Shipulski On Design

When you want to figure out what’s next, show customers what’s possible.  This is much different than asking them what they want.  So, don’t do that.  Instead, show them a physical prototype or a one-page sales tool that explains the value they would realize.

When they see what’s possible, the world changes for them.  They see their work from a new perspective. They see how the unchangeable can change.  They see some impossibilities as likely.  They see old constraints as new design space.  They see the implications of what’s possible from their unique context.  And they’re the only ones that can see it.  And that’s one of the main points of showing them what’s possible – for YOU to see the implications of what’s possible from their perspective.  And the second point is to hear from them what you should have shown them, how you missed the mark, and what you should show them next time.

When you show customers what’s possible, that’s not where things end.  It’s where things start.

When you show customers what’s possible, it’s an invitation for them to tell you what it means to them.  And it’s also an invitation for you to listen.  But listening can be challenging because your context is different than theirs.  And because they tell you what they think from their perspective, they cannot be wrong.  They might be the wrong customer, or you might have a wrong understanding of their response, but how they see it cannot be wrong.  And this can be difficult for the team to embrace.

What you do after learning from the customer is up to you.  But there’s one truism – what you do next will be different because of their feedback.  I am not saying you should do what they say or build what they ask for.  But I think you’ll be money ahead if your path forward is informed by what you learn from the customers.

Image credit —  Alexander Henning Drachmann

When you remove an obstacle, the path forward becomes easier.  But if there are multiple paths, which obstacle should be removed and which should remain in place?

If you can’t easily remove an obstacle that blocks the path, don’t.  Look for other paths.

If all the paths point away from your intended direction, obstacles or not, look for another path.

If all paths point uphill, the first one to try is one with the most gradual slope.

If there are three paths that make sense, break up into three small groups and try them all.  Decide how long to hike and gather the provisions.  Each day, observe the lay of the land each day, write down what you see, and decide where to walk next.  When it’s time, return to base camp and tell them what you learned.

When the territory is new, there are no maps, unless you make them.  Use your judgment and make your own maps.  There’s no other way.

When the territory is new, there are no leading indicators of success.  But if you are asked for leading indicators, any will do, so make them up and then follow your judgment.

When the territory is new, the old rules may not apply. Keep that in mind and tread carefully.

When the territory is new, there will be skinned knees, twisted ankles, and incredible vistas.

There’s no other way.

image credit — Ed Coyle

Stop, Start, Continue is a powerful, straightforward way to manage things.

If it’s not working, Stop.

If it’s working well, Continue.

If there’s a big opportunity to grow, Start.

Sounds pretty simple, but it’s often executed poorly.

The most dangerous variant of Stop, Start, Continue is Start, Start, Continue.  Regardless of how well projects are doing, they Continue.  The market has changed but the product hasn’t launched yet, Continue the project.  Though the technical risk is increasing instead of decreasing, keep your mouth shut and Continue the project.  Though resources have moved to different projects (that have recently started), Continue the project and pretend progress is being made.  And though Continue is a big problem, Starting is a bigger one.

With Start, Start, Continue, the company’s eyes are too big for their stomach.  Because there is no mechanism to limit the start of new projects based on the available resources (people, tools, infrastructure), projects start without the resources needed to get them done.  In the short term, there’s a celebration because an important new project has started.  But a month later, everyone on the project team knows the project is doomed because the project is largely unstaffed. And because of the tight lips, no one in company leadership knows there’s a problem.  The telltale signs of Start, Start, Continue are long projects (insufficient resources) and a lack of Finishing (too many projects and too little focus).

There is a little-known process that can overpower Start, Start, Continue.  It’s called Stop, Stop, Stop.  It’s simple and powerful.

With Stop, Stop, Stop, stalled projects are stopped and resources are freed up to accelerate the best remaining projects.  Think of it as moving from Continue existing projects to Accelerate the most important projects.  And with Stop, Stop, Stop, there is no starting.  None.  There is only stopping, at least to start.  Pet projects are stopped. Long-in-the-tooth projects are stopped. Irrelevant projects are stopped.  And even good projects are stopped to allow great projects to Start.

With Stop, Stop, Stop, at least two projects must stop before a new project can start.  And it’s better to stop three.

