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The Decision Stack

The Decision Stack

A presentation on the decision stack needed in product management - from setting a clear product vision, through strategy, to objectives, and principles. At each step clarity helps you and your team make better decisions, faster.

Martin Eriksson

May 22, 2019
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  1. WHAT SHOULD WE DO? WHY ARE WE DOING IT? HOW

    ARE WE DOING IT? @BFGMARTIN
  2. DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS @BFGMARTIN DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS

    DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONSDECISIONSDECISIONSDECISIONSDECISIONSDECISI DECISIONS
  3. @BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY THE DECISION STACK OBJECTIVES OPPORTUNITIES OBJECTIVES NO

    NO NOT DOING THIS NOT DOING THIS NO NO PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES NO NO
  4. @BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY THE DECISION STACK OBJECTIVES OPPORTUNITIES OBJECTIVES How?

    How? How? Why? Why? Why? PRINCIPLES How? Why? OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES
  5. @BFGMARTIN VISION THE DECISION STACK OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES How? Why? Why?

    PRINCIPLES ??? OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES
  6. VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES @BFGMARTIN DECISIONCEPTION VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES VISION

    STRATEGY OBJECTI O O OBJECTI O O VISION STRATEGY OBJECTI O O OBJECTI O O
  7. @BFGMARTIN “TO MAKE PRODUCT PEOPLE MORE SUCCESSFUL BY COMING TOGETHER

    TO FURTHER OUR CRAFT” MIND THE PRODUCT - 2018
  8. 75% OF VENTURE BACKED STARTUPS FAIL NUMBER 1 REASON? LACK

    OF FOCUS HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL @BFGMARTIN VISION = FOCUS
  9. @BFGMARTIN VISION = MOTIVATION “TO MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES BEYOND BASIC TASKS,

    GIVE THEM AUTONOMY, MASTERY, AND PURPOSE - THE DESIRE TO DO SOMETHING THAT HAS MEANING AND IS IMPORTANT.” DANIEL PINK - MIT & THE SURPRISING TRUTH ABOUT WHAT MOTIVATES US
  10. @BFGMARTIN GOOD VISION ▸ Is customer-centric ▸ Is concise and

    clear ▸ Sets an audacious goal ▸ Avoids detail
  11. @BFGMARTIN BAD VISION ▸ Is company centric ▸ Doesn’t tackle

    challenges ▸ Sets you up for bad strategy
  12. @BFGMARTIN “Our vision is to create a better everyday life

    for many people.” IKEA “Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. (*If you have a body, you are an athlete.)” NIKE “To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy” TESLA “To help bring creative projects to life.” KICKSTARTER “A world without poverty.” OXFAM
  13. @BFGMARTIN “IT’S NOT HARD TO MAKE DECISIONS WHEN YOU KNOW

    WHAT YOUR VALUES ARE.” ROY E. DISNEY - DISNEY
  14. @BFGMARTIN “Job Seekers come first - Recruiters will follow” MONSTER

    “Focus on the user and all else will follow” GOOGLE “Put merchants first” SHOPIFY “Conversion trumps profitability optimisation” KLARNA
  15. @BFGMARTIN PRODUCT PRINCIPLES DESIGN PRINCIPLES VALUES ▸ Framework for decision

    making ▸ Should help all the tiny decisions you and your team have to make every day ▸ Specific, actionable “rules” ▸ Manifestation of your vision
  16. @BFGMARTIN EVEN OVER STATEMENTS Get specific about the trade-offs: ▸

    Conversion even over revenue ▸ User growth even over revenue ▸ Mobile experience even over desktop
  17. @BFGMARTIN EVEN OVER STATEMENTS Recognise these? ▸ Individuals and interactions

    over processes and tools ▸ Working software over comprehensive documentation ▸ Customer collaboration over contract negotiation ▸ Responding to change over following a plan
  18. @BFGMARTIN GOOD PRINCIPLES ▸ Make decisions easy ▸ Describe how

    you want to build your product ▸ Are specific to your company ▸ Are easy to remember ▸ Evolve over time
  19. @BFGMARTIN BAD PRINCIPLES ▸ Are meaningless fluff ▸ Everyone wants

    to make products “delightful” ▸ Don’t differentiate you
  20. @BFGMARTIN STRATEGY SWOT | Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats SCORE |

