About the Episode

Today we’re going to talk about product agility, prioritization and business value, and making sure that teams aren’t just building efficiently, but that they are focused on the things that will drive their business forward.

To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Dan Gallagher, Senior Principle, Product Leadership at Slalom.

About Dan Gallagher

Dan is driven by the notion that there is nothing more inspiring to an organization and a product team than building products that make a difference. After 30 years as a product designer, product manager, product owner, agile team member, product executive, product consultant, and even a scrum master, he has battled on the ground, led from the trenches, fought through the middle, and surveilled from above. He has combined this experience with extensive product research, wisdom from pundits (applied and validated), and life observations to evolve the Product Mindset methodology into a transformational force for change in product development at numerous fortune 500 companies.

Resources

Slalom website: https://www.slalom.com

Blog post mentioned: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-stop-building-wrong-things-faster-reversing-curse-dan-gallagher/

The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcast

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For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems.Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow

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Synopsis

One issue with teams and organizations is their focus on delivering outputs on time and within budget, without considering the desired outcomes of their customers or users. The speaker emphasizes that people do not use a product simply for the sake of using it; they use it because they want to achieve a specific outcome. Therefore, the focus should be on understanding and delivering the outcomes that customers seek, rather than just the outputs. The speaker also acknowledges instances where they thought they had delivered the desired outcome, but were either partially or completely wrong. To address this problem, the first step is to understand the outcomes needed to achieve the objective. The episode suggests that Agile methodologies often measure outputs, such as velocity and story points per sprint, but what the market truly needs are outcomes. To align with customer needs and create transformative products, teams and organizations should shift their focus from outputs to outcomes.

The episode discusses how definitions of value and priorities can frequently shift in business. What may be considered valuable or important in one moment may change in the future. The host mentions that this is particularly true in the context of customer experience, where the shift from offline to online interactions has altered the definition of value.

To address the need for continuous improvement and reassessment, the episode suggests that teams and organizations should adopt a mindset that allows for flexibility and adaptability. They should be open to reevaluating their definitions of value and priorities as the business landscape evolves. This means constantly seeking ways to improve not only the work being done, but also the definitions of business value and focus.

The episode also discusses the challenge of prioritization and how assumptions can hinder the validation of business value. It highlights the importance of validating assumptions early on to ensure that the intended value is actually being produced. The traditional approach of prioritizing based on assumptions can lead to a lack of validation along the way. Instead, the episode suggests prioritizing based on fixed outcomes, which allows for continuous validation and adjustment every two weeks.

Overall, the episode emphasizes the need for continuous improvement and reassessment in order to stay aligned with shifting definitions of value and priorities. It encourages teams and organizations to have a flexible mindset and to prioritize based on validated outcomes rather than assumptions.

According to the episode, prioritization should involve validating high-risk assumptions before embarking on long-term development cycles. The speaker emphasizes that there are assumptions that are crucial to the success of a project or product, but they may not have enough evidence to support their validity. These assumptions are considered high-risk assumptions. Therefore, instead of simply prioritizing based on perceived importance or value, the speaker suggests that teams should prioritize based on the level of risk associated with each assumption.

The process of prioritization should involve validating these assumptions first before committing to a long-term development cycle. This means that teams should take the time to gather evidence and validate the assumptions before investing significant resources into a project. The speaker mentions that many assumptions are made without proper validation, which can lead to failure when the expected value is not achieved.

To prioritize effectively, teams need to evaluate each assumption based on two factors: the importance of the assumption being valid and the amount of evidence available to support its validity. By considering these factors, teams can identify the cluster of assumptions that are crucial to the success of the project and focus on validating them before moving forward.

The speaker also highlights the importance of continuous validation throughout the development process. Instead of having a fixed outcome in mind and blindly working towards it, teams should regularly validate against the desired outcome. This can be done every two weeks, allowing for adjustments and course corrections based on the evidence gathered.

In summary, prioritization should involve validating high-risk assumptions before embarking on long-term development cycles. By prioritizing based on the level of risk associated with each assumption and continuously validating throughout the process, teams can increase the chances of success and avoid failure due to unvalidated assumptions.