Zach Nies, Techstars , @zachnies Rachel Weston Rowell, CA Technologies , @RachelAWeston You know that Lean Startup techniques have helped your company move forward, and you know your competitors are successfully using those same techniques. To stay ahead of the competition, you need to find new ways to accelerate your company. The key is to use Lean to balance exploration and operation within your company. In this experience report, Zach Nies and Rachel Weston Rowell will share techniques and stories from startups to large organizations that have accelerated their growth by applying Lean thinking to how they operate their company and how they explore through uncertainty.

1. Accelerate Beyond The Lean Startup

2. @RachelAWeston
Rachel Weston Rowell
@zachnies
Zach Nies

3. The Lean Startup applied a very small
subset of Lean to high uncertainty
environments. There is so much more
from Lean that can be used to
accelerate your business.

4. Lean for Startups
Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
or
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust

5. Stay ahead of the competition by applying Lean thinking to how you
operate your company and how you explore through uncertainty.

6. Experience Report

7. Lean for Startups
Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
orcoherence
Energy
alignment
obstacles
opportunities
unknowns
risks
Integrate learning
daily
Integrate learning
Monthly
Integrate learning
Monthly
Integrate learning
quarterly
Progress
Learning
Learning
Learning
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust
Focus
Experiments
Improvements
Tactics
Accelerate with Lean

8. Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
or
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust

9. Think back to a very difficult week and that feeling of getting out of bed and off to work out of pure
obligation.
Recall a hire you made who had great skills, but just didn’t “fit in.”
Picture a meeting where the decision making was all over the place.
Look back on that company meeting where it wasn’t clear at all where the company was headed.

10. Why do these situations exist?

11. CompanyOperatingSystemCompany:
date:
Corepurpose
Yourcorepurposeisthereasonyourcompanyexists.Itshould
capturethemotivationbehindtheworkyoudo.Itshouldinspire
yourworkwhilebeingbeyondachievement.
Doesthispurposeinspireyou?Areyouproudtobepartofthis
purpose?100yearsfromnow,willitstillinspire?doesthis
purposehelpyouimaginepossibleopportunitiesoutsideofyour
currentsituation?Doesthispurposehelpyouunderstandwhat
opportunitiesyouwon’tpursueinthefuture?Howwillacynic
respondtothispurpose?
Corevalues
Yourcorevaluesaretheessentialandenduringsharedbeliefs.Thesebeliefsaresofundamentalandstronglyheldthattheywill
oftengounchangedformanydecades.
Wouldthesevaluesmakesenseoutsideyourcurrentcontext?Wouldyouwantfuturegenerationstolivebythesecorevalues?
Wouldyouhonorthesevalueseveniftheybecameacompetitivedisadvantage?Willyouhireandfirebasedonthesevalues?Would
youquitbeforecompromisinganyofthesevalues?Ifyoucreatedanewcontext,wouldithavethesevalues?
guidingheuristics
Guidingheuristicsestablishacommonapproachtodecisionmakingthatcreatesaligneddecisions.theheuristicsshouldgiveclear,concise,high-levelguidanceaboutwhattodoandwhatnottodo.Think
oftheseaslongstandingmantrasthatwillguidethedecisionsyoumake.Theheuristicsshouldbecoherentwitheachother,thepowerisinthewhole,nottheparts.
Aretheseheuristicsspecificenoughtoguideyourthinkingandgeneralenoughtostandthetestoftime?Dotheseheuristicshelpyouturnstrategyintoaction?Dotheseheuristicsprovidedecision
makingclarityindependentofthesituationsurroundingthedecision?Doyoubelieveintheheuristicstothepointwhereyouwillletthemguideyouingoodtimesandinbadtimes?
AudaciousGoal
AnAudaciousgoalisahugeanddauntingchallengeexpressedasa
clearandcompellinggoal.
IsthegoalSMART(specific,measurable,achievable,relevantand
time-bound)?Isthegoaleasytounderstandandremember?Willit
beastretchtoachievethisgoal?Doesthegoalinspireyouand
others?willachievingthegoalrequireimprovementandgrowth?
aspirationaldestination
AvisionclearlydescribeswhatitwillbeliketoachieveyourAudaciousGoal.
Isthevisionengagingenoughtocreatestrongemotionsforthoseinvolved?Isthevisionarticulatedinawaythatyoucanvividly
picturethisdestination?Doesthevisioninspireyoubypaintingthedestinationofagrandadventure?
Why: Our core beliefs
Create coherent behaviors through shared beliefs
How: Our guiding heuristics
Create coherent decisions through shared heuristics
What: Our aspirational destination
Create energy and alignment through a shared goal
Basedonworkdoneby:RallySoftware,JimCollins,simonsinek,andDavidSnowden

