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. Layoffs, homework, people in quarantine, and all the news. It’s just everywhere. Still, 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.
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?
The chance of success through cost-savings and supply-chain/production optimization is getting lower. Instead, company leaders need to focus more on building the capability to innovate, create new products, and interact with the market to validate what is flying or not.
The most important work for Leaders is to build the capability to deliver the right value.
Just forget to do well-defined plans and product designs. When dealing with this massive uncertainty, building up new knowledge, and adjust is going to be your way forward.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
In almost all organization I can see an unclear decision order where organizational capability and product delivery are mixed and handled so unclear that not much is coming out. All organizations who want to challenge the competition have to take organizational design and product development flow much more seriously.
Some things to remember will be even clearer
Sunk cost. Just because a lot of work and resources have been put into something, it does not mean it is Valuable.
Value streams. If you have not identified your real value streams and paid them the proper attention it is now time. Your current organization is probably not fit to take on the new challenges.
Transformational, servant, or whatever we call leadership that let people thrive. You will need an organization that can innovate and gets the right products out on the market. You need to be open, humble, and rewarding as you point out the visionary direction of your enterprise.
Experimentation is key. There is plenty of knowledge on how to perform Business Experiments. Make sure to clarify business ownership.
Backlog, backlog, and backlog. A great Product Backlog is transparent, contains what we would like to have, and is prioritized based on business value. Most organizations do not have the needed knowledge to create great backlogs. They mix projects, activities, and phrases just as before. Top management needs to understand and show the rest of the organization what a great ball log is. Otherwise, it will not happen. I'm sure I have seen it far too offers.
Most organizations are still preparing large projects with predefined solutions years ahead of delivery.
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.
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!.
My prediction is that the need for Business agility will even higher after the pandemic. Markets have inevitably changed and many products will not sell. Product Management needs to be innovative solutions. Great products have always been the underlying reason for the success Some times the luck and many times research and innovation The chance of success through cost-saving and production optimization is getting lower. Company leaders need to focus more on building the capability to innovate new products and interact with the market to validate what is flying or not.
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