    Strengths, Challenges, Options, Responses, and Effectiveness SOAR | Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results NOISE | Needs, Opportunities, Improvements, Strengths, and Exceptions
  21. @BFGMARTIN STRATEGY YOUR CURRENT SITUATION THE OUTCOME YOU’RE AIMING FOR

    POSSIBLE ACTIONS + + OPPORTUNITIES TO LEVERAGE +
  22. @BFGMARTIN Situation: UK used car market is huge, but highly

    fragmented, and famous for it’s poor customer experience Opportunities: Huge market barely penetrated by e-commerce, that would take significant capital to succeed in Threats: US companies looking to expand, UK offline businesses catching on and investing in e-commerce Strategy? Build the best possible experience, raise enough money to build a big business, and do it quickly.
  23. @BFGMARTIN GOOD STRATEGY ▸ Is based on your current reality

    ▸ Tackles challenges ▸ Outlines the value to your customers ▸ Includes coherent actions ▸ Emphasizes focus over compromise
  24. @BFGMARTIN BAD STRATEGY ▸ Is full of meaningless fluff ▸

    Pretends there are no challenges ▸ Mistakes goals for strategy ▸ Sets bad strategic objectives
  25. @BFGMARTIN STRATEGY IS ART + SCIENCE STRATEGY IS JUST LIKE

    A SCIENTIFIC HYPOTHESIS - AN INDUCTIVE LEAP THAT MUST BE SUBJECTED TO THE SAME LOGICAL AND EMPIRICAL TESTS BEFORE IT CAN BE VALIDATED
  26. @BFGMARTIN STRATEGY IS HARD THE ONLY WAY TO KNOW YOU’VE

    PICKED THE RIGHT STRATEGY IS TO VALIDATE IT WITH CUSTOMERS
  27. @BFGMARTIN DECLARE INTENT GIVE AUTONOMY ▸ Socialise vision and strategy

    with your organisation and team ▸ Let them work out how they can help achieve it in their areas
  28. @BFGMARTIN “IF YOU TELL PEOPLE WHERE TO GO, BUT NOT

    HOW TO GET THERE, YOU’LL BE AMAZED AT THE RESULTS” GEORGE S. PATTON - US ARMY
  29. TEAM A OBJECTIVES INDIVIDUAL OBJECTIVES INDIVIDUAL OBJECTIVES TEAM B OBJECTIVES

    INDIVIDUAL OBJECTIVES INDIVIDUAL OBJECTIVES STRATEGY GAP @BFGMARTIN COMMITMENT VISION GOALS
  30. @BFGMARTIN OBJECTIVES ▸ Qualitative and Inspirational ▸ Time Bound ▸

    Actionable KEY RESULTS ▸ Quantify the objective ▸ How do we know if we’ve succeeded? ▸ Max 3 metrics
  31. @BFGMARTIN IS YOUR BUSINESS FOCUSED ON DELIVERING CUSTOMER VALUE AND

    BUSINESS RESULTS (OUTCOMES) OR ON SHIPPING FEATURES / HITTING METRICS (OUTPUTS)?
  32. @BFGMARTIN OUTCOMES NOT OUTPUTS ▸ Features, stories, bugs, and lines

    of code are worthless if they don’t achieve an outcome ▸ Outcomes are meaningful to the business and measurable by the team
  33. @BFGMARTIN OUTCOMES HAVE IMPACT ▸ Thinking further: what impact do

    your intended outcomes have? ▸ How do they change your customers’ lives or work?
  34. @BFGMARTIN “THERE IS NOTHING QUITE SO USELESS AS DOING WITH

