Venkatesh Rajamani’s Post

Agility is a vital skill set for succeeding in your career. Think about it:    **In the face of challenges like the global pandemic, new ways of working, and economic uncertainties, agility is vital for not just surviving – but thriving in our current environment    **It isn’t just about speed; agility is a shift to a customer-centric mindset that enables quick responses to changing needs and market conditions    **Companies and leadership must collaborate seamlessly and embrace experimentation as part of their agile approach to stay competitive and innovate    Why does agility matter in an unstable market? You'll find a lot of great insights in this article: https://lnkd.in/eUaqTx3h    #Agility #Success #Business #CustomerCentricity #Innovation 

Outcomes over processes always. Know what you want to achieve and align all your steps from the bottom up. That way you’re able to capture value or, at the very least, guaranteed to be heading in the right direction. No matter how many times you have to pivot or change your strategy, the outcome you are seeking would change very little. That is why, in Product, we focus on solving the problem. That way the solution can be dynamic to suit the customers needs. Avoid becoming a process zombie. Focus on the outcomes. Be agile and change where the need arises.

Organizational and team change involves people and uncertainty. Rather than assume we can plan and implement, instead conduct small experiments together. These help make change more accessible, less disruptive, and helps those involved learn quickly. "No matter how detailed the plan, it cannot make the uncertain certain." —TOC Thinking (@GoldrattBooks on Twitter) #change #experiment #people #lean #agile #improvement Esther Derby https://lnkd.in/gq7QR8Bt https://lnkd.in/gGCycxEG

How do you get a team to deliver work on time? Constraints & Controls. Delivering anything on time begins with setting a constraint: a deadline or a fixed amount of time allocated to the task. This is how much time you’re willing to put toward the solution. Timelines often go off track because initial estimates are just that — estimates. While you can improve estimation accuracy with experience, it’s a deceptive path. Humans struggle to estimate accurately, especially in software development, which is full of unknowns. True clarity comes from actually doing the work. Lean into the unknowns and build for them. Constraints force trade-offs, but teams must be equipped with controls: the levers to adjust the scope of work as they encounter unknowns. When facing unforeseen complexities during feature development, they must be able to modify the solution and adapt the scope to manage these changes effectively. Working against a fixed scope without controls is like navigating a ship without a rudder, leaving the team helpless against the unpredictable currents of the project. Constraints force trade-offs and decision-making. Controls, like modifying the scope, create levers for the team. Apply constraints and supply controls. Deliver on time. #leadership #productmanagement

IT SCALES JIM, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT A little discomfort is a wonderful thing. It promotes growth, tests assumptions and can improve performance if applied consistently over time. But it doesn't scale. A little discomfort results in a little growth, but maximum discomfort doesn't result in maximum growth. It results in stress, panic and organ failure. Understanding what scales (and how it scales) is important for bringing effective change. An agile approach might suggest that we create a prototype to test our theory, but another complimentary experiment, might be to test how it could scale. Organisations and teams don't fail due to malicious intent, but due to unintended consequences. Knowing how your change will scale is key to ensuring its success. #change #scale #culture

New blog post is up! We discuss the essential 3 leaders for a successful product development effort. #softwaredevelopment #designthinking #MLP #founder

Transformation isn't just a buzzword. It's the future knocking on our doors, asking us to be better, faster, and more efficient. But how do we answer that call, embracing the to-be state of our business processes, while keeping the wheels turning in the day-to-day grind? Here's how: 1. **Visionary Leadership:** Leaders, it's time to wear your visionary hats. See beyond the horizon and paint a vivid picture of the future for your team. Your belief will inspire belief. 2. **Empower Champions of Change:** Identify and empower individuals within your organization who are not just open to change but can spearhead it. These champions will be your torchbearers, lighting the way for others. 3. **Incremental Innovation:** Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will your future state. Implement small, manageable changes that cumulatively lead to substantial transformation. This way, the day-to-day doesn't get lost in the shuffle. 4. **Agile Mindset:** Adopt an agile mindset that embraces flexibility, rapid iteration, and the understanding that failure is not the opposite of success but a stepping stone towards it. 5. **Communication is Key:** Keep the lines of communication open, clear, and constant. Everyone should know the what, the why, and the how of the transition. When people are informed, they are empowered. 6. **Celebrate Milestones:** Celebrate every milestone, no matter how small. These celebrations reinforce the positive impact of the changes and keep the team motivated. The journey from as-is to to-be doesn't have to be a leap into the unknown. It can be a series of calculated steps towards a brighter, more efficient future. Let's roll up our sleeves, embrace the challenge, and transform not just our processes, but our mindsets too. Ready to take the first step towards transformation? Let's discuss how we can make this journey together, inspiring and supporting each other along the way.

Culture of blame: people are the problem. Culture of accountability: People SOLVE the problems! "The only thing people learn from being blamed is to become better at hiding their mistakes." I love this article from Michael Timms and have implemented this concept in my companies (link in description) It's a key part of Lean and Agile thinking too. Build the systems. Build the people up, don't tear them down. How are you doing in this area?

🛩️ From Paper Planes to Valuable Insights: Embracing Iteration 🚀 🏛️ In a recent 'Advanced Systems Analysis and Design' class, taught by the inspirational Dr. Jordana George, we took an unexpected detour from traditional learning methods. We embarked on a journey of crafting paper planes, an exercise that delivered profound lessons about the importance of iteration and teamwork. 🔁 Embracing Continuous Improvement: Our journey began with the realization that the first idea isn't always the best one. By iterating through multiple prototypes, we understood that continuous improvement is a non-negotiable aspect of success. Just like in the world of design and development, refining our plane designs yielded better results with each iteration. ❌ Learning from Failure: As we tested our prototypes, some failed spectacularly. However, these failures were not discouraging; instead, they were seen as opportunities for growth. We discovered that learning from failure is a crucial part of any iterative process. We learned that we had to be open to feedback and adapt our solutions when they fell short. 💪 Fostering Resilience: The paper plane exercise taught us resilience. When our designs didn't perform as expected, we didn't give up. Instead, we persevered, fine-tuned our strategies, and aimed higher. This resilience is invaluable in the real world, where challenges and setbacks are inevitable. 🏆 Celebrating Success and Recognizing Leadership: Our team, named 'Team Maverick (TM),' successfully flew far away and we secured the 2nd position. This achievement highlighted the importance of celebrating successes, no matter how small, and recognizing leadership qualities within the team. In the professional world, acknowledging and rewarding achievements motivates teams to strive for excellence. In summary, the seemingly simple act of crafting paper planes provided invaluable insights into the iterative process. It emphasized the need for continuous improvement, the value of learning from failure, the importance of resilience, and the rewards of celebrating success. These lessons are not limited to paper planes but can be applied to any domain, including systems analysis and design, to drive innovation and excellence. 🚀✨ #Iteration #Teamwork #AdvancedSystemsAnalysisAndDesign #tamu

It’s all too easy to be seduced by solutions to other people’s problems. I’ve seen development teams proud of decreasing their build time by seconds like company X or Y have done, whilst overlooking larger issues that cost them days each sprint. You must focus closer to home. Continuous improvement is a great mindset, multiplied if it’s directed at your biggest problems. #development #efficiency #prioritisation