systems thinking our way out of busy work
TRANSCRIPT
Systems Thinking Our Way Out How to Work Smart and Overcome Our Addiction to Busy Work
When companies find product market fit they begin to focus less on strategic work and more on tactical problem solving.
Feature requests come from every angle.
There is an endless sea of potential work
We feel good fixing problems.
But this fleeting feeling of accomplishment comes at a great expense
Soon everything seems important
But do our customers really care?
How did we get here?
Findings
● This is a common pattern of people across industries, company sizes, and stages
● Often the smartest people are the most busy
● It is extremely difficult for individuals to break out of the pattern even when they recognized the problem
We need to think bigger than ourselves
● Copier● Printer● Scanner● Fax● Stapler● Magician● Steak Knife● Baby sitter
What problem are you here to solve?
1. our most important features get buried2. sometimes even they don’t work well
when we don’t know the problem
We keep adding and never anything take away.
We never have time to improve the way we work because we’re too busy doing work or cleaning up “Fires”
Building is the easy part of the product development process. Figuring out what to build and how we are going to build it is the hard part.
Ask yourselfAre we measuring success on outcomes?
Do We Work with Clear Measures
of Success?
Ask YourselfAre we aligning work with root problems?
My Boss doesn’t
have a Status
Update
Problem Solution
Write a status
update
Work problems are not the lack of work solutions.
We’re here to solve BIG problems.
We need a logical structure for selecting good work.
We need strategy
We should be able to answer these
Questions
1. What is the most important work?
2. Why should we do it now?
3. How will we know if we are successful?
Step 1: Situation
Complicated = Confusion
Simplify.Focus on the
important details.
Step 2: Intent
Clarify the OverallBusiness Strategy
Step 3: Measurable Value
&Customer Value Business Benefits
Step 4: Constraints
Step 5: Inspect & Adapt
Strategy is NOT a Plan
Strategy transforms our work from a wishlist of problems to something focused and grounded in our understanding of the situation
Build in Feedback
Strategy emerges from experimentation and validated learning
Build in feedback at every level of work design
Build in feedback on work delivery
Measure performance with data (and care)
Set a sustainable pace
Work Smart and value Outcomes over Output
Thanks.