Built to Adapt lecture

In an exponentially changing world, how are companies supposed to handle trends? How do you adapt to trends when you're bombarded by them every day?

This lecture suggests some solutions to those very challenges, delivered by the CEO of a company that is built to adapt to trends.

Transcript

1. BUILT TO ADAPT. ryanchartrand.com
2. I’m CEO of tech biz X-Team, where adapting is my full-time job.
3. We work with many different industries.
4. 2 STORIES 1 NUMBER act one
5. KIDS THESE DAYS story one
6. The largest toy company on the planet… was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2003.
7. SO WHAT HAPPENED?
8. They invited in the consultants to tell them about trends in the toy market.
9. “The kids these days want instant gratification, video games, movies, not brick toys.”
10. And then Galidor happened.
11. Instant Gratification DVDs Games Happy Meals Action Figures
12. Then came Theme Parks…
13. Then came LEGO stores…
14. Less constructing, more playing.
15. 2003: SALES DROP $800 MILLION
16. Their mission to create the builders of tomorrow had become an after-thought.
17. SILVER LINING LATE FEES story two
18. 2004: 9,000 stores. More than Starbucks. 2008-2010: Lost $6 billion, went bankrupt.
19. SO WHAT HAPPENED?
20. Netflix happened.
21. 2000: Netflix asks Blockbuster to buy them.
22. Blockbuster denied.
23. 2 years late…
24. Late again…
25. You get the idea.
26. From proactive to reactive
27. Silver lining: Your 1994 late fees are forgiven.
28. 45 one number
29. THE NUMBER OF TRENDS/WEEK I LEARN ABOUT
30. New findings, new products, new ways of doing things to help us adapt to change.
31. 45/week 180/month 2,160/year
32. Ignore them? Could end up like Blockbuster.
33. Adapt to them? Could end up like LEGO.
34. EXPONENTIAL CHANGE
35. Netflix happened faster than Blockbuster could learn.
36. CHANGE LEARN happens faster than we can
37. EXPONENTIAL CHANGE today
38. THE MAD MEN ERA
39. EXPONENTIAL CHANGE today Mad Men
40. THE PROACTIVE ERA
41. Today we are overwhelmed, and enter a mind-numbing survival mode state.
42. WE BECOME REACTIVE NOT PROACTIVE
43. LEGO: After the consultants marched in, they entered survival mode.
44. Their focus on creating the builders of tomorrow died along with their clarity.
45. Blockbuster laughed Netflix out of the room and invested in Enron (oops).
46. Survival mode hit, proactive went reactive, lost focus & clarity, scrambled to catch up.
47. THEY WERE BUILT TO SURVIVE.
48. Built to survive (ironically) can’t survive 2,000+ trends per year, so they enter survival mode. 45/week 180/month 2,160/year
49. Built to Survive org’s are based on principles invented during the Industrial Revolution.
50. Consistency. Structure. Avoid failure. Limit risk at all costs. People = human resources.
51. These principles still exist in Built to Survive companies today. We’re just used to them.
52. TOP DOWN PRESSURE
53. POLICIES NOT EMPOWERMENT
54. LIMIT RISK AT ALL COSTS
55. Built to survive companies are sustainable when markets don’t change often.
56. But they leave no room for adaptation.
57. EXPONENTIAL CHANGE today And when 2,000 trends/year hits, Built to Survive meets survival mode.
58. WE BECOME REACTIVE NOT PROACTIVE
59. Mid-2000’s: Starbucks saw trends from McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Peet’s
60. They jumped on the trends, entered survival mode, and immediately lost focus.
61. They focused on commoditizing the experience, quickly opening more stores, all identical.
62. “No Wi-Fi for you.”
