THE AGILE FORMULA: BUILDING A DIGITAL NATIVE

BUSINESSNEIL PERKIN

FOUNDER, ONLY DEAD FISH

AGILITY = (VELOCITY X FOCUS X

FLEXIBILITY)

VELOCITY

"The most interesting tech companies aren’t trying to sell software to other companies. They are trying to reshape industries fromtop to bottom”Chris Dixon

The ‘Full-Stack’ Start-up

Source: Ofcom

‘The great management dilemma of the 21st century is the relationship between

these two curves: technology is changing faster than

organizations can absorb change.’

http://chiefmartec.com/2013/06/martecs-law-technology-changes-exponentially-organizations-change-logarithmically/

FOCUS

‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched

in the face’

…cash cows generated a smaller share of total profits (25% lower than in 1982), and were proportionately fewer, with the life span of this stage declining

BCGs Growth-Share matrix

1. Policy

2. Process

3. Systems

4. User

5. Stasis

1. Users

2. Service (re)design

3. System development

4. Policy check

5. Feedback

1. Start with needs 2. Do less 3. Design with data 4. Do the hard work to make it simple 5. Iterate. Then iterate again 6. Build for interaction 7. Understand context 8. Build digital services, not websites 9. Be consistent, not uniform 10. Make things open, it makes things better

New processOld process

Design principles

“Startups operate under conditions of extreme uncertainty.”

Eric Ries

"A big piece of the story we tell ourselves about who we are, is that we are willing to invent. We are willing to think long-term. We start with the customer and work backwards. And, very importantly, we are willing to be misunderstood for very long periods of time. I believe if you

don’t have that set of things in your corporate culture, then you can’t do large-scale invention."

‘Stubborn on vision, flexible on details’

‘Chess, like business, is a balance between the

mundane and the unthinkable’

‘Drink before you’re thirsty, eat before

you’re hungry’

Spotify – Tribes, Chapters, Squads

FLEXIBILITY

FASHIONISTAS DIGIRATI

BEGINNERS CONSERVATIVES

http://www.capgemini-consulting.com/the-digital-advantage/

AUTONOMY

MASTERY

'A policeman sees a drunk man searching for something under a streetlight and asks what the drunk has lost. He says he lost his keys and they both look under the streetlight together. After a few minutes the

policeman asks if he is sure he lost them here, and the drunk replies, no, and that he lost them in the park. The policeman asks why he is searching here, and the drunk replies, "this is where the light is."'

The tyranny of ‘best-practice’

http://mattfollows.com/W-K-Embrace-Failure

Jim Collins: Empirical Creativity

PURPOSE

“

The stronger the culture, the less process a company needs. When the culture is strong, you can trust everyone to do the

right thing. People can be independent and autonomous. They can be entrepreneurial. And if we have a company that

is entrepreneurial in spirit, we will be able to take our next ‘(wo)man on the moon’ leap. Brian Chesky

CUSTOMER-CENTRICDevelopment that is driven by customer need, orienting organizational structures, processes and strategies towards aligning a seamless customer experience.

ADAPTABLE AND AGILEA strong vision for where the company is going allied to an ability to adapt strategies, organize around opportunity and embrace uncertainty

CURIOSITY/CONTINUOUS LEARNINGHunger for continuous learning and improvement. Exploring, seeking mindset wanting to understand

TECHNOLOGY LITERATEUnderstanding the potential of, integration and application of technology to business

COMMERCIALLY-FOCUSED In the approach to strategies, prioritization, capability development and decision-making

INNOVATIVE/ENTREPRENEURIALWillingness to take risks, approaches to new ideas, a desire to find and solve customer problems, prioritisation of new initiatives

DATA/INSIGHT-DRIVENAdept in the use of data to drive decision-making, particularly in product development or prioritising investment

VISIONARYAbility to encapsulate, articulate and communicate a strong vision and demonstrate this through behaviours and decisions

OPEN/TRANSPARENTEmbracing transparency, no hidden agendas

Creating the culture to move fast

Vision

Vision

Vision

Vision

Vision

Action Plan

Action Plan

Action Plan

ActionPlan

Action Plan

Resources

Resources

Resources

Resources

Resources

Incentives

Incentives

Incentives

Incentives

Incentives

Skills

Skills

Skills

Skills

Skills

= Success

= Confusion

= False starts

= Frustration

= Resistance

= Anxiety

AGILITY = (VELOCITY X FOCUS X

FLEXIBILITY)

@neilperkinwww.onlydeadfish.co.uk