Chris Spagnuolo's Edgehopper

Who Owns Your Product's Lean Canvas?

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:53:52 PDT

As I've been working our Lean Canvases with our Product Managers at Return Path, it has occurred to me that at scale, ownership of the Lean Canvas may not reside solely with the Product Manager. While the Lean Canvas works great for entrepreneurs or startups where everyone wears lots of hats and ownership of components of the business model usually reside with the founder or the product manager, at scale I don't think this is optimal. At scale, there are experts in a larger company that may be better positioned to contribute to or own certain sections of the Lean Canvas.

I think the Hollywood Model may work best for the Lean Canvas at scale. In this sense, the Product Manager would act as the director, owning the story and the final production of the Lean Canvas. But they should leverage experts in their organization much like a movie director would leverage a lighting director, a cinematographer, a sound editor, or a set designer in their production. At Return Path, we have General Managers who own the business around each of our products. As such, they own our KPI's, cost structures, and revenue streams. So it would be logical that they own and contribute to the Metrics, Cost Structure, and Revenue Components of the Lean Canvas. In the same sense, we have product marketing experts and sales operations experts that can own or contribute to the Unique Value Proposition, the High Concept Pitch, and the Unfair Advantage components of the canvas. GM's and Sales Operations might own the Channel section. And the PM/UX pair would own the Customer Segment, Early Adopter, Problem, and Solution sections. Ultimately, the PM should coordinate and pull together all of these experts to provide their valuable insights into each canvas section and produce a final coherent product and business model story.

The key here is that Product Managers in a larger organization should recognize the experts they are surrounded by and leverage their strengths and expertise to build the best business model possible for your products.

Diagnostic Thinking

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:31:09 PDT

All too often in product management, we're focussed on the speed of finding a solution to a problem. And all too often, we choose the obvious/easy solution to what appears to be the problem. However, if we slow down just a bit, do some diagnostic thinking and changing our workflow from problem-solution to problem-diagnosis-solution, we might provide a much more valuable solution to our customers.

In a recent HBR video, Ranjay Gulati gives a great real world example of why diagnostic matters. Now granted, it's a medical example, but it illustrates the point really well. Gulati was out skiing for a day without drinking much water or eating much food. When he was flying home later that day, he began to feel weak and eventually passed out. Three doctors attended to him and immediately rushed to the conclusion that he was having a heart attack based on the symptoms they observed. A fourth doctor talked to Gulati's seatmate and asked about how Gulati was behaving before he passed out. Based on the facts he gathered, the fourth doctor arrived at the conclusion that Gulati was dehydrated and had low blood sugar levels. His solution was to give Gulati orange juice instead doing CPR on him. Luckily for Gulati, the fourth doctor used diagnostic thinking and did not rush to the immediate, obvious solution.

As product managers we can learn a lot from this story. In the heat of the moment, it's easy to go from problem to solution very quickly. As product managers, we need to slow down and be diagnostic. Don't respond to customer symptoms, think about the cause of the symptoms. That's where our best solutions come from.

In the video, Gulati mentions using the case method for diagnostic thinking. In it's simplest form, the case method looks like this:

Understand the problem
Devise an approach
Gather and analyze data
Develop hypotheses
Gather data to validate hypotheses
Iterate on steps 3-5 until the root cause of the problem is found
Devise a solution to address the root cause of the problem

Overall, this doesn't look very different from what we do in lean product management. We have a basic understanding that a problem exists. We come up with an initial assumption of what that problem is and then we do some initial investigation to gather basic data for analysis. We develop our Lean Canvas based on these analyses and develop a hypothesis. We move to a validation stage to either prove is disprove our hypotheses. If we disprove our hypotheses we iterate and refine our hypotheses and keep testing until we find a real root cause of a problem our customers care about. Only then do we start thinking about what the solution is that addresses the root cause of the problem. So in a very real sense, lean practices incorporate diagnostic thinking by design. And that makes all the difference in how we define meaningful solutions and develop our best products.

I Am Completely...Stopping

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 10:00:37 PST

In all of the busy-ness and chaos of our daily lives, sometimes it’s very hard to just stop, breathe, and take a second to relax. That makes it difficult to be in the moment and really be open to the goodness that surrounds you everywhere. Losing touch with stillness and the “now” of things can make us really unbalanced and I think we miss so much of the good in our own lives just because we’re missing this moment as it passes us by.

So, how can you stop the frantic world we live in and become more in the moment? I like to use a short, simple meditation that I found in a great book called Ten Zen Seconds by Eric Maisel. Very easily, I close my eyes and repeat the following while I am deep breathing:

(Deep 5 second breath in) “I am completely”
(Slow 5 second breath out) “Stopping”

Believe it or not, this simple little ten second exercise and meditation really calms things down and re-centers you here and now, in the moment. I’ve used this while working, cycling, running, and especially at home to just slow things down for a moment to allow me to focus on the goodness that is happening right now. It can mean the difference in noticing the good ideas of my colleagues, the beauty of the mountains that I cycle and run in, or the laughter and happiness of my children. It doesn’t take long meditations and lots of time to relax and be present in your life. The next time you're feeling frantic or disconnected, breathe in, breathe out and try completely stopping for ten seconds.

Lucy Bradshaw: Innovation Agent

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 11:54:20 PST

Lucy Bradshaw is a Senior VP at Electronic Arts. Maybe you haven't heard of Lucy, but you've definitely heard of the games she's behind: The Sims and Spore. Last November, Fast Company ran a great interview with her that is really inspiring. When you listen to her speak, you can feel the love she has for the product she develops and the passion she has for doing it in a playful, collaborative way.

Here are some of the key take-away points from Lucy's interview:

She's extremely concerned with creating a work environment that is conducive to a highly collaborative and very creative experience and expression. We all should be. Too often work environments can be stifling. Open up and let the creativity flow.
Have the conviction to believe that people have something to contribute. It's up to you to figure out a way of bringing the best out of your people. Ask yourself continually "How can I help that person be the best they can be?" And more than that, understand that everyone from the front desk receptionist to a senior VP all have something to contribute.
Pay your dues and work your way up. Lucy started out without an art or software development background. But she found what she was passionate about, worked hard at getting there and has ended up working her way to a job she loves.
The most Lucy has ever learned came from letting people touch what her and her team were making and learning from them. Exposing your ideas to the outside world for criticism is always the best way to learn. Don't keep them to yourself. Air them out, get feedback. And use the feedback to learn from and to make constructive changes to your ideas and products. No one person knows all the answers.
Always always always keep learning. Lucy says that "For me, this job is one of those things that's just continually intriguing. You're always learning." Continually intriguing! I love that idea. What if every day you thought your job was continually intriguing? How good would it feel to wake up every morning anticipating the intrigue and learning experience that awaited you at work? It's probably there...sometimes we just forget to look for it.

Hiring and Firing Based on Cultural Fit

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 11:55:45 PST

This week I'm tuning in to listen to Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, talk about the unique culture he and his team have built at Zappos. That got me thinking about corporate culture in general and just how important it really is. Many traditional companies believe that there too much emphasis placed on fun and creativity in the new Web 2.0 corporate cultures. I personally think that these new, forward thinking, culture-focused companies have got it right.

Witness the bottom line of Zappos or Facebook or Twitter and I think you'll see the picture very clearly. Build a great corporate culture that incorporates mindfulness, fun, respect for employees, and creative thinking and then stick to it. In fact, make every decision based on your corporate culture. If you do that, I think you stand a great chance of being successful and creating brands and products that customers will not only recognize but love.

And, I believe that the most important decisions you can make based on your corporate culture is hiring and firing. Zappos, Netflix, and many other successful companies hire and fire based solely on cultural fit. Tony Hsieh has said "If you get the culture right, then most of the other stuff, like great customer service or building a brand will just happen naturally. We’ve actually passed on a lot of really talented people that we know would make an impact to our top or bottom line,” says Hsieh, “but if you know they’re not a culture fit we won’t hire them. Similarly, the company will fire people even if they’re doing their job perfectly if they’re bad for the culture." Now, you can go ahead and dismiss Hsieh as a quirky anomaly, but judging by the fact that Amazon bought Zappos for $1.2 billion in 2009, I'd say corporate culture is a worthwhile investment.

So, how do you make your hiring/firing decisions? Do you hire someone regardless of their cultural fit with your organization and hope they'll work out? Do you hire someone with the wrong cultural fit and hope you can force a square peg into a round hole? Or, do you look for someone who is the perfect fit for your culture and do everything you can to bring them on board? And most importantly, would you be willing to fire someone who just didn't quite fit with your team culturally?