63. They shifted to Built to Survive as a reactive panic to trends in the industry.
64. EXPONENTIAL CHANGE today Built to Survive companies are (ironically) struggling to survive exponential change.
65. LIMITING RISK HAS CREATED MORE RISK.
66. Built to Survive companies feel like they lose control when trends hit exponentially.
67. BUT WE ARE IN CONTROL.
68. WE CAN SURVIVE CHANGE
69. BUILT TO SURVIVE CAN BE REPLACED
70. BUILT TO ADAPT. ryanchartrand.com
71. Survival mode isn’t the only option.
72. WE CAN BECOME PROACTIVE NOT REACTIVE
73. WE ARE IN CONTROL.
74. BUILT TO ADAPT. ryanchartrand.com
75. FAILURE IS GOOD act two
76. BUILT TO SURVIVE You fail, you’re fired.
77. LIMIT RISK AT ALL COSTS
78. BUILT TO ADAPT You fail, good job.
79. STILL WONDERING HOW LEGO MADE A COMEBACK?
80. fail fast and break things. they learned how to
81. ‘FAIL FAST’ IS COMMON IN TECH COMPANIES
82. THE POINT…BECAME…
84. BECAUSE DEALS ON BRAZILIAN WAXES ARE BETTER THAN HELPING FIXING ROADS.
85. fail fast and break things. they learned how to
86. LEGO decided to stop going all-in and start failing fast with new trends.
87. For the 1st time ever, they invited their community to help validate concepts.
88. THE RESULT?
89. Bionicle, the toy that saved LEGO, was a result of failing fast with 2 concepts.
90. fail fast and break things. they learned how to
91. TODAY, IT’S EASY TO FAIL AND GATHER FEEDBACK INSTANTLY.
92. At least that’s one thing Don Draper could be jealous of.
93. Before Angry Birds, Rovio’s 51 previous games failed.
94. Hundreds of ‘fail fast’ concepts later, and this was sketched.
95. Before Pinterest, there was Tote, which let you favorite clothing items.
96. Before Instagram, there was Burbn, a “check-in” app.
97. fail fast and break things. they learned how to
98. FAIL FAST when trends change exponentially, we must:
99. We’ve all had our Galidor moments.
100. FAILING FAST LETS US VALIDATE TRENDS QUICKLY AND CHEAPLY.
101. Let’s say you just discovered social wellness programs.
103. “Social tools encourage people to cheer each other on via high-fives and message boards. Reminders, nudges, and comparison charts keep people engaged.” “Game mechanics like points, levels, and leaderboards motivate people to participate more.”
104. Let’s talk to vendors and get an out-of-the-box solution for this trend! “ built to survive companies
105. Let’s plan for 6 months and build our own solution! “ built to survive companies
106. Limiting risk = one-size-fits-all solution that is guaranteed not to fail.
107. What do I want to learn from implementing this trend? “ built to adapt companies
108. Will social game mechanics increase wellness participation?
109. What can I create to validate what I want to learn? “ built to adapt companies
110. Build an mvp minimum viable product
111. An MVP is a prototype with the least amount of possible features while still demonstrating core value.
112. Learn with the least minimum effort.
113. Let’s build a simplified social wellness program that can validate social game mechanics’ effectiveness. “ built to adapt companies
114. Define metrics. you can’t fail fast without defining what failure is.
115. How many weeks did each team’s members play? Would they play it again? “ defining metrics
116. DEFINE MVP FEATURES what are the least possible features while still delivering value and ‘the experience’?
118. Earning points has to result in something happening.
119. A leaderboard in the office or exchanging points for rewards.
120. We have to move from point A to B to validate our MVP.
121. Let’s build a team-based MVP with 2 teams, a set of challenges, and a leaderboard in the office. “ defining minimum features