The result of Stop, Stop, Stop is a glut of freed-up resources that can be applied to amazing new projects.  And because the resources are unallocated and ready to go, those new projects can be fully staffed and can make progress quickly.  And because there are now fewer projects overall, the shared resources can respond more quickly for double acceleration.  And with fewer projects, there are fewer resource collisions among projects and fewer slowdowns. Triple acceleration and a lighter project management burden.

If your projects are moving too slowly, use Stop, Stop, Stop to stop the worst projects.  If you have too many projects and too few resources, Stop, Stop, Stop can set you free.  If you want to Start an amazing new project, use Stop, Stop, Stop to free up the resources to make it happen.

Before you Start, Stop.  And before you Continue, Stop. And instead of pretending to Stop or talking about Stopping, Stop.

Show them how the work is done.

Ask them what they saw.

Praise them for what they recognized and describe what they didn’t.

Repeat

Tell them how the work is done.

You do some and they watch you, and they do some and you watch them.

Ask them what they felt and what questions they have.

Praise them for their openness and answer their questions.

Repeat.

Ask them how the work should be done and listen.

Praise them for their insights and suggest alternative approaches for consideration.

Together, choose the approach and they do the work.  You check in as needed.

Ask them how they felt while doing the work and ask if they have questions.

Praise them for sharing; validate their feelings; and answer their questions.

Repeat.

Ask them to do the work.

They choose the approach and do the work.  You do something else but stay close.

If they ask questions, answer them.

Check in with them after the work is done, but they own the agenda.

Repeat

Ask them what work should be done next and listen.

Acknowledge their discomfort and tell them it’s supposed to feel like that.

They choose the work; they choose the approach; and you stay away.

If they ask questions, answer with more questions so they can work it out on their own.

Check in with them after the work is done, but make it a social visit because they’re pros now.

Image credit – skyseeker

When there are too many projects, all the projects move too slowly.

When there are too many projects, adding resources doesn’t help much and may make things worse.

To speed up the important projects, stop the less important projects. There’s no better way.

When there are too many projects, stopping comes before starting.

All projects are important, it’s just that some are more important than others.  Stop the lesser ones.

When someone says all projects are equally important, they don’t understand projects.

If all projects are equally important, then they are also equally unimportant and it does not matter which projects are stopped.  This twist of thinking can help people choose the right projects to stop.

When there are too many projects, stop two before starting another.

Finishing a project is the best way to stop a project, but that takes too long.  Stop projects in their tracks.

There is no partial credit for a project that is 80% complete and blocking other projects.  It’s okay to stop the project so others can finish.

Queueing theory says wait times increase dramatically when utilization of shared resources reaches 85%.  The math says projects should be stopped well before shared resources are fully booked.

If you want to go faster, stop the lesser projects.

Image credit – Rodrigo Olivera

You can’t see if you don’t look.

You can’t look if you’re distracted.

You can’t be distracted if you’re living in the present moment.

You can’t live in the present moment if you’re sad about the past or afraid of the future.

You can’t be sad about the past unless you want it to be different.

You can’t be afraid of the future unless you want to control it.

You can’t want the past to be different if you accept things as they are.

You can’t want to control the future if you accept you have no control over it.

Yet, we want the past to be different and we want to control the future.

When you find yourself wanting the past to be different or wanting to control the future, focus on your breath for a minute or two.  That will bring you back to the present moment.

And if that doesn’t work, go outside and walk in nature for fifteen minutes then quiet yourself and focus on your breath for a minute or two.  That should bring you back to the present moment.

Everything gets better when you’re sitting in the present moment.

The projects you choose define the problems you solve.

The problems you choose to solve define the novel value delivered to the customer.

The people you choose to run the projects set the character of the projects.

The choice of the projects’ character defines how the people feel about working on the projects.

How people choose to feel about working on the projects influences the character of the projects.

The people on the projects choose how the problems are solved.

How people choose to solve problems defines how well the problems are solved.

The choice around how well problems are solved sets the level of goodness delivered to the customer.

The level of goodness you choose to deliver to the customer governs the incremental revenue you create.

It doesn’t seem right that the amount of incremental revenue is a choice.