5 Ways to Reduce Workplace Stress

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:09:11 PST

Do you frequently feel stressed at work? If you do, you’re probably not alone. Chances are that others on your team feel stressed too. OK, so you feel stressed. Big deal right? Who isn’t stressed these days? We all have a great deal that is expected of us and most of us feel like we have very little control over whether or not we are able to perform well. Unfortunately when our day-to-day work environment or corporate culture make us start internalizing these attitudes, we start to experience what Martin Seligman terms “learned helplessness”. Learned helplessness is a perception of inescapability and the acceptance that things just aren’t going to get any better. Once we fall into this state, it’s a vicious circle that keeps feeding our stress and leads to depression and the belief that we are worthless. Ultimately, this robs us of our creativity and our ability to solve problems.

When I think about stressful environments I’ve worked in, it seems that a lack of control over situations leads to the most stress. Lots of professional psychologists and many business professionals have tried to pinpoint what causes stress in the workplace, and it seems that they have reached the same conclusion: stress in the workplace is most often caused by a lack of control (whether real or perceived). When this lack of control exists and stress runs rampant, productivity and creativity take a tremendous hit. Plus, there are all of the physical effects of workplace stress that end up costing employers millions every year. In his book Brain Rules, John Medina identifies the following as the key “business” costs of stress in the workplace:

Stress attacks the immune system, increasing employees’ chances of getting sick
Stress elevates blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and autoimmune diseases
Both #1 and #2 increase the costs of health-care and pensions
Stress is behind more than half of the 550 million working days lost each year due to absenteeism
Stressed employees tend to avoid coming to work at the slightest excuse, and often show up late

Based on the list above, statistical studies show that stress results in corporate losses totaling between $200 billion and $300 billion every year! That being the case, it would seem that most executives and managers would pay very close attention to the stress levels of their employees. Unfortunately, that’s not usually the case. In many cases, organizations ratchet up the stress level, whether it is intentionally or unintentionally, and ultimately at a cost their bottom-line. But, if you know me well, you know that I’m less of a bottom-line person and more concerned with people, creativity, and innovation. And this is the real reason I find stress in the workplace to be destructive.

On the personal level, workplace stress leads to stress at home, which in turn leads to more stress at work which leads to more home stress, etc. etc. etc. This leads to chronic stress levels, which create depression and a feeling of hopelessness or helplessness. And quite frankly, I hate to see anyone experiencing depression. So, Rule #1, eliminate stress in the workplace if for nothing else than to make the lives of the people you work with better, happier, and more enjoyable. If that’s not reason enough, I don’t know what is.

When it comes to working, stress is a tremendous inhibitor of creativity and innovation. Stress specifically does damage to two important things: declarative memories and executive function. Declarative memories are memories, which can be consciously recalled such as facts and events. Executive function is a very specific kind of thinking that involves problem solving. The result of the diminished capabilities of declarative memory and executive function lead to what Medina says is an “erosion of innovation and creativity, just as biochemically real as if we were talking about joints and muscles.” Now here’s where Medina’s expanded list of stress related issues gets really interesting. Aside from the “business costs” associated with stress, here are Medina’s cognitive impacts of stress:

Stressed people don’t do math very well
Stressed people don’t process language very efficiently
Stressed people have poorer memories, both short- and long-term
Stressed people don’t generalize or adapt old pieces of information to new scenarios as well as non-stressed people
Stressed people can’t concentrate
Chronic stress hurts our ability to learn

Now, take that list and think about it for a moment. It’s telling us that stress degrades our ability to communicate and thus collaborate. We can’t remember things very well, and we can’t use our memories to apply what we know to creatively solving problems. And most importantly, we have trouble learning. In the most creative and innovative organizations, constant learning and collaboration are two major keys to success. Stress in the workplace essentially takes those keys away from us.

So, now that we know what stress can do to us in the workplace, what can we do reduce stress? The answers are simpler than you might think. First, we need to go back to the root cause of most workplace stress: control(or the lack thereof). Getting control back into the hands of your employees is the key to reducing most workplace stress situations. Now, what exactly does that mean? It can mean a wide variety of things depending on where individuals are feeling most helpless. So, it’s your job as managers and executives to actively work at becoming a stress detector. Work closely with your employees and listen carefully. Watch for hints that are indicating a lack of control or feelings of helplessness. Next, after you identify a stressor, be a strong servant leader and change the situation. Whatever it takes, change the situation. It’s your job to make sure that people have what they need to do their work, to feel empowered, and to assume some control. Make it happen today.

Secondly, we can look at our organizational policies and practices to see where we could reduce stress. Here are four things that you can consider offering that can quickly reduce workplace stress:

Stress management classes. Typically these are relatively inexpensive compared to the benefits. One study showed that after a $6,000 16-hour stress management class, the organization realized $150,000 in savings in workers’ compensation costs.
Allow flexible schedules. Some people are owls and do their best thinking at night. Some are larks and do their best work and thinking in the morning. Let people create their own flexible work schedules to accommodate their best thinking and reduce the stress of having to perform when their mental capacities are at their lowest.
Onsite childcare. One of the biggest stressors in life is having to make a decision between family and career (and this disproportionately affects women in the workplace). Offering onsite daycare makes this choice easier. And in general, the cost of onsite daycare is greatly offset by the gains in productivity, creativity and innovation (not to mention you’d quickly gain a better gender balance in your workplace, which is always a positive thing).
Provide healthy food. Eating well has been proven to reduce stress. Providing good healthy food for your employees goes a long way toward improving your organization’s ability to be creative, innovative, and of course, productive. Consider providing free healthy lunches or subsidized lunches. And if you can’t afford that, empty the vending machines of sugar-loaded sweets and offer healthier alternatives. Or, provide some educational material about healthy eating to reduce stress.
Provide opportunities to exercise. Exercise is one of the simplest ways to decrease stress. If you can afford it, provide daily exercise classes, yoga, or meditation. If that’s too cost prohibitive, consider subsidizing gym membership fees or providing exercise equipment (especially cardiovascular equipment) onsite. Or, simply encourage taking walks together during the workday. Physical activity is probably the least expensive, most effective way to reduce stress.

These are just a few ideas. I’d love to add to this list. What do you do as a manager, employee or organization to reduce stress in your workplace?

How Playful is Your Workplace

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:28:12 PST

This morning I spent some time with a team going through some serious morale issues. Lots of things seemed to be getting the team members down, but when they broke it down to the “root cause” it seemed that the team just wasn’t having fun anymore. There is no sense of playfulness at all. In fact, the few times they did try playing a bit, they felt guilty and were the object of organizational scrutiny for “playing” on the job.

By strange coincidence, I couldn’t sleep last night so I ended up re-reading the book Innovate the Pixar Way for like the tenth time or so. And even more strangely, the chapter I happened to open the book to is calledRecess: Go Out and Play! You see, at Pixar, morale means everything. And, they actively promote playfulness. They find that the level of fun and play at Pixar has a direct impact on morale which leads to people at Pixar working at their peak.

And guess what? It’s not just Pixar that has figured this out. There are plenty of organizations out there that have realized that allowing people to play at work is a good thing. It stimulates creativity and innovation. And there’s plenty of good “brain science” out there to support play at work too. Just check out John Medina’s awesome book Brain Rules or Refactor Your Wetware by Andy Hunt. When you look at play from a brain science perspective, you’ll realize that not only is play important for innovative teams, it is at the core of being an innovative team.

So, if there are so many companies that are figuring out the value of play at work and good science to back it up, why are so many organizations still resistant to playing at work? For one thing, there are plenty of corporate types who fear disruption and disorder. They think this can only lead to a decrease in the only important metric to them: productivity. And to people like this, that equates to a decrease in the bottom line. But that is an absolute misconception. In fact, plenty of studies show that playful teams end up with very high morale, which always translates into higher productivity. Pixar’s Brad Bird (who directed The Incredibles andRatatouille) had this to say about morale and the bottom line:

“The most significant impact on a movie’s budget – but never in the budget – is morale. If you have low morale, for every dollar you spend, you get about twenty-five cents of value. If you have high morale, for every dollar you spend you get about three dollars of value. Companies should pay much more attention to morale.”

Now, I don’t know about you but I’d gladly settle for a 300% return on any investment I make. So why not invest in morale and playfulness at your company. Make the commitment to keeping our most important “resource”, our people, as happy and content as possible. And for just a minute forget about the bottom line and ROI. Consider that all of us spend at least one-third of our adult lives at work. As human beings, shouldn’t we strive to make work a fun place to be? It’s doesn’t have to be all seriousness and suffering in the corporate world.

So, my question to everyone out there is this: HOW PLAYFUL IS YOUR WORKPLACE? Here are some questions from Innovate the Pixar Way that might help you answer that question:

Is it common to hear laughter coming from your employees?
Does the laughter stop or diminish when management is around?
Is the workplace humor good-natured constructive ribbing rather than destructive sarcastic criticism?
Does your boss usually have an optimistic and happy attitude?
When something gets screwed up, can team members step back and laugh at their mistake?
Do you have fun celebrations on a regular basis?
Is the physical workplace conducive to fun?

