use technology to empower great experiences.

• Traditional organizational design paradigms don’t work anymore.

• Business models need to be dynamic and flexible.

• Technology is no longer the constraint, yet execution is still complex.

Friday, June 28, 13

How might we...

...make it easier for the modern enterprise to continuously innovate upon a technology-empowered experience?

Friday, June 28, 13

Use kanban to drive innovation

• Focus on getting ideas to execution

• Work with innovation at various levels of complexity

• Limit interruptions to the flow, including speculation

• See and fix the problems in our design thinking

Friday, June 28, 13

Principle 1: Stop Assuming We Know What the Story Is

We learn to see that a User Story like this:

• As a researcher, I want to organize my surveys into projects, so that I can quickly access surveys that may have related insights.

is just one way to addresses an opportunity like this:

• How might we make it easier for researchers to manage activities related to quantitative research?

Friday, June 28, 13

Principle II: Get the right people involved

• Business owners (not proxies!)

• User experience (UX) designers

• Technologists

• Users & customers

Friday, June 28, 13

Principle III: Go and See as Often as Possible

• Bring the gemba attitude to your users and customer segments

• “Get out of the building.” - Steve Blank, Four Steps to the Epiphany

Friday, June 28, 13

Look for signs to start the work.

analytics

a/b tests

showcases

guerrilla tests

user research

customer validationkaizen

product surveys

service staging

Friday, June 28, 13

A Framework for Continuous Innovation

Divergent Thinking Processes

Framing Opportunity

Generating Ideas

Convergent Thinking Processes

Developing Paths to Insight

Testing/Validation

Harvesting Solutions

User Research & Opportunity Generation

Manage for Learning & Improving

Supporting Delivery Teams

Friday, June 28, 13

Each opportunity is a problem to solve.

• Look from multiple angles

• Define the “How might we...?” from a specific perspective

• Consider timeframes & relationship to other opportunities or initiatives

Framing Opportunity

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adam10414/5975825787/

Friday, June 28, 13

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adam10414/5975825787/