But, when you choose the right projects and the right people to run them and you choose the right problems and the right people to solve them, incremental revenue becomes your choice.

image credit — officallychaz

You can solve problems that reduce the material costs of your products.

You can solve problems that reduce the number of people that work at your company.

You can solve problems that save your company money.

You can solve problems that help your customers make progress.

You can solve problems that make it easier for your customers to buy from you.

You can solve too many small problems and too few big problems.

You can solve problems that ripple profits through your whole organization.

You can solve local problems.

You can solve problems that obsolete your best products.

You can solve problems that extend and defend your existing products.

You can solve problems that spawn new businesses.

You can solve the wrong problems.

You can solve problems before their time or after it is too late.

You can solve problems that change your company or block it from change.

You are defined by the problems you solve.  So, which type of problems do you solve and how do you feel about that?

Image credit – Maureen Barlin

If you can’t imagine it, it’s impossible.

But if you can imagine it, at worst it can only be almost impossible.

Who controls your imagination?

What you think about something affects you like it’s true, even when it isn’t.

And what you think is true often isn’t.

Are you responsible for what you think?

If you have two things to do, that’s doable.  So, do them.

And if you have twenty things to do, chose two and do them.

What if getting ten things done in a week is enough?

If the work is good, it’s likely you’re doing it with people you enjoy.

And if you work with people you enjoy, the work gets better.

Which comes first, the good work or the people you enjoy?

If you tell someone what to do and how to do it, they can do it.

But if you’re not there to tell them, they cannot.

Will you always be there?

If you show you care, people know you care.

And if you tell people you care, they’re not sure.

Why not show them so they can be sure?

If you tell the truth, people can work with you even if they don’t share your truth.

But if you sometimes tell the truth, it means sometimes you don’t.

And how does that work?

image credit — Miranda Granche

When there’s a disagreement between the stated strategy and the active projects, believe the active projects.

When there’s a formal objective to reduce the number of meetings and the number of meetings doesn’t decrease, the desired outcome isn’t really desired.

When there’s a desire to reduce costs and there’s no hiring freeze, there’s no real desire to reduce costs.

When it’s acknowledged that there are too many projects and more projects are added, the doers’ morale tanks while the approvers’ credibility is decimated.

When people don’t talk openly about the mismatch between words and behavior, it does not mean they’re unaware.

When there’s a mismatch between words and behavior, people see it.

When you notice someone having a difficult time, take the time to check in with them.  An in-person “Are you okay?” is probably the best way, but a phone call, text, or video chat will also do nicely.

When you’re having a difficult time, when someone notices and checks in you feel a little better.

When someone reacts in an outsized way, use that as a signal to check in with them.  Your check-in can help them realize their reaction was outsized, as they may not know.  It’s likely a deeper conversation will emerge naturally.  This is not a time to chastise or judge, rather it’s a time to show them you care.  An in-person “You got a minute?” followed by a kind “Are you doing okay?” work well in this situation.  But a phone call or text message can also be effective.  The most important thing, though, is you make the time to check in.

When you check in, you make a difference in people’s lives.  And they remember.

Is a simple check-in really that powerful?  Yes. Does it really make a difference?  Yes. But don’t take my word for it.  Run the experiment for yourself.  Here’s the experimental protocol.

1. Pay attention.
2. Look for people who are having a difficult time or people whose behavior is different than usual.
3. When you notice the behavior of (2), make a note to yourself and give yourself the action item to check in.
4. As soon as you can, check in with them. Do it in person, if possible.  If you cannot, call them on the phone or send them a text.  Email is too impersonal. Don’t use it.
   1. To initiate the check-in, use the “You got a minute?” and “Are you doing okay?” language. Keep it simple.
   2. After using the language of (4.1), listen to them. No need to fix anything.  Just listen.  They don’t want to be fixed; they want to be heard.
5. Enjoy the good feeling that comes from checking in.
6. Repeat 1-5, as needed.

After running the experiment, I think you’ll learn that checking in is powerful and helps both parties feel better.  And the more you run the experiment (demonstrate the behavior), the more likely it will spread.

And, just maybe, at some point down the road, someone may reach out to you and ask “You got a minute?” and “Are you doing okay?”.

Image credit — Funk Dooby