The Pause that Refreshes

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:28:02 PST

I'm a super passionate person about my work. I love to be 100% engaged in everything I do. But to be honest, I get bored easily. Sometimes it'll be some small thing that I get bored with during the day. Sometimes, I'll get bored with something more significant in my life. Either way, my boredom with whatever it is that's boring me acts as a wake up call. It let's me know I'm moving or thinking in the wrong direction. It makes me pause to consider how I can reframe something to be more exciting, more interesting, more innovative. In fact, when I'm really attuned to my boredom, I use it as a pause to refresh my viewpoints. So, in a strange way, getting bored can be kind of a good thing for me.

So, when you feel bored with what you're doing, what do you do? Do you ignore the boredom and push on in an uninspired way? Do you let your mind wander to other distractions? Or do you use it as a signal that an opportunity to think about something in a different way is just around the corner? The next time your feeling bored, try to take it as a sign to take that pause that refreshes.

Are you bringing your true self to work with you?

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:30:42 PST

I overheard a conversation last week in which someone said "Today's corporate culture has no heartbeat...no soul." And to a certain extent I agree. There may be a good reason why it seems like corporate cultures lack a soul. Ever since I started my career back in the early 90's the mantra was "It's not personal, it's just business". That mantra has extended itself into who we are when we come to work. For some reason or other, it's become the norm to check our personalities, our passions, our emotions at the door.

How often have you heard the advice to offer unemotional feedback? How often have you been told that you're getting "too close" to your work? How many times have you held back your emotions or genuine feelings because it felt counter cultural to just express yourself at work? I believe that this persistent urge to suppress ourselves at work has led to a generation of corporate citizens that are disconnected from the work they do at a very personal level (in addition to countless other problems).

But don't lose hope. We can work toward changing the status quo. We just need some corporate culture insurgents on the inside to become the prototypes for transformation so that others have a path to follow. We can bring our true genuine selves to work with us. We don't have to check our passions and beliefs at the door. And maybe we can start to reconnect with our work on a deeper, more creative, more passionate, more genuine level. But why is this important? What does it matter? It's important because if all employees are genuine in what they do, not only is the workplace transformed, but the intent of their work is different, more positive as it goes out into the world. And that is huge! That begins to change the world.

Fortunately for us, we don't have to go it alone without good examples to follow. Many of the successful Web 2.0 companies have been shining examples of allowing employees to bring their true selves to work with them. They encourage genuine interactions and their corporate mantras and products reflect this attitude as their work goes out into the world. Google: "Don't be evil". Twitter's first principle: "Be a force for good". There is hope and it starts with you.

8 Ways to Become More Mindful at Work

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:43:35 PST

Take a minute to think about your workday. Actually, forget the work "day" and just focus on this present moment. How do you feel? Excited, depressed, happy, anxious, stressed? What is true about this very moment for you? Don’t judge anything, just be in touch with and aware of the present moment. Are you there now? And where exactly are you? If you’re clearing your mind of the past and the future, the place you are at now is a state that is often referred to as mindfulness. It’s a calming place. A place that offers quiet serenity.

Now, I’m no walking Buddah, and I don’t want this post to get wrapped in philosophical meanderings. However, it’s been proven that getting yourself into a state of mindfulness can reduce stress, depression and anxiety. And it’s been proven at numerous organizations across the globe to increase creativity, innovation, and yes…productivity. In fact organizations like eBay and Facebook have entire programs focused on improving mindfulness in the workplace.

Unfortunately, bringing mindful practices to an entire organization isn’t an easy endeavor. In fact, it could be downright difficult. I had the opportunity to speak with Leah Pearlman of Facebook and Rich Fernandez of eBay this weekend and although they are expanding mindfulness within their organizations, the path to doing so was difficult and challenging at times.

Putting aside organization-wide mindfulness (that's another post entirely), maybe there are simple things you can do each day to bring mindfulness to your workday to give yourself a break from the fast-paced business world. And maybe, just maybe, by bringing mindfulness to your day, others will become more mindful too. So, what can you do to become more mindful? Try these 8 simple ideas and see if they work for you:

Just Breathe: Find a quiet place where you work or close your office door if you have one. Sit upright, close your eyes and slowly inhale and exhale through your nose. Take deep breaths. Feel your chest expand and contract with each breath. Allow whatever thoughts come into your mind to just come and go. If you find your thoughts are focusing on events of the day (either past or present), come back to focusing on just your breath. Don’t judge your thoughts. Just let them flow. Observe the sounds and smells and sensations around you. Make your breathing the foreground. Try this for about five minutes, then open your eyes and allow your gaze to lengthen to take in the sights around you with a wider awareness.
Smooth Transitions: During the workday, we are constantly and quickly changing contexts. We move from emails, to Twitter, to meetings, to writing documents all with extreme speed. Many times when we make these transitions from one mode of working to another, we bring the former mode of work to the next mode. For example when we enter a meeting, we might still be contemplating the email we read just moments before this meeting. Our minds are not fully present at the meeting we’re in. Or maybe you’re thinking about that afternoon one-on-one with your manager. Either way, you are not fully present in the moment at this meeting. So try this: Give yourself some time to transition between modes. In the transition time, acknowledge that you are making a transition now. Come to a natural end of one activity and know you are moving to a different activity. Recognize the pause between the activities. Think about how you feel right now during this pause? Are you anxious, excited, nervous? Don’t judge yourself. Just recognize how you feel. Then enter your next activity feeling fully aware and awake in the present moment.
The Bow: Start your day with a bow. In fact, if your colleagues at work are up to it, try starting all of your meetings with a bow. The bow is a simple but powerful thing. Start with your eyes open, sitting up with your back straight and your hands on your thighs. While sitting this way, feel the desire to learn, to experience, to be awake. Feel your feet on the floor, your butt and back against the chair. Then relax and feel the vulnerability of yourself. Feel the gentleness that comes from this vulnerability. Finally lean forward into a slight bow and feel the bow as a sense of a gift flowing to others in your meeting or others outside of the room. The entire bow takes less than a minute and really sets a calming mind and opens you up to a willingness to share and help others. That’s a pretty good return for just one simple minute of time.
Observe and React with Serenity: When dramas arise in the workplace as they are bound to do, try hard to observe what’s happening without becoming drawn into the drama. And if by chance you do become involved in the drama (which we ultimately do because we’re all human) stay present in the moment. Don’t draw on old opinions or anger and don’t allow visions of what the future outcome could be determine your actions. React to the present moment with all the serenity you are capable of pulling together.
Falter and Learn: Know that we are all human and we all fail every day. And trust me, it happens. As I am writing this post, I know full well that I've failed to be mindful most of this morning in my work. If you lose patience, or find yourself drawn into an office drama, or if you can’t relax or make smooth transitions, don’t judge the experience as bad. Look at it as a learning experience. What was true about the moment that caused you to react the way you did? Did your reaction work for you? If not, try not to react that way again in the future.
Look Out Any Window: Too many of us are trapped in windowless cube farms these days. Surrounded by artificial lighting, air conditioning, and a general lack of the natural world. If you can, exit that world and take a brief walk outside at least once a day to connect yourself with something natural. Even in large cities, there is something outside that connects us to a more natural world. And, if you can’t step outside, look out any window. It’s a proven fact that looking out a window into a natural setting reduces stress and anxiety. So give it a try. Find a window and peer out. Maybe you'll find a tree and really connect with it. Look at the trunk, the branches, the leaves, how it moves in the breeze. 5 minutes of this and you’ll be refreshed and awake.
Smile and Laugh: The old saying that happiness is contagious is true. Too often, we bring our “work personas” to the office with us. And too often, these “work personas” don’t smile or laugh or show joy. I really believe that we should bring our true selves to work and smile, laugh and share some joy with each other. The contagious nature of joy and happiness is tough to suppress and it can do wonders for people who are stressed, depressed, or anxious.
Mindful Clock: This one is less of a practice and more of a tool to help you during the day. The mindful clock is a simple little app that gives you a “meditation” chime that you can set to remind you to relax throughout the day. I actually have mine set to chime on the hour to remind to enjoy 5 minutes of breathing. But you can use it however you need to just to remind you to take that a break from emails, or blogs, or whatever. You can find the Mindful Clock here.

What it really takes to innovate

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:53:12 PST

Here's a quiz for you. Which of these two teams succeeded in making history and being extremely innovative in the process?

The A Team

Budget: $2,000,000 in grant money.*
Project Manager: A world renowned scientist and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute.
Team members: The best scientists money could buy.
Subject matter expertise: Years of scale model experience.
Industry connections: Extremely well connected.
Publicity behind the project: Unprecedented.

The B Team

Budget: $24,000 of their own hard earned cash.*
Project Manager: None.
Team Members: Two guys without high school diplomas.
Subject matter expertise: Printing and bicycles. Make that none.
Industry connections: Um, who are these guys?
Publicity behind the project: Like I said, who are these guys?

Well, it wouldn't be worth writing about if it were The A Team. Of course, The B Team is the correct answer. The A Team was led by Dr. Samuel Langley and turned out to quite literally be a big flop. The B Team had no real leader. It was a team of two brothers named Orville and Wilbur. You might know them better as the Wright Brothers...you know...the guys who pioneered powered flight and changed the course of history. So how is it that these two guys from nowhere with a tiny budget beat a well-funded, government-backed team of top scientists to become the first team to achieve powered flight?