12. Company Operating System Company:
date:
Core purpose
Your core purpose is the reason your company exists. It should
capture the motivation behind the work you do. It should inspire
your work while being beyond achievement.
Does this purpose inspire you? Are you proud to be part of this
purpose? 100 years from now, will it still inspire? does this
purpose help you imagine possible opportunities outside of your
current situation? Does this purpose help you understand what
opportunities you won’t pursue in the future? How will a cynic
respond to this purpose?
Core values
Your core values are the essential and enduring shared beliefs. These beliefs are so fundamental and strongly held that they will
often go unchanged for many decades.
Would these values make sense outside your current context? Would you want future generations to live by these core values?
Would you honor these values even if they became a competitive disadvantage? Will you hire and fire based on these values? Would
you quit before compromising any of these values? If you created a new context, would it have these values?
guiding heuristics
Guiding heuristics establish a common approach to decision making that creates aligned decisions. the heuristics should give clear, concise, high-level guidance about what to do and what not to do. Think
of these as long standing mantras that will guide the decisions you make. The heuristics should be coherent with each other, the power is in the whole, not the parts.
Are these heuristics specific enough to guide your thinking and general enough to stand the test of time? Do these heuristics help you turn strategy into action? Do these heuristics provide decision
making clarity independent of the situation surrounding the decision? Do you believe in the heuristics to the point where you will let them guide you in good times and in bad times?
Why:Ourcorebeliefs
Createcoherentbehaviorsthroughsharedbeliefs
How:Ourguid
Createcoherentdecisions

13. guiding heuristics
Guiding heuristics establish a common approach to decision making that creates aligned decisions. the heuristics should give clear, concise, high-level guidance about what to do and what not to do. Think
of these as long standing mantras that will guide the decisions you make. The heuristics should be coherent with each other, the power is in the whole, not the parts.
Are these heuristics specific enough to guide your thinking and general enough to stand the test of time? Do these heuristics help you turn strategy into action? Do these heuristics provide decision
making clarity independent of the situation surrounding the decision? Do you believe in the heuristics to the point where you will let them guide you in good times and in bad times?
Audacious Goal
An Audacious goal is a huge and daunting challenge expressed as a
clear and compelling goal.
aspirational destination
A vision clearly describes what it will be like to achieve your Audacious Goal.
Is the vision engaging enough to create strong emotions for those involved? Is the vision articulated in a way that you can vividly
How:Ourguidingheuristics
Createcoherentdecisionsthroughsharedheuristics
What:Our
Createenergyand

14. Audacious Goal
An Audacious goal is a huge and daunting challenge expressed as a
clear and compelling goal.
Is the goal SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and
time-bound)? Is the goal easy to understand and remember? Will it
be a stretch to achieve this goal? Does the goal inspire you and
others? will achieving the goal require improvement and growth?
aspirational destination
A vision clearly describes what it will be like to achieve your Audacious Goal.
Is the vision engaging enough to create strong emotions for those involved? Is the vision articulated in a way that you can vividly
picture this destination? Does the vision inspire you by painting the destination of a grand adventure?
What:Ouraspirationaldestination
Createenergyandalignmentthroughasharedgoal
Based on work done by: Rally Software, Jim Collins, simon sinek, and David Snowden

20. Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
or
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust

21. Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
or
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust

22. Recall the time when asked, “what does your company do” and you only talked about the technology.
Look back on an argument you had about how to attract early customers.
Think about the meeting where for the fifth time you agreed on the sales strategy.

