Background, what is happening
For years I have been thinking; “Sometime, a pandemic will spread all over the world. Maybe not in my lifetime, but sometime it will come. Because it’s how nature works.”
Suddenly, we are all in the middle of it. Almost everyone is affected. Still, I don’t know anyone who’s got the disease. But layoffs, Layoffs, homework, people in quarantine, and all the news. It’s just everywhere. Eventually, we will come out of these crises. It is going to hurt and many will grief their close ones. But in some way, we will come outStill, I don’t know anyone who’s got the disease. It all feels so unreal and hard to grasp.
Some say it will be over after the summer. Others think the pandemic will last much longer and that a worldwide recession will hit us. Some say the world economy will revert 50 years, but we will still have our technology, knowledge, and suffering environment we didn't have back then.
Most pundits agree that our world will be different. No one knows to what extent, but for sure it will be different. Whatever happens to our economies, lifestyles, or needs, the uncertainty is higher than ever before. The question is, what will make the growth wheels spin again. Global completion could be more brutal than ever before.
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What to do?
I'm sure leaders, all over the world, are struggling with their future. What will attract customers? Which new market behaviors will we see? How long will the downturn last? What margins are feasible? What will make my company survive?
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Product development is the solution
The art of innovative Product Management, with the development of Lean-Agile mindset and frameworks, has for many years become more and more important. I am so sure this development will accelerate so much more. Since the thing with Lean and Agile is all about taming the uncertainty.
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My prediction is that Product Management will be the key. Yes, it was important before as well. But, now the pressure to be able to quickly deliver what customers will buy is much stronger.
The most import important work for Leaders is to build the capability to deliver the right value.
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We will need much more of, what many companies already are doing. Experimentation and measuring of business results. Don't worry, plenty of companies have been doing it for a while and many tools and techniques are available.
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What to do in general
The time is over when the best way to organize was in functional silos with local responsibility and performance metrics. Whether you are promoting silos or not, your business is operating in valve streams. That is all strategic steps needed from start until some kind of client or user value appears.
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What to do to fix it in detail
Business agility means an organization that as a whole have the ability to adapt according to market and customer needs. CEOs and other top managers cannot continue to delegate work <responsibility for organizational design and change managment> to middle management and functional silo managers.
They must build a flow-based and modularized organization that can act swiftly on market reactions. The time is over when Agile and Lean have been thought of just as an IT-team endeavor. Without upper management engagement, we have observed that for most "traditional" organizations it is a very long Journey The time is over when the best way to organize was in functional silos with local responsibility and performance metrics. Whether you are promoting silos or not, your business is operating in valve streams. That is all strategic steps needed from start until some kind of client or user value appears.
It is your choice if you want to build your organization around these value streams or stay in the functional responsibility paradigm. But, take the time to think about your choice now and prepare for the worst.
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It is not whether you will be able to develop and deliver a solution. From a technical perspective, it is easier than ever. Today technology is cheaper and more available. The challenge is to figure out which solution will appeal to consumers.
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Remember some possibly useful stuff.
It is not possible to have all the layers, streamlining organization charts and avoid silos and layers that only add administration or control __
Eventually, we will come out of these crises. It is going to hurt and many will grief their close ones. But in some way, we will come out.
While many of us are occupied in the current situation, trying to live our lives and also save lives, some need to start planning for the future. Leaders of companies and other organizations cannot wait to point out the way forward. We need to get going. We have an economy to save!.
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