PITA 051
Topic 1: Who is experiencing Workshop/Innovation Theater? (Doing the motions and then going back to 'regular' work)
We did workshops, presented action items back to leadership… and then nothing happened
For open workshops, call out to pick one thing and take this to action
Follow-up workshops with coaching
Lack of time is an impediment - make sure they have the time to put new things into action
Especially design sprints might be the wrong format, it works best to get established teams unstuck
Workshops are just part of a bigger thing, it is not the main work
Structure the pre-work, to have a clear intent (User Needs, Business Value). Set up a clear structure around it
Use the GROW model - ask, what are the obstacles you see to putting this into practice? (Disaster perspectives, what would stop you reflection as part of the workshop)
Team-building activities really support this / Be clear if the goal is more a social activity
Topic 2: My new employer is using Shape Up across all teams. This is new to me, but it's pretty refreshing not to write all the PRDs anymore. Any other experiences with Shape Up?
https://basecamp.com/shapeup - free book and podcast with Ryan Singer about the approach
Breadboarding- creating a schematic/model for how this is intended to work without going into the weeds
Itamar Gilad’s roadmap template that makes use of some of this approach
Topic 3: 'Transformed' - anyone read it yet?
First chunk is all about DevOps. Second is the Product Operating model - Product-led, but a less-controversial term. And there’s a lot on how to do assessments and deal with objections from stakeholders. A good source for a lot of inspiration and experience. It’s a toolkit, not meant as a fun read.
Like every Cagan book, it’s helpful. It’s not anything really new if you follow his blog. A lot of things are - like in every book - over-simplified. I’m curious if it’ll really land at a CEO/CFO level.
In the interviews with him, it’s interesting to see how frustrated he gets when talking about it.
John Cutler’s article “bring fun back” has a view from the trenches on workplace culture
He refers back to Empowered and Inspired back a lot. It’s supposed to be for the C-level audience, but unclear if they’ll read it
Remember, not everyone is a board whisperer. Not everyone can lead or have major influence on a transformation. Marty & his peers only engage when they want to - when the C-suite has shown the commitment to change, using an approach that SVPG believes in.