Mostly, they had a passion for what they were doing. They understood Langley's team was bigger and "better" than they were. But the Wrights were passionately committed to the "idea" of powered flight. They knew that it wasn't about having a huge team of scientists or tremendous budgets to win the game. Langley and his scientists were hired guns; if they failed, they failed. No big deal. They'd find another government grant to keep them going. If the Wrights failed, it was their life's savings and their own personal reputations on the line. They were taking personal risks that could only be countered by a passion for what they were doing. The Wrights were driven by doing things that were different and challenging, not to meet the goals of a grant or a contract. It was this passion, this desire to do something challenging that allowed the Wrights to create the world's first wind tunnel, develop innovative wing and propeller designs, and devise a control system that made powered flight possible.

Sometimes it's very tempting to think that "if we had a bigger R&D budget, we'd be more innovative" or "if we had more resources we'd be able to really innovate" or "we just don't have the right team and experience to be innovative". The Wrights proved that you don't need any of these things to be innovative. You need people who are passionate about what they're doing. People who are willing to stick it all out there, take the risks and ignore the naysayers. And you don't need a lot of them. Come on, if two guys who didn't finish high school could change the world, a team of passionate people in your company or organization can certainly come up with innovative ideas that at least change your industry.

Want more proof from a more current success story? Listen to what Steve Wozniak says about his work at Apple: "All the best things I did at Apple came from (a) not having money, and (b) not having done it before, ever." The truth is, you probably already have the right resources and people that you need. Just find a way to let them dream the "crazy" ideas, unleash their creative potential, and build innovative products that they are really passionate about.

*Note: The budgets were actually $70,000 for Langley's team and $1,200 for the Wright's...but adjusted to reflect today's value they are $2M and $24K.

Asleep on the Job? 10 Tips for Napping at Work

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:49:28 PST

Do you ever get that tired feeling shortly after lunch? You know that feeling when you're in a meeting and you just can't keep your eyes from slamming shut? Or the one where you can't seem to stay focused on your work or conversations? Well, if you're an average worker bee in the U.S., you are definitely not alone. In fact, according to one study, 56% of American workers fall asleep at work at least once a week. We are overworked, over stressed, and over tired. And it's costing us. Current estimates range from $70-$100 billion lost per year in productivity, accidents, and health costs as a result of workers who are over tired.

The question is what can we do to shake that tired, groggy feeling? It's no secret that other cultures have thought about this issue long before we did. There's the famous siesta in Spain, as well as other culturally accepted daily day-time nap breaks in countries such as Italy, Greece, Japan, China and Taiwan. But here in the U.S., sleeping during the day or sleeping at work is not only discouraged, but it could very well get you fired.

However, things are beginning to slowly change. Buoyed by corporate and clinical studies (like those performed at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) which have demonstrated that short periods of sleep improve alertness, memory, motor skills, decision-making, and mood, while cutting down on stress, carelessness, and even heart disease, more and more U.S. companies are recognizing the value of a cat nap at work. In fact, a NASA study of some of its pilots revealed a 35% performance improvement in pilots who took a short 26 minute nap during the day. From the big guns like Nike and Google that have sleeping rooms for their employees to Jawa, a small software company that has built two nap rooms, napping at work is catching on.
Sure, you're thinking: "But I'd get canned for sure if I slept at work" or "There's no way my company would go for that". Well, you're probably right. But that doesn't mean you can't still take a nap during your workday. Here are 10 tips that I've personally used to make sure that no matter where I've worked, I've been able to grab a short "power nap" to keep myself fresh and energized during the day.

Know your ideal nap zone. Without getting into details, your ideal nap zone is about 12 hours after the midpoint of your nightly sleep. If you go to bed at 10:00 PM and wake at 6:00 AM, your nap zone should begin around 2 PM.
Keep it short. Sleeping longer than 30 minutes induces deeper sleep zones that can leave you feeling a bit groggy later in the day. Try to keep you naps in the 20-30 minutes range.
Go to the good place. Make sure you've got a comfortable sleeping space. Your desk is not the ideal in comfort and neither is the bathroom stall. Find a quiet place or office where you can lie down. Warmer places make for better sleep as well. I've often used my car as a last resort for a quiet, private sleep space. Sometimes I'll drive to a quiet park, put the seat back and let the sunlight warm up the car for a nice cozy sleeping spot (it kind of makes me feel like my dogs basking in sun spots on cold winter days).
Don't forget the accessories. There are lots of things that can improve the quality of your sleep. Some of the key accessories that'll launch you into a better sleep are a pillow to avoid those neck aches, a yoga mat to make a conference room floor more comfortable, and a blanket to warm your body up. Of course you may want to leave your stuffed animals at home unless you like being the butt of candid office snapshot jokes.
The dark side is good. Darker is better when it comes to good sleep. Darkness increases melatonin production which induces higher quality sleep. If you can't find a dark place to sleep, consider picking up a sleep mask to at least cover your eyes.
Avoid unnecessary chemicals. Sure, caffeine may you give you that energy jolt that you think you need, but the detrimental effects of caffeine on your body are not worth the energy burst you experience from it. In fact, it's been proven that 20-30 minutes of sleep will provide more energy later in the day without increasing stress on your body the way caffeine does. In general, avoid caffeine, nicotine, sugar, and carbohydrates in the morning if you're hoping to fall asleep quickly and take that short power nap after lunch. They'll make it difficult to fall asleep quickly and have a quality sleep session.
Don't oversleep! You do not want be late for meetings or calls because you overslept! If there's one thing that can kill acceptance of workday naps quickly, it's missing work events because you overslept. If you can't naturally keep your naps to 30 minutes or less, use your watch, mobile phone or a travel alarm clock to set an alarm to wake you in time.
It's all about the transition. When planning your nap time, allow for enough time to wake up, maybe splash some water on your face, and wipe the crusties from your eyes. Also, give yourself some time to transition back to work, both physically and mentally. And use this transition time to recognize your refreshed state. Breathe in and out through your nose, and contemplate your rested state. You may even want to meditate, thinking "I am refreshed. My body is energized. I am ready to create again".
Know your corporate sleep culture. Know how your organization reacts to "different" work practices. How your company perceives change or new ideas can have a big influence in how they'll be likely to view work time naps. If you work in a conservative, risk averse, cubicle farm, chances are you may need to find somewhere else besides your workplace to catch some ZZZ's. Major metro areas have sleep spas that you may want to consider. Otherwise, as I mentioned previously, there's always your car.
Change the corporate sleep culture. OK, this is less of a tip and more of a strategy, but if you're really passionate about napping at work, work hard to convince others of the benefits and create a groundswell to encourage napping during the day. Maybe you can be the one who sparks a change in your organization's culture. And who knows, maybe if you work hard enough at it, you can get your company to build nap rooms or maybe even buy you one of these:

Is There a Process for Innovation?

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:45:18 PST

Lots of organizations spend time and money trying hard to figure out how to build a system or a process that encourages creativity and innovation. I'd argue that they're wasting their time. Innovation doesn't come out of a process. Innovation doesn't come from a systematic approach. Innovation comes from people connecting with each other on a deeper level that can't be turned into a system. It's different in every case. You can't write an organizational document on how to be innovative. If you need proof of this, consider how Steve Jobs talks about Apple and how they innovate:

"The system is that there is no system. That doesn't mean we don't have process. Apple is a very disciplined company, and we have great processes. But that's not what it's about. Process makes you more efficient. But innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we've been thinking about a problem. It's ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea."

Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 11:01:36 PST

Alan Atlas, an old friend of mine and one of my agile mentors, would always ask this question to teams that he worked with that were flailing but resistant to change:

"Do you know what the definition of insanity is? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

How do you stop flailing and begin meaningful change? Maybe take the advice of another wise person, Eleanor Roosevelt:

"Do one thing every day that scares you."

If you're not trying something that scares you, then you're probably not doing something different. And if you're not doing something different, you're perpetuating the status quo. So, what did you do today that scared you?

Where Good Ideas Come From

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 11:06:52 PST

I was watching a video of Steven Johnson speaking about where good ideas come from on TED recently. To say that this talk is jam packed with amazing insight of how collaboration leads to innovative ideas would be an understatement. Not to spoil your enjoyment of watching this video, but the very last statement of this talk summarizes everything in such a neat little nutshell that it's worth saying up front: "That is how innovation happens. Chance favors the connected mind".

So, now that you know the ending, what exactly does it mean. It means that collaboration, real true and honest collaboration, is where the most innovative ideas come from. What's interesting is that what Johnson refers to as the "liquid network" in his talk, Randy Nelson of Pixar refers to as "amplification". Look at how each describes the environment where good ideas come from: Johnson's Liquid Network:

"...where you have lots of different ideas that are together, different backgrounds, different interests, jostling with each other, bouncing off each other -- that environment is, in fact, the environment that leads to innovation."

