If you spent any time in the lab as a high school student you would have had the scientific method of problem solving drilled into you; come up with a hypothesis, run your experiments, and check your assumptions against the end results. But whether you were experimenting with plant growth, a baking soda volcano or the genetics of the fruit…
CategoryBlog
How Product-Pairing can grow the next generation of Product Managers
Being an Agile Consultant, I get a unique insight into digital product development in many organisations, and how teams are structured during their agile journey. I was inspired to write this blog to distil why two specific teams, in their first agile attempt, were so successful compared to others I’ve worked with. I discovered the secret ingredient: two product managers…
Performance Data Science – Monolith Diagnostic
MYOB, a well known Australian company, built its business on accounting software that you could purchase in retail stores via floppy disc and later CD/DVD. Businesses would install the software on their local machines and use it to manage their accounts. In its earliest days, MYOB’s customers were largely small to medium enterprises – the software catered for key business…
The role of speed in innovation: gaining a competitive advantage
We know that successful innovation solves real problems, but in the battle between innovation and speed, which wins in creating a competitive advantage?
Start coaching new teams with STATIK
When you’re coaching a new team, it’s a good idea to begin with a comprehensive understanding of their work. But where — exactly — do you start? In this blog, I’ll go through how to apply STATIK to design a Kanban system, step-by-step. I’ll use a real story of a 5-member operations team responsible for supporting delivery teams with configuration…
Bimodal IT: how to allow for uncertainty in your business
In 1913, it took 12 hours to build a Model T car from start to finish. That is, until Henry Ford, inspired by the production methods he saw in local canneries and mills, introduced the world’s first moving assembly line. Car after car soon rolled off the production line within 2 hours, painted any colour you wanted, as long as…
Generate deeper customer insights from within your organisation
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” – Henry Ford. While the past few years have seen many businesses starting digital transformation projects with the aim of becoming more customer focused, 2018 is stacking up to be about building on this foundation by creating even more personalised customer experiences1. And for that, we…
Innovation: why not all failure is not created equal
You’re probably familiar with the phrase “fail faster, succeed sooner.” Which is all well and good, except no one likes to be the one to fail. Morning WIPs where all eyes are on you and you have to admit to disappointing results, or the risk of missing out of an end of year bonus because of a decision taken months…
Creating avatars for your project team
Avatars are a great way to quickly communicate the status and current responsibility of work underway.
Impact Mapping for Business Outcomes
Elabor8 Senior Consultant, Daniel Schrader provides an overview of how to get started with Impact Maps.
How data democracy creates a customer-centric organisation
“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” – W. Edwards Deming We’ve all been there. That meeting, where the big decisions are being made. Someone may have presented a graph or two, but you already know what the outcome will be and what influenced the decision. The person with the loudest voice, the strongest opinion, the best relationships.…
Reasons why large companies are becoming agile
Not so long ago, if you wanted to find a business, you didn’t use Google or Facebook, you turned to the White and Yellow Pages, produced by Telstra’s advertising and search arm Sensis. At the time, Sensis was a massive online directory that saw itself as a legitimate local competitor to Google. In 2005, at a time when Sensis’s rapid…