Recently, while discussing with a potential client, I learned of their interest in adopting a Product Operating Model. This prompted me to study the concept in greater depth. It wasn’t my first encounter with Marty Cagan’s work; I had read his book Inspired long time ago and have
Baseline vs. change is an important distinction in product development. Missing that contributes to a common misguided practice in creating RAs (Requirement Areas) around product modules. Product module is about baseline, while RA is about change. Instead of creating RAs around product modules, we create RAs around product changes. Let’
I have often been explaining how a LeSS adoption gets started on various occasions, so I decided to write it down as an article, not to avoid doing it any more - I will still do it as the interaction alongside it is irreplaceable - but to make it a
I have advocated to balance framework focus with experiment focus in the use of LeSS. As the framework focus is already strong, I’d like to elaborate more on the experiment focus. Is it possible to adopt LeSS without adopting its frameworks? I think yes, as that is actually continuous
In the article “Beyond adopting LeSS”, I advocated for more balance between framework focus and experiment focus. In this article, we shall explore the key factors and dynamics involved in them. “framework focus” means: - adopt frameworks, which are more prescriptive and introduce a big batch of changes. For example,
While developing products, there are two common modes. One is creating development projects when needed; and the other is doing continuous product development. While improving organizations or changing things for the better, there are two similar modes. One is creating change projects when needed; and the other is doing continuous
Will you adopt LeSS? Not wanted, or not possible; end of story. This is a loss of opportunity for both. For LeSS, it loses much of its potential to make an impact in the domain of large-scale product development; while for organizations, it loses the opportunity to get inspired by
CLD (Causal Loop Diagram) consists of causal links and loops. Without solid links, there will be no solid loops. While we practice system modeling using CLD, the first gap is usually at stating a causal chain of links clearly. Therefore, we often spend the majority of time in practicing causal
In many if not all Agile ways of working, team self organizes to take shared responsibility. This often means to transition from role-based working model to agreement-based working model. This transition doesn't happen automatically, and it needs to be nurtured. Roles are gone When a team takes shared
In many organizations, there is dedicated team responsible for shared components. Meanwhile, there are multiple business/product teams, and they all request work from the shared-component team. The below diagram shows a typical case. The most pain associated with shared-component team is the waiting, leading to longer end-to-end cycle time.
It seems self-evident that story is only about change - when it gets done, it becomes part of the baseline. However, in practice, I often observe that people don't make the distinction between change and baseline, which causes pains. Mixing change and baseline Let's look at
Reorganize to adapt Uncertainty causes the need to adapt, but the current organization structure is a drag for adaptation. It seems inevitable to reorganize to adapt. Let's elaborate. The current organization was set up based on certain (pun intended) assumptions. We looked at what needs to be done,
Ultimately, we want to have one product backlog for the whole organization in order to optimize value globally. However, the current reality is often lack of global priority, with many local backlogs. What could be practical next steps in order to gradually establish global priority? I have been suggesting to
I have written the series of "limits to one product backlog" for a while, and the recent observation and thought triggers me to write another one, which is an addition to the 4th article. We shall elaborate on the capability of prioritization as a limit. The above diagram
This question is about the learning of both kids and adults. "There is not much you can help" During the last semester, I attended a parent-teacher meeting. A comment from the teacher struck me in particular - "there is not much you can help" regarding your
It is an oversimplification to understand that LeSS managers mean less (fewer) managers. The more common change in my experience of LeSS adoption is to transform the manager role. Therefore, let's talk more about this "new" role. Managers improve organizational capability In the LeSS guide "