Nelson's Amplification:

"Connecting a group of individuals that are interested in each other, that bring separate depth to the problem and that bring a breadth that gives them interest in the entire solution. They find the most articulate way to get a high fidelity notion across to a broad range of people so they can each pull on the right lever."

There are lots of things these two ideas have in common. First, it's all about a group of individuals building on each others ideas. There is no single "innovator", no singular mind providing the vision and mission statement to lead a team toward innovation. Secondly, individuals with different interests and backgrounds (or depth and breadth) work together to build an idea that they couldn't have built with a group of like minded individuals. I think these two points are the keys to really collaborating and coming up with great ideas, innovative ideas. I also like that Johnson emphasizes that ideas come from a chaotic place; a place that doesn't exist in a cubical or a conference room. He says:

"We take ideas from other people, from people we've learned from, from people we run into in the coffee shop, and we stitch them together into new forms, and we create something new...this is the kind of chaotic environment where ideas are likely to come together, where people were likely to have new, interesting, unpredictable collisions -- people from different backgrounds."

Again he touches on the idea of people from different backgrounds coming together, but the most interesting part of the phrase is that unpredictable ideas come from chaotic places. And the use of the word collisions is brilliant. It's not about neatly arranging individuals and asking them to "brainstorm" together. It's about chance meetings, chance conversations that happen spontaneously, resulting in a collision of ideas, and producing an unexpected result.

I've been with too many organizations where they have tried to reduce the noise, temper the chaos, create "idea-of-the-month task forces", and of coarse mitigate all risks. When you need to fill out a form proving the return on investment for every little thought a team has, when we build cubicles to isolate individuals, when we hire individuals who fit the organizational mold, or when we form teams of thinkers, we severely limit the possibility of collisions that uncover the unpredictable ideas that ultimately lead to true innovation.

So I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that if you want to be innovative, build organizations and build the spaces in your workplace that support both Johnson and Nelson's ideas about collaboration. Bring together individuals with wildly varying backgrounds and experiences and give them the freedom to roam. Let minds become connected in an open space. Allow the chaos to thrive and allow the unpredictable ideas that come out of liquid networks and amplification to permeate your organization's culture and direction. That's the place where great ideas come from and that's where I know I'd rather live. If you're interested here is the full TED talk from Steven Johnson:

The Life Manifesto

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 11:14:40 PST

A close friend of mine recently sent me a link to Holstee's site. Holstee is a design group who's tagline is "Wear Your Passion". What was interesting is that they have published what they call The Holstee Manifesto. It's really a manifesto about life and passion. It's especially relevant since another friend of mine is going through a life changing moment at her current job and sent me an email this morning in which she said "I just need to love what I do again, because right now my daily work is becoming soul crushing." Nobody should have to feel that way on a daily basis and you have the power to change it whenever you want to.

So, I thought this was worth sharing. It has great advice for anyone doing some soul searching and trying to figure out what's important in life. Some of my favorite lines from the manifesto:

If you don't like something, change it.
If you don't like your job, quit.
Ask the next person you see what their passion is and share your inspiring dream with them.
Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them so go out and start creating.
Live your dream, and wear your passion.

I hope you find this manifesto as interesting and inspiring as I did. Here it is in all it's simple glory:

Pixar's Randy Nelson on Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:34:49 PST

While lying in bed recovering from an injury a few years ago, I was stumbling around through the myriad of video podcasts I subscribe to and decided to take a look at some of the videos in The George Lucas Educational Foundation Integrated Studies series. That's where I came across this gem featuring Pixar's Randy Nelson who is the Dean of Pixar University. It has had an extremely profound impact on how I think and collaborate. He's giving a short talk entitled Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age at the Apple Education Leadership Summit in April of 2008. Take a look:

In his very casual and easy style, Nelson starts off by talking about how PIxar uses improv as a method of collaboration. In that method, two principles have surfaced that have guided Pixar:

Accept every offer. You don't know where that offer is going to go. But one thing is for sure: If you don't accept that offer, it's going nowhere! So you have a sure thing on one hand: a dead end. And you have possibility on the other.
Make you partner look good. That means that everybody on your team is going to try to make you look good and vice versa. And it's not about judgement or saying "This is pretty good. How can I make it better?". It's about saying "Here's where I'm starting. What can I do with this?". Nelson calls this "plus-ing".

I passed this video along to my friend Bert Decker, CEO of Decker Communications, to get his take on this as it is right up his alley. Here's what Bert had to say:

"Randy talks about ‘plus-ing’. Sue [Walden of ImprovWorks] calls it “yes, and...” What we mention in our advanced course is two essential rules of improv that you can apply to all communications, (and life for that matter) is:

Always positive (yes, and...)

Support your partner

And of course there’s ‘forward lean’ but that comes even before improv...."

Based on those two principles, Pixar looks to find people who are really good at something. And Pixar is really good at being innovative. So, how do you find people who are really good at being innovative? If something has never been done before and it's truly innovative, how do you find the people to do it. According to Nelson "You look for people who have seen failure and figured out how to make something from it. The core skill of innovators is error recovery not failure avoidance. We're looking for resiliency and adaptability." Wow, how many places think like this? I mean really think this way and not just pay the lip service. Not many trust me. It's so great to see a hugely successful organization express this attitude out loud and really mean it.

What Pixar has realized is that a great predictor of innovation is mastery of something. It could be mastery of anything. The important thing is the personality that goes along with mastery. It's that sense of "I'm going to get to the top of that mountain" that you can use in your enterprise. It's called depth. Nelson goes on to say that given the fast pace of business these days, there's very little chance that people are going to achieve mastery on the job. You want them to be masters coming in the door.

Another predictor of success is breadth. No one-trick ponies. We want to find people with lots of experiences (not necessarily "experience"). People with a breadth of experiences are deeply interested in many things. My favorite quote from Nelson: "We're looking for people who are interested...not interesting." Interested is tough, interesting is easy. Interested is a real skill. If you say "I've got a problem", interested people lean in. They amplify you. They want to know what YOU want to know.

The notion of breadth leads to Nelson's third predictor, communication. Another awesome quote, especially for all of you developers and techies out there: "Communication involves translation." If you just emit tech, nobody really hears you. The translation gets pushed to the receiving end of the conversation and gets garbled. Do the translation at the SENDING end so that it doesn't have to be done at the receiving end and the listener can say, "I understand". So, no non-communicative techies! Nelson says that "Communication is not something the emitter can measure." You can't declare yourself as articulate or a good communicator...only your listener can. People who are interested are more likely to view communication as a destination rather than as a source. Nelson postulates that breadth and a broad range of experiences is the thing that fuels that. To me, this notion of communication as a destination not a source is extremely crucial to the success of teams comprised of so many different skillsets and levels of technical expertise.

According to Nelson though, the most important predictor of success and innovation is collaboration. But what is collaboration? Real collaboration? It's not cooperation. We've been conditioned to jump to this answer very quickly. We all think "We have to cooperate to get our jobs done. That's collaboration." But, all this really means is we're not getting in each other's way. Nelson says that the things that get done in a cooperative enterprise could, in effect, all be done by one person if we had enough time and resources. He says that there is nothing in a cooperative workplace that job one does that can make job two better. Job one can prevent job two from getting done, but there's nothing job one can do to make job two better. Collaboration is not a synonym for cooperation.

So what does collaboration mean if it's not about cooperation? Nelson says that collaboration for Pixar means AMPLIFICATION. It means connecting a group of individuals that are INTERESTED in each other, that bring separate DEPTH to the problem and that bring a BREADTH that gives them interest in the entire solution. And most importantly, it allows them to COMMUNICATE on multiple different levels: verbally, in writing, feeling, acting, pictures. In all of these ways, Nelson says:

"They find the most articulate way to get a high fidelity notion across to a broad range of people so they can each pull on the right lever."

I absolutely love this definition of collaboration and it's all rooted in a collective vision that everyone understands and can relate to.

After listening to Nelson walk through these four points with passion and enthusiasm, it's no wonder why Pixar has been immensely successful in their endeavors. After a little digging and emailing, I found that indeed, Pixar's HR department uses all four of these predictors for the basis of their hires. They don't just look at a candidate's experience or resume. In a 2006 New York Times interview, Nelson said:

"The problem with the Hollywood model is that it’s generally the day you wrap production that you realize you’ve finally figured out how to work together," Mr. Nelson said. "We’ve made the leap from an idea-centered business to a people-centered business. Instead of developing ideas, we develop people. Instead of investing in ideas, we invest in people. We’re trying to create a culture of learning, filled with lifelong learners. It’s no trick for talented people to be interesting, but it’s a gift to be interested. We want an organization filled with interested people."

The things Nelson describes are intangible, you can't write them down. But when you talk with and work with people who possess these traits, you know who they are right away. And they're the kind of people you want on your team. Give me 10 people like this over 100 people with years of experience and you can do incredible things.