    GREAT EFFICIENCY SOMETHING THAT SHOULD NOT BE DONE AT ALL” PETER DRUCKER - IBM, SEARS, GM, GE & MORE
  35. @BFGMARTIN OPPORTUNITY SOLUTION TREE OBJECTIVE OPPORTUNITY SOLUTION OPPORTUNITY OPPORTUNITY SOLUTION

    SOLUTION SOLUTION SOLUTION SOLUTION SOLUTION SOLUTION SOLUTION ASSUMPTION TEST ASSUMPTION TEST ASSUMPTION TEST BY TERESA TORRES
  36. @BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES

    VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES CORPORATE VISION PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES
  37. @BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES

    VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES CORPORATE VISION to make the world around you universally accessible and useful PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES
  38. @BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES

    VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES CORPORATE VISION to make the world’s information universally accessible and useful PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES
  39. @BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES

    VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES CORPORATE VISION to create a home that takes care of the people inside it and the world around it PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES
  40. @BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES

    VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES CORPORATE VISION to give everyone a voice and to show them the world PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES
  41. @BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES OPPORTUNITIES To organize

    the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful Leverage unrivalled store of data to better understand the content and serve the user with fast, accurate results PRINCIPLES Improve crawl rate to capture more data Improve ranking algorithm to better “understand” content Fast Accurate Secret Improve speed of search result computation NITIES
  42. @BFGMARTIN OPEN LEADERSHIP ▸ Strategy = Leadership ▸ You have

    the overview, the insight, and the experience to make the intuitive leaps to good strategy ▸ But everyone owns the outcome, so don’t do it behind closed doors
  43. @BFGMARTIN “IF YOU’RE ONLY USING YOUR ENGINEERS TO CODE YOU’RE

    ONLY GETTING HALF THEIR VALUE” MARTY CAGAN
  44. @BFGMARTIN “IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE TO HIRE SMART PEOPLE AND

    THEN TELL THEM WHAT TO DO. WE HIRE SMART PEOPLE SO THEY CAN TELL US WHAT TO DO.” STEVE JOBS - APPLE
  45. @BFGMARTIN Detail Leadership Team Vision BALANCE The team is always

    involved At some point leadership gets out of the way
  46. @BFGMARTIN ACHIEVE CLARITY ▸ Over-communicate your vision and strategy -

    you can’t repeat it enough ▸ Print it on the walls ▸ Repeat it at every all-hands and progress update meeting
  47. @BFGMARTIN VISION PRINCIPLES CHANGE OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES Constant Flux STRATEGY Static

    Evolves Slowly OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES
  48. Progress Check @BFGMARTIN 2019 2020 2019 Plan Q1 Review Q2

    Review Q3 Review Q4 Review 2019 Results Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Build a cadence for learning - are we making progress towards our goals? - what have we learned that might change our strategy? - what decisions do we keep weighing that might make for good product/design principles? CADENCE OF IMPROVEMENT
  49. @BFGMARTIN PRODUCT LEADERS ▸ Repeat the vision/mission often ▸ Ensure

    the full stack is in place and communicated often ▸ Tell the stories of how you got here and why this matters to customers
  50. @BFGMARTIN ▸ Use your product skills to help tell those

    stories and communicate the vision, mission, and principles ▸ Design better ways of working that put the customer at the centre ▸ Feed customer research and insights into the whole decision stack ▸ Keep asking why PRODUCT PEOPLE
  51. @BFGMARTIN “IF WE HAVE EVIDENCE, LET’S LOOK AT EVIDENCE. IF

    ALL WE HAVE ARE OPINIONS, LET’S GO WITH MINE.” JIM BARKSDALE - NETSCAPE
  52. @BFGMARTIN KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES How? How?

    How? Why? Why? Why? PRINCIPLES How? Why? OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES
  53. @BFGMARTIN KEEP ANSWERING QUESTIONS VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES User Research

    & insights PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES