In 2018, a paying passenger was dragged off of a United flight by law enforcement officers because United needed the seat to reposition crew members so that they’d be in place to start the next day. The passenger was injured in the incident, which was captured and shared on social media, creating a public relations […]
How to Prioritize Your Team’s
What to Do If Your Group Struggles to Find
Their Core Hypothesis
This past month, I was observing a Kickoff Event for a group that struggled mightily with the Core Hypothesis. They had challenges figuring out who their target customer was, which also led to challenges in defining the technology and business value.
It’s possible to define a Core Hypothesis without certainty in those areas — in fact, it helps the team to clarify where provisional decisions have more uncertainty. But there is a limit to how much uncertainty a Core Hypothesis can sustain.
How Scientists and Engineers Can Design Their Experiments the Right Way: Why the Build-Test-Fix Mode is the Most Intuitive, But Wrong.
When we’re in the midst of development, especially if we are hot on the trail of a new idea, we can easily lose sight of the rhythm of the entire program in the search for solutions to individual development challenges. Even if the team is using Agile program management methods for frequent check-ins, they can still lose sight of the big picture if they are focused on their activities instead of focusing on what they need to learn. This is why we emphasize the need to close Knowledge Gaps systematically and permanently
Why Sharply Focusing on One Idea Strengthens Your Key Decisions and Knowledge Gaps
When it comes to organizing things, my partner Gene is a “lumper” and I am a “splitter.” You can tell by the organization of our computer files. I have organized my files into nested folders so that I can find what I need by navigating down a tree. Gene puts everything into just a few […]
Why Logic Builds Agreement,
But Not Commitment
When I first started my consulting firm, I received mentoring from Alan Weiss, who began his career as a trainer for Kepner-Tragoe. He taught KT’s analysis methods for problem solving and decision making, then built a consulting practice to help executives make better strategic decisions. He often says something that I’ll never forget: “Logic makes […]