Are you listening?

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:05:30 PST

"Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the gods." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Maybe we can learn an awful lot from Emerson's words. And maybe we can apply these words on a less ethereal level. Let us be silent that we may hear each other. As executives, managers, mentors, and team members our silence can be an incredibly powerful tool. Sure, I like to write a lot about presentations and speaking, but sometimes, allowing silence to fill the room allows for other voices to be heard. Important voices. Those of your staff, your peers, your teammates.

I think that today, it has become commonplace to value the sound of our voice and our own opinions over those of others. Most people want to be heard more than they want to listen to others. We do it in meetings, on our blogs, on Twitter. It's all about us isn't it? Well, not if you want to be really successful. By quieting our anxious voices and letting silences exist in our daily conversations and meetings, we allow others to be heard and to fill our own world with new information. It allows us to widen our world view. We gain insights we wouldn't have if we didn't take the time be quiet and listen.

This skill, or rather, this discipline is really important for managers. In an article for StickyMinds, Esther Derby once wrote:

"In a social situation, a 50/50 balance between talking and listening feels comfortable. But management conversations are different. Managers need to understand how people are working, and where they need help. Managers need to understand the status of work, risks, and obstacles. 30 percent talking and 70 percent listening is a more appropriate balance for management conversations."
I think Esther hit on the head in her statement. As managers, we should be listening more than speaking. Now, that doesn't mean you wait around for others to say something. You have to engage people to get them talking, and that means asking questions instead of dictating answers. When you ask your questions, allow silence to fill the space to allow the conversation to breath naturally instead of forcing and rushing answers.

By using silence and increasing your listening skills, you can help create a dynamic, innovative environment. If people don't think their ideas are heard or accepted, they'll stop presenting them, effectively reducing your team's knowledge base and innovative ideas. You want to open the space up to allow innovative ideas to flow, and by talking less and listening more, you can do it. And if you're still more concerned with your own success than that of your team, here's a nugget for you too, a key trait of the most influential people is facility with listening and understanding another's perspective. So, maybe it's time we all started talking a bit less and started listening more.

So, how do you start listening better? Here's some great advice from Jamie Walters, the founder and Chief Vision & Strategy Officer at Ivy Sea, Inc. in San Francisco, CA.

Be present

Resist distractions (noises, interruptions, fidgeting, prejudices, etc.).
Don't do five things at once. Do one: listen to the person with whom you're speaking.
Demonstrate your full attention by leaning forward slightly, focusing your eyes on the speaker's face, and trying not to fidget or glance away too frequently.
Follow the golden rule. Take a moment to realize that every person is important and deserves your attention. How does it feel to talk with someone who doesn't seem to be listening, or be ignored or treated disrespectfully?

Bracket

Keep an open mind and be flexible to others' ideas; release your need to be right, if only temporarily. Our need to be right can cause us to be contentious, or even inflammatory.
Don't tune out because you disagree. You just have to listen and understand, not agree.
Don't jump to conclusions before you've heard the whole message.
If you find yourself reacting to what another person says, your body language will communicate your reaction. Try saying, "You can probably see I'm reacting a bit, but it's important to me to understand your point of view. Please tell me more about ?"

Reframe

Ensure your understanding by saying something like, "I want to make sure I understood you correctly. You're saying ?" or "So your concern (or idea) is ?"

Is improv the key to innovative teams?

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:11:12 PST

According to Webster's Dictionary the word improvise means

"to compose, recite, play, or sing extemporaneously; to make, invent, or arrange offhand; to make or fabricate out of what is conveniently on hand."

I actually prefer the definition of improvisation that Wikipedia provides though. According to Wikipedia, improvisation is

"the practice of acting and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of ones immediate environment. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols and/or new ways to act. This invention cycle occurs most effectively when the practitioner has a thorough intuitive or technical understanding of the necessary skills and concerns within the improvised domain."

Wow, now that's a definition! But what I love about this definition is that it recognizes the link between the response to the immediate environment and the invention of new thought patterns. In short, it recognizes that improvisation and innovation are intimately linked.

Most people associate improv with acting or comedy. But, you don't have to be an actor or a comedian to apply improvisation to your work. In fact, I think there is more opportunity for improvisation in the professional world than most people think. Gary LaBranche of the Association Forum of Chicagoland says:

"Board meetings and committee meetings, dialogue with colleagues and other everyday situations give professionals plenty of opportunities for improvisational responses. Improv is all about adapting to constant change and unexpected situations, which is familiar territory for most professionals."

I think Gary's statement is right on the money. We have more opportunities to use improv as professionals than we realize. In fact, a few weeks ago, I wrote about Pixar and their use of improv in their creative process. Pixar boils down their use of improv to two essential principles:

Accept every offer. You don’t know where that offer is going to go. But one thing is for sure: If you don’t accept that offer, it’s going nowhere! So you have a sure thing on one hand: a dead end. And you have possibility on the other.
Make you partner look good. That means that everybody on your team is going to try to make you look good and vice versa. It’s about saying “Here’s where I’m starting. What can I do with this?”.

I think Pixar was able to break down their use of Improv into these two principles because of their long, shared experience with improv. I like these two essentials principles of improvisation for innovation, but wanted to expand on a few other principles for teams and organizations that are just starting to experiment or have never used improv before. So, to add to Pixar's principles, I would advise those new at improv think about these as well:

Keep questioning what works. Good is the enemy of great. When something is really awful, we know we need to fix it, and we usually do. But when something is good, we settle. We don't necessarily think about how we can make it better. So, take a look at what you do everyday. Consider the things that are good and ask yourself or your team "Can this be better?"
Be a risk taker and take chances. Sure, you can do things the way you've always done it. And you'll probably get predictable results and that might be good enough for you. But if you want to be innovative, you need to break through barriers, take risks, take chances. You may not always be successful when you take chances, but if you don't, you won't ever have the chance to really innovate. The most innovative companies and creative people have failed more than they have succeeded. But, when they did succeed, it's been with market-changing and world-changing innovations.
Always be changed by what is said and what happens. Innovative people and innovative teams always uncover new information. But more than uncovering new information, they learn to react to that new information. Instead of locking up when change comes along, these innovative people let that change inspire new ideas and let what unfolds next guide them on. They welcome and thrive on change. And they allow themselves to be changed. They have the beginner's mind and are always able to learn and change.
Create shared, dynamic plans and agendas. The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry right? We've all heard that a thousand times before. So, why stick to a plan that is going awry? The answer...DON'T. Abandon them to serve the reality of what is right there in front of you. That's right, ABANDON them. Let your plans and agendas emerge in real-time in response to what's right there in front of you.
Be fully present and engaged. So, you get your team to abandon static, concrete plans. You've gotten out of planning and into being. But, this comes with a caveat. To do this, your team has to be completely engaged and have their attention completely focussed. You have to always be ready and able to ask the question "Yes and?". You have to be engaged and present to always be asking this question.
Keep moving forward. When you're constantly in the flow of improv and innovation, you can't stop to analyze. It slows you down and stifles creativity. When something unexpected happens, take advantage of this new situation and move forward with it. If something goes wrong, learn the lesson and move forward. The whole idea is to keep moving forward. The road behind you is not the road that leads to innovation. Keep moving forward.
Understand the good of the whole. When you personally understand what is good for the whole, you have a deeper understanding of when to hang back, when to grab the reigns and how to grab them, and how to support the other members of your team. When the whole team has this attitude and understanding, it creates a truly collaborative, improvisational environment.
Lose control. We don't want anyone on our team to be the star or orchestrator. We want to make sure that no one gets into the "controlling mind". As soon as one person assumes control or seeks the spotlight, the creativity, improv, and innovation of the team suffers. We need to lose the control aspect of the team and allow everyone to respond to the moment.
Self-organize. Creativity is naturally a self organizing system. Teams that allow themselves to explore and play find this self-organization with ease. The team may set some very basic guidelines of play, but once they do, their roles and organization emerge naturally and creativity flourishes. This type of self-organization allows all kinds of things to be possible.

From my own personal experience, the most innovative teams I've ever worked on embraced these basic principles of improv. In fact, a few years ago, I worked on a truly creative, innovative team. That team always asked the question "What else can we do with this?". We opened our minds to all possibilities. There were many times we said, "We've never done this before". Often, we had no idea how the idea would play out. But we always accepted the offer to see where it would go. Sometimes we failed. But, we learned and moved on. And, when we were successful, we produced some of the most innovative software the mapping world had ever seen. I don't think we ever tried to be improvisational or purposely forced these improv principles. It emerged naturally on a team full of incredible talent with no egos, and I think that made all the difference in the world.

The Benjamin Experience: Not your average satisfaction gaurantee

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:15:20 PST

If you don’t sleep as well at The Benjamin Hotel as you do at home, Andy Labetti, General Manager for The Benjamin, will give you a free night’s stay. A good night’s sleep is non-negotiable. The Benjamin’s ‘Sleep Guarantee’ ensures that everyone who stays at the hotel walks away well rested or gets their money back. If a guest is dissatisfied with his or her sleep at The Benjamin, all they need to do is contact the front desk, and the hotel will refund the cost of their night’s stay.