122. DEFINE timeline keep feature list small, and timeline short
123. ROLL IT OUT test & validate
124. BUILT TO ADAPT If it worked, good job.
125. BUILT TO ADAPT If it failed, good job.
126. If you failed, at least you failed smarter than LEGO did.
127. We have new ideas to try after learning from what didn’t work. “ learning from failure
128. iterate build upon the MVP
129. Iterate with prizes.
130. Iterate with fitness devices.
131. iterate use test groups before rolling out to everyone
132. Facebook believes users will like the update because it's already tested it — with 8 million unsuspecting people. “
133. In the end, you might justify purchasing a more robust solution.
134. YOU ARE IN CONTROL.
135. WE CAN BECOME PROACTIVE NOT REACTIVE
136. BUILT TO ADAPT MEANS NOT AFRAID OF FAILURE
137. SUCCESS failure leads us to
138. WE ARE IN CONTROL.
139. X-Team: We experiment with 5-10 trends at a time.
140. When the 45 trends come in, we write 2 lines next to the relevant ones.
141. What do we need to validate, and what would the MVP look like? “ new trends list
142. What metric can we use to validate the MVP? “ new trends list
143. Hand off the list to X-Labs, a team dedicated to MVPs.
144. Committees sit around tables and discuss things. Labs get *%@! done. “ - The Decoded Company (book)
145. PROTOTYPE. TEST/VALIDATE. ADAPT.
146. It’s really (really) hard not to rush in on a trend.
147. FAIL FAST or before you know it, you’re looking backward on the trends you didn’t get time for.
148. BUILT TO ADAPT.
149. EMPOWERED PEOPLE act three
150. MOVE FORWARD we use fail fast to
151. TOP DOWN PRESSURE built to survive companies move slower from
152. LEGO: Set the course, then get out of the way.
153. ZAPPOS: Junior employees can buy customers gifts.
154. Whole Foods Staff is empowered to share ideas with other stores via an Instagram-like app.
155. GUY LAURENCE
157. Meetings strip empowerment.
158. DECISIONS ARE MADE BY THE HIGHEST POINT OF COMPETENCE not authority.
159. AGILITY INCREASES
161. JASON STIRMAN
162. We’re going to hire the best people we know & trust them to make decisions for us. “ jason stirman, medium
163. The momentum this creates far outweighs someone making a bad decision. “ jason stirman, medium
164. But shouldn’t all of this just cause chaos?
165. peer group pressure
166. Senior management relaxes.
167. There are still rules & policies - but they’re in the background. “
168. In the foreground is collaboration and peer group pressure.
169. Trust emerges. People rise to action.
170. BUILT TO ADAPT.
171. CAPTAIN MARQUET
172. The USS Santa Fe, ranked worst crew in the Navy.
173. Marquet takes the job, and takes command, giving orders.
174. “Ahead two thirds!” “There is no two thirds.”
175. His crew had been trained to blindly follow orders.
176. He would have to empower his crew.
177. To empower those with the information before those with authority.
178. “Permission to” became “I intend to”
179. I will set a course. You will make the decisions & actions that get us there. “ captain david marquet
180. LEGO: Set the course, then get out of the way.
181. WHEN LEADERS EMPOWER… PEOPLE RISE TO ACTION.
182. From the lowest ranked, to the highest ranked in history.
183. BUILT TO ADAPT.
184. BUILT TO SURVIVE ISN’T THE ONLY OPTION.
185. TOP DOWN PRESSURE isn’t the only option
186. LIMIT RISK AT ALL COSTS isn’t the only option
187. WE ARE IN CONTROL act four
188. EXPONENTIAL CHANGE We can control what happens in an exponentially changing world.
189. CHANGE LEARN happens faster than we can
190. WE ARE IN CONTROL
191. When we forget that, we become less human.
192. Applicant Tracking Systems caused us to talk to databases before people.
193. Your resume doesn’t match our keywords. Bye. “
194. We become less human when we let trends control us.
195. WE WERE BORN TO EXPLORE
196. TO FIND YOUR LINE AND GO BEYOND IT
198. TO FIND YOUR LINE AND GO BEYOND IT
199. We are born Built to Adapt.
200. BUILT TO SURVIVE DOESN’T LEAD TO EXPLORING.
201. It leads to survival mode, losing focus, scrambling to keep up.
202. HR’s Blockbuster moment.
203. TOP DOWN PRESSURE built to survive: social media policies
204. We will always play catch up until we regain our passion for exploration.
205. We focus too much on looking backward.
206. NASA BUDGET
207. Blockbuster didn’t explore until they were forced to.
208. EXPONENTIAL CHANGE We can control what happens in an exponentially changing world.
209. Adapt: Readily adjust to different conditions. “ definition
210. FAILURE IS GOOD
211. EMPOWERED PEOPLE
212. These are things you can start doing tomorrow.
213. Adapting takes baby steps to succeed.
214. WE ARE IN CONTROL
215. BUILT TO ADAPT. ryanchartrand.com
216. thank you. ryanchartrand.com