1. The document discusses when different methodologies like Lean, Agile, and Six Sigma are appropriate based on the evolutionary stage of a product from genesis to commodity. 2. It suggests that Agile is best suited for early stages when activities are uncharted and changing, while more structured methods work better once processes are standardized and repeatable. 3. The key to scaling methodologies like Agile and Lean is to continuously optimize revenue per employee by reducing waste, identifying growth opportunities, and adding resources to serve new demand.

1. @markusandrezak
@ueberproduct
http://www.ueberproduct.de
Putting Lean into
Product Management
When does it
make sense?

2. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Lean (in one pic, one of many versions)
Lean Enterprise Institute

3. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Product Management
Roman Pichler

4. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Life Cycle changes context
Growth Ascent MaturityR&D
Time
Changing context

5. 3 Horizons by Baghai, Coley, White
Horizon 1
0 - 12 months
Horizon 2
12 - 36 months
Horizon 3
36 - 72 months
Current business
Generate today’s
cash flow
High growth business
Today’s growth &
tomorrow’s cash flow
Options growth
Options on future
high growth business

6. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Horizon 1 = grow with the market
More of the same != hockey stick

7. The Knowledge
Funnel by
Roger L. Martin

8. Commodity
Product
Custom
Built
Ubiquity
NovelCommon
Certainty
DefinedUnknown
Demand
Supply
Genesis
Product Phases
Model:
Simon Wardley
Model by
Simon Wardley

9. Visibility
Evolution
Kontext determines method
Unknown
chaotic
insecure
unpredictable
unstable
different
exciting
future values
differentiating
Industrialised
ordered (linear)
known
measured
stable
standard
boring
small margin
essentiell
Genesis Custom built Product Utility
agile / in-house
strong weak
outsourced / six sigma
weak strong
Lean
Model by
Simon Wardley

10. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
A place for Agile / Lean
Uncharted activities & rapid change (due to their properties i.e. they're uncertain and we're
discovering them): Agile is the most appropriate method, as higher cost of change compared
to the requirements / design phase of a structured method, there will however be change
throughout the project's life.

11. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
A place for other …
When industrialised acts defined (Scaling), these should be well understood and highly
repeatable and thus are more effectively managed by a highly structured method because
change shouldn't exist and where it is necessary it should be eliminated in the requirement /
design phase. This leads to a situation where different methods e.g.Agile, Lean Production, Six
Sigma are suitable for different evolutionary stages

12. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
A place for just tools
When we are still discovering the value, the work is chaotic and none repeatable, even
looking for planned randomness.
Here we are looking for tools that are spontaneously applied, like customer interviews,
customer observation, ideation, story telling and other „creative“ techniques.

13. Visibility
Evolution
Kontext determines method
Unknown
chaotic
insecure
unpredictable
unstable
different
exciting
future values
differentiating
Industrialised
ordered (linear)
known
measured
stable
standard
boring
small margin
essentiell
Genesis Custom built Product Utility
Lean
outsourced / six sigma
weak strong
agile / in-house
strong weak
Model by
Simon Wardley
quality of method
none heavy

14. Visibility
Evolution
Kontext determines method
Unknown
chaotic
insecure
unpredictable
unstable
different
exciting
future values
differentiating
Industrialised
ordered (linear)
known
measured
stable
standard
boring
small margin
essentiell
Genesis Custom built Product Utility
Kanban
Model by
Simon Wardley
Scrum
e.g. Design Thinking
6 Sigma

15. Properties of work
Find area of
global optimumApproaching local optimum
Grinding towards
local optimum
Informed (big) bet Informed guessKnown
H1 H2 H3
Depth Speed & RawPrecision
Identify customer jobs qualitative data,
some
quantititive data,
lots of
good enough
solution
Identify problemsOptimize solution
new categoryIteration Paperware
N
o
„Flow
“
C
haotic
Stuttering
D
riven
Flow
/
Evolution

16. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Informed guessing:
Simulated annealing

17. ✸ ✸
✸
∼2567m
✸
✸ ✸
∼834m
✸
✸
✸
∼2834m
✸
✸ ✸
∼1234m
✸
✸✸
∼3534m
✸
✸✸
∼1847m
✸
✸✸
∼746m
✸
✸✸
✸

18. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
AI, Chip Design:
Randomness integral
part of optimization

19. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
But …

20. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”

21. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Scaling Agile & Lean

22. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Scaling = optimizing
Revenue / Headcount

23. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Google
Apple

24. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
IBM
P&G

25. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Productivity target for scaling
At least constant rev/employee

26. Standard situation
Find area of global optimum
Informed guesses
Approaching local optimum
Informed big bet
Grinding towards
local optimum
Known
H1 H2 H3

27. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Product Owners/Managers look out:
„I want more, I want it now“-Karma can
kill you!

28. Standard situation
Find area of global optimum
Informed guesses
Approaching local optimum
Informed big bet
Grinding towards
local optimum
Known
H1 H2 H3
Where Agile lives

29. How not to scale
Find area of global optimum
Informed guesses
Approaching local optimum
Informed big bet
Grinding towards
local optimum
Known
H1 H2 H3

30. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Revenue / Headcount:

31. Scaling
Find area of global optimum
Informed guesses
Approaching local optimum
Informed big bet
Grinding towards
local optimum
Known
H1 H2 H3
Reduce self harm
Identify growth opportunity
Place bet
Generate demand
Add people to serve demand

32. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”
Summary

33. Work on all 3 Horizons all the time
Finding area of global optimum
Informed guesses
Approaching local optimum
Informed big bet
Grinding towards
local optimum
Known
Depth
Speed
Precision
Hint:
A Kanban board itself
already expresses
the wish for order