And those aren't just some words slapped on a hotel brochure. The Benjamin has gone to extraordinary lengths to back up the guarantee of a good night’s rest in New York, “the city that never sleeps.”

Andy told me "The Benjamin sells a good night’s sleep, and we guarantee each guest’s comfort by providing anticipatory services, such as remembering a pillow preference and having it waiting in the room upon check-in. We've also implemented a number of innovative initiatives, including our Sleep Concierge, a 12-choice pillow menu, our sleep guarantee and a variety of other sleep-inducing amenities through room service and our Wellness Spa. We always provide caring and genuine service with an innkeeper’s mentality to make every guest feel like their comfort and needs are our top priority, and we center everything the hotel does around following through on these expectations."

In fact, three days before a guest is scheduled to arrive, the staff advises him or her of the pillow menu so that the pillow will be in the room when the guest arrives. The menu is amazing. It offers guests a selection of 12 different types of pillows from which to choose: down, upper body, buckwheat, satin, hypo-allergenic, water-filled, Swedish memory, magnetic therapy, a jelly neckroll, a five-foot body cushion, sound, maternity and a special anti-snore pillow. In addition to the pillows, the hotel features The Benjamin Bed: a Serta mattress created exclusively for The Benjamin, covered with 100% Egyptian Cotton 400-plus thread count sheets by Anichini and a down-filled comforter with luxurious triple sheeting. (The pillows, sheets, and mattresses have become so popular that they are now offered for sale for guests who want to sleep as well at home as they do at The Benjamin!) Aromatherapy bathroom amenities help guests relax and prepare for bed. In addition to the luxurious sleep amenities, The Benjamin’s windows are double-glazed with argon gas between the panes to help keep rooms quiet and restful. If you've ever slept in a midtown Manhattan hotel, you know how important that is!

When I asked Andy about The Benjamin's edgecrafted marketing strategy, he told me "We realized that the number one productivity tool for today’s travelers wasn’t a laptop or Blackberry – it’s a good night’s sleep. The Benjamin is an innovator in the hospitality industry by recognizing that niche and being the first hotel to offer a 12-choice pillow menu and an on-staff Sleep Concierge to satisfy guest’s needs for a perfect night’s sleep." He went on to say that "We are continually educating our staff so all associates know the latest sleep tips and breaking research in the sleep industry. Sleep intertwines throughout the whole culture at The Benjamin – from the sleep-inducing food we serve to the in-room soothing amenities and services we offer to the soothing sounds and smells that are infused throughout the property."

I love that Andy said "Sleep intertwines throughout the whole culture at The Benjamin". Culture, in addition to the unique services offered, is what seems to set The Benjamin apart. And that culture includes listening not only to their guests, but to their staff as well. "As an organization, it’s our culture to include our staff in all new ideas and innovations that we bring into The Benjamin," Andy said. "We talk to our associates about what ideas they might have that we could implement so everyone is involved in the continuing development of the hotel and shares the responsibility to make sure it comes to fruition. As an example, when we introduce a new pillow, everyone has a chance to test it so they learn what the benefits are in case a guest asks them to recommend something for a specific ailment The Benjamin staff prides itself on the satisfaction scores we receive from past guests, and we are always working as a team to make sure we are continuing to raise those scores across the board." Key point: Continuous improvement through teamwork and collaboration.

The Benjamin also actively collects feedback from their guests through one-on-one discussions and by hosting weekly managers’ receptions. No "How did we do?" cards here. They also put outside focus groups together for new ideas, and have staff meetings twice a month to talk about the future of The Benjamin. They discuss not only what’s happening inside The Benjamin, but also what other hotel companies are doing and how the hospitality industry is developing overall.

Now that's edgecraft! That's setting yourself up to be remarkable. A lot of hotels offer a "100% Satisfaction Guarantee", but how many go to the lengths that The Benjamin does to actually make sure that their guests are satisfied. If you're going to offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee to your customers, think about what The Benjamin does and ask yourself "Am I offering just words and hoping for the best, or am I actively doing something to make sure my customers are satisfied 100%?"

Innovative design is simple

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:21:35 PST

What makes an innovation successful? What makes it have great impact? What makes it so successful that we don't even notice it's ubiquity? One word: SIMPLICITY. No one seemed to understand this better in the last half-century than Charles Harrison. Charles Harrison is not exactly a household name. But you know him. Well, you know his products. But, the products he designed have become so ubiquitous that you probably don't even think about them. Plastic garbage bins, the Fisher-Price View-Master, Craftsman power tools, lawn mowers, hair dryers, toasters...the list in practically endless. Harrison was an industrial product designer for the Sear Roebuck Company from 1961 to 1993. During that time he designed over 750 products that Americans and people worldwide came to know and use on a regular basis.

Harrison's secret to his success was his adherence to a simple design axiom: "If it doesn't do what it's supposed to do or look like what it does, then I frown on it. I don't think a nutcracker needs to look like an elephant". Harrison wanted to make things that fit in rather than stood out. And sometimes, that is what makes an innovation truly successful. When something is so easy to use or fits in with a workflow so well, you never even notice it...but you grow to the point where you can't even think about it not being there. Take Harrison's extremely innovative plastic garbage bin design, about which Harrison said in his book A Life's Design , "When that can hit the market, it did so with the biggest bang you never heard. Everyone was using it, but few people paid close attention to it". Think about it: When was the last time you used a metal garbage can?

So, whether you're designing garbage bins, hair dryers, and toasters or the next generation of software or hardware, consider the words of Charles Harrison "If it doesn't do what it's supposed to do or look like what it does, then I frown on it". The next time you're considering adding that little bell or whistle, think twice and consider if you really need it or not. In other words, make sure there is nothing superfluous about what you're designing. Your users will thank you for it. Or even better yet, they won't even notice it.

NOTE: Charles Harrison was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

Conformity, innovation, and progress

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:27:21 PST

In the 1950's, Solomon Asch, conducted a series of experiments designed to understand the phenomenon we know as conformity. In his experiments, a group of participants were seated around a table and asked to examine a series of vertical lines. They were then asked to tell the group which vertical line, A, B, or C, matched the test line. The vertical line series looked very similar to these:

The catch was that all of the participants except one were confederates of Dr. Asch. The confedeates gave the correct answer for the first few trials, but then all began to give the incorrect answer in subsequent trials. Amazingly, the test subject began giving the same incorrect answers as the confederates. In fact, overall, after 18 trials, 36.8% of the answers given by the ‘real' participants were incorrect, effectively conforming to the wrong answers given by the unanimous confederates. Only 25% never gave a false answer, therefore showing that 75% conformed at least once. The results show a surprisingly strong tendency to conform under group pressure, even in cases when the answer is clear.

How does this inform us? When we're working on teams, we need to be cognizant of this study. We need to be vigilant against conformity and group steering. It can be extremely detrimental to continuous improvement. If one person on a team has an opinion that is different from every other team member, this tendency towards conformity may have a chilling effect on their ability to communicate a problem with the team. This applies to estimating as well. If teams estimate in an open manner, differing opinions can potentially be quashed. That's why I believe planning poker is such an effective method for estimating with teams.

But, there is hope. Asch was very disturbed by the results of his experiment. He said, "That we have found the tendency to conformity in our society so strong... is a matter of concern. It raises questions about our ways of education and about the values that guide our conduct." Some time later, Asch conducted his experiments again. This time, when every one of the confederates voted for the wrong answer, one stood up and said "That's wrong!". The test subject then easily identified the correct answer. Adding one supporting partner greatly diminished the power of the majority. Hope!

One voice of dissent enabled another to be heard. Is that all it takes on our teams, in our society to make a difference? One voice to say "That's wrong"? I believe so. But I also believe that on a deeper level, we need to create environments on our teams, in our organizations, and in our society where people do not have to feel pressured to conform. People should be able to think freely and express their views without being hindered by the majority rule. This freedom to disagree is where all progress, creativity, and innovation comes from. I love the fact that the results show that the 25% of subjects who never gave wrong answers were not susceptible to conformity. That makes me very happy. There is hope that not everyone around us is likely to conform to the majority opinion.

Beaujolais Nouveau: Edgecrafted wine

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:30:32 PST

Go to any wine shop this week and you are bound to find them announcing "Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé" ("the Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived"). Step inside and you'll find countless cases of colorfully labeled bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau displayed prominently. Yes, it's that time of year again! On the third Thursday of November, the official release date chosen by the French government, wine stores around the world celebrate the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau. And, it's a marketing blitz like no other in the wine world. American and Japanese wine enthusiasts in particular look forward to this day with anticipation and are often waiting in line to get the first bottles of the latest Nouveau vintage.

A bit about Beaujolais Nouveau. The wine is made from grapes that were still on the vine just three short months ago (hence the "nouveau" or "new" label). It's fruity, it's light, and it goes really well with holiday meals, especially turkey. It's made from 100% gamay grapes from the Burgundy region in France. It's a relatively inexpensive wine, usually selling for about $10.00 U.S. per bottle. But, truth be told, Beaujolais Nouveau is actually the lowest wine in the Beaujolais hierarchy. I'm not a wine snob, that's just the truth. It was historically a low volume wine and was not highly regarded by most wine experts. So how did this lowly wine become so popular and inspire such a frenzy on the third Thursday of November?

A little history lesson in Beaujolais Nouveau. In France, Beaujolais Nouveau was originally produced so that local wine-growers and their friends could celebrate the end of the Beaujolais harvest. Until World War II, it was sold for local consumption only. In 1951, the French government relaxed their distribution laws and set an official release date of November 15 for the young Beaujolais and declared it Beaujolais Nouveau. In the early 1970's, George DuBouef saw some big marketing potential in Beaujolais Nouveau. It was an accessible and easy drinking wine that most people could enjoy. But he saw more than that. He saw a way to clear lots of ordinary wine at a good profit, very close to the time it was harvested. It was a great cash flow equation. So, in the 1970's, DuBouef helped start a race to deliver the first bottles of Nouveau to Paris. It generated a ton of buzz and attention and became a national event. In time, the buzz spread to the U.S. and the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau became a heralded event. In 1985, DuBouef and others had the release date changed to the third Thursday in November, just 1 week before the American Thanksgiving holiday. This whipped up the frenzy even further and helped make Nouveau become THE wine to serve at holiday dinners in the U.S. In fact, the Washington Post has stated that "because Beaujolais Nouveau is released annually on the third Thursday of November -- exactly one week before Thanksgiving -- the two have become as inextricably linked as Champagne and New Year's Eve." DuBouef and several other notable Beaujolais negociants have since promoted Beaujolais Day heavily, creating what is probably the biggest one-day marketing event in the wine world.

Global sales of Beaujolais Nouveau reached a peak at 62 million bottles in 1998, making Beaujolais Nouveau one of France's best-selling wines ever. And, instead of being a wine sold only for local consumption, Beaujolais Nouveau is now exported to over 107 countries worldwide. DuBoeuf, the man behind the magic of Beaujolais, has led the way and is by and far the leader in Beaujolais sales. It's been an incredible ride for a simple wine and for Georges DuBoeuf thanks to some serious edgecraft marketing. So, marketing frenzy or not, I'm heading out to pick up a few bottles of Georges DuBoeuf's Beaujolais Nouveau for my family's Thanksgiving Day celebration...it's become sort of a tradition for us. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!

For more info on Beaujolais Nouveau, check out the Beaujolais Nouveau website here.

Releasing buggy software intentionally

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:39:51 PST

Are software companies knowingly releasing buggy, defect-ridden software intentionally? In the words of Sarah Palin, "You betcha!" I'm not saying that they release bad software with malice. It's more about the cost equation associated with fixing the defects. I was talking with Tom Poppendieck at the ADP Conference last week and here's how he explains the costs associated with fixing defects:
Fix it now: The effort to fix a defect as soon as your developer types the wrong code is pressing Ctrl-Z (UNDO!). Cost is essentially ZERO. And if you're pair programming, you're very likely to catch the defect at this point.
We'll fix it next week: The cost of fixing a defect one week after it happens is a fix on the incorrect code, plus the time refactoring one week of code developed on top of the bad code. Probably not too much, we're talking about a few hours max.
We'll fix it at the end of our iteration: The cost of fixing the defect after a two-week iteration is probably about twice as much as after one week. Cost is up to one day.
Don't worry, we'll get to it later, we don't have enough QA budget for it now: Here we are 6 months later at the release date. The cost of fixing one error in the code is now exponential if you have to refactor 6 months of code based on the initial defect. Cost: Potentially HUGE!

Now, imagine you're one of the bean-counting managers when it's time to release the buggy software. Here's your argument: "What! We have a ton of fixes to do? Marketing already ran the ads announcing the release date! We have to beat Foo, Inc. to market on this or we're dead in the water! Plus, it's going to cost us way too much to fix everything now! We have no choice, release it now, we'll fix it later"

Fast forward to your customers using your new buggy software. They're disappointed. They start ripping your product (and maybe even you) on their blogs. Word gets out, your stuff sucks! You do your best to put out patches and service packs. It doesn't matter, word of mouth has spread the bad news, your product still sucks!

Now ask yourself, was it worth it. Releasing low quality software based on the argument above makes no sense. Your company probably lost market share to Foo, Inc. even though you beat them to release because of the bad press. And you still had to spend the money to fix the defects through patches and service packs. By now, you're probably way in the hole, much worse than if you had taken the time and money to fix the defect when it happened or very shortly thereafter. I've already made the argument for the value of pair programming and continuous QA/testing, but it's worth repeating. Spend the money, spend the time, use your resources and build defect free software NOW! The longer you wait, the more it costs. And you may end up releasing buggy software intentionally, and that's the worst thing you can do. Maybe David Rice, author of Geekonomics: The Real Cost of Insecure Software, hit it on the head in his interview with PRI: We should start taxing buggy software. That would do the trick!

Using Agile to Increase Value in Tough Times

chris@edgehopper.com (Chris Spagnuolo) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 13:09:48 PST

It's budget season. The economy is in the tank. You know budget cuts are are on their way. How do you make sure your team and projects survive? Prove that agile increases value. That's exactly the message Richard Leavitt and Michael Mah presented this morning. But, to get your executives to keep your team and your funding, they don't really need to understand agile per se, they need to understand the financial value of agile. That's what they understand and care about. The numbers. So Richard and Michael gave the numbers and explained how to talk to the C-level when trying to show the advantages of agile development practices.

The main question: What are the documented financial returns of agile? Here are the 3 main financial impacts that your executives will understand:

IMPACT #1: Higher, faster ROI

It is rarely possible for traditional projects to return investments within a year. Executives are unwilling to fund projects with long ROI. Agile shows immediate ROI. Based on data from their study, Richard showed that traditional projects show about a 33% ROI after a year. The big risk in traditional projects: We never really know how we're doing because we haven't delivered anything at the beginning. The big question: When are we going to deliver? These projects self-fund only at the end of the project when they deliver...maybe.

Show how agile is different: Agile releases value immediately and incrementally. This has a dramatic effect on the ROI case. With agile, self-funding hits very early in the project and profitability hits very quickly. Overall, agile shows a 12X ROI versus only 33% on traditional projects. So, agile has a much higher ROI than traditional projects. Agile uses less income and hits profitability almost immediately. Your execs should like that!

IMPACT #2: Build less, deliver more

Waterfall projects cost 2X what they need to because we're building wasted functionality. We've all seen the Chaos Report and we know the numbers very well by now. The main Chaos Report number to know: 64% of features developed in traditional projects are rarely or ever used. Additionally, there is are 35%higher maintenance costs for life, as well as lower performance. This leads to wasted opportunity costs and key value is delayed.

To demonstrate the increases in the productivity of agile teams using Scrum, Richard showed details from Jeff Sutherland's IEEE Paper Magic Potion for Code Warriors. The study showed that the company Systematic Software Engineering went from CMMI Level 1 to CMMI Level 5 and showed a 31% decrease in effort by the efficiencies they gained. Next, the team moved to Scrum. By going to Scrum, they reduced effort by 65% compared to their effort at CMMI Level 1. The effort figure includes total work, rework and project focus. Overall, Scrum showed a 50% cut in rework, 80% cut in cost, and a 40% cut in defects. This translated into a 100% increase in productivity. As a result, they now double their price for clients who require a phased approach.

IMPACT #3:

Agile productivity gains let you do more with less. Large companies and their execs want specific metrics, not survey results to prove the impact of a process. QSMA and Michael Mah have the metrics. They have a benchmarked comparison of 29 Agile projects from very large companies like CNET, Accuro Healthcare, HomeAway, Moody's, and BMC Software. They compared these agile projects to a database of historic data from traditional projects that QSM had studied.

To provide the best index of productivity, QSMA uses this equation: Productivity Index = Size/(Time*Effort), where Size= the number stories, lines of code, and defects, Time=Calendar months, and Effort=Person-months.

To illustrate the benefits, Michael showed stats from BMC Software. BMC delivered in 5.25 months what comparable traditional teams and projects delivered in 1 year with 1/4 of the defects of traditional project teams.

Overall, the 29 projects QSMA studied showed that compared to traditional teams, agile teams have 37% faster time to market. Short iterations and feedback loops in agile are the source of this benefit. Agile teams also showed 16% productivity gains over traditional teams. That means that agile teams are doing more with less. And with 1/4 of the expected defects. Despite shortening schedules by more than 50%, defects remained steady, about 1/4 of what was expected compared to trad projects.

So, if your execs are putting your agile team under pressure, give them a few of these facts and help them understand the value of agile.