23. Why do these situations exist?

24. Gain Creators
Describe how your products and services create customer
gains.
How do they create benefits your customer expects, desires
or would be surprised by, including functional utility, social
gains, positive emotions, and cost savings?
Do they…
Create savings that make your customer happy?
(e.g. in terms of time, money and effort, …)
Produce outcomes your customer expects or
that go beyond their expectations?
(e.g. better quality level, more of something, less of
something, …)
Pain Relievers
Copy or outperform current solutions that delight
your customer?
(e.g. regarding specific features, performance, quality, …)
Make your customer’s job or life easier?
(e.g. flatter learning curve, usability, accessibility, more
services, lower cost of ownership, …)
Create positive social consequences that your
customer desires?
(e.g. makes them look good, produces an increase in power,
status, …)
Do something customers are looking for?
(e.g. good design, guarantees, specific or more features, …)
Fulfill something customers are dreaming about?
(e.g. help big achievements, produce big reliefs, …)
Produce positive outcomes matching your
customers success and failure criteria?
(e.g. better performance, lower cost, …)
Help make adoption easier?
(e.g. lower cost, less investments, lower risk, better quality,
performance, design, …)
Rank each gain your products and services create according to
its relevance to your customer. Is it substantial or insignificant?
For each gain indicate how often it occurs.
Describe how your products and services alleviate customer
pains. How do they eliminate or reduce negative emotions,
undesired costs and situations, and risks your customer
experiences or could experience before, during, and after
getting the job done?
Do they…
Produce savings?
(e.g. in terms of time, money, or efforts, …)
Make your customers feel better?
(e.g. kills frustrations, annoyances, things that give them
a headache, …)
Fix underperforming solutions?
(e.g. new features, better performance, better quality, …)
Put an end to difficulties and challenges your
customers encounter?
(e.g. make things easier, helping them get done, eliminate
resistance, …)
Wipe out negative social consequences your
customers encounter or fear?
(e.g. loss of face, power, trust, or status, …)
Eliminate risks your customers fear?
(e.g. financial, social, technical risks, or what could go
awfully wrong, …)
Help your customers better sleep at night?
(e.g. by helping with big issues, diminishing concerns, or
eliminating worries, …)
Limit or eradicate common mistakes customers
make?
(e.g. usage mistakes, …)
Get rid of barriers that are keeping your customer
from adopting solutions?
(e.g. lower or no upfront investment costs, flatter learning
curve, less resistance to change, …)
Rank each pain your products and services kill according
to their intensity for your customer. Is it very intense or
very light?
For each pain indicate how often it occurs. Risks your
customer experiences or could experience before, during,
and after getting the job done?
Products & Services
List all the products and services your value proposition is
built around.
Which products and services do you offer that help your
customer get either a functional, social, or emotional job
done, or help him/her satisfy basic needs?
Which ancillary products and services help your customer
perform the roles of:
Buyer
(e.g. products and services that help customers compare
offers, decide, buy, take delivery of a product or service, …)
Co-creator
(e.g. products and services that help customers co-design
solutions, otherwise contribute value to the solution, …)
Transferrer
(e.g. products and services that help customers dispose of
a product, transfer it to others, or resell, …)
Products and services may either by tangible (e.g. manufac-
tured goods, face-to-face customer service), digital/virtual
(e.g. downloads, online recommendations), intangible (e.g.
copyrights, quality assurance), or financial (e.g. investment
funds, financing services).
Rank all products and services according to their
importance to your customer.
Are they crucial or trivial to your customer?
Gains
Describe the benefits your customer expects, desires or would
be surprised by. This includes functional utility, social gains,
positive emotions, and cost savings.
Which savings would make your customer happy?
(e.g. in terms of time, money and effort, …)
What outcomes does your customer expect and what
would go beyond his/her expectations?
(e.g. quality level, more of something, less of something, …)
How do current solutions delight your customer?
(e.g. specific features, performance, quality, …)
Pains
Customer Job(s)
Describe negative emotions, undesired costs and situations,
and risks that your customer experiences or could experience
before, during, and after getting the job done.
What does your customer find too costly?
(e.g. takes a lot of time, costs too much money, requires
substantial efforts, …)
What makes your customer feel bad?
(e.g. frustrations, annoyances, things that give them a
headache, …)
How are current solutions underperforming
for your customer?
(e.g. lack of features, performance, malfunctioning, …)
What are the main difficulties and challenges
your customer encounters?
(e.g. understanding how things work, difficulties getting
things done, resistance, …)
What negative social consequences does your
customer encounter or fear?
(e.g. loss of face, power, trust, or status, …)
What risks does your customer fear?
(e.g. financial, social, technical risks, or what could go awfully
wrong, …)
What’s keeping your customer awake at night?
(e.g. big issues, concerns, worries, …)
What common mistakes does your customer make?
(e.g. usage mistakes, …)
What barriers are keeping your customer from
adopting solutions?
(e.g. upfront investment costs, learning curve, resistance
to change, …)
Rank each pain according to the intensity it represents for
your customer.
Is it very intense or is it very light.?
For each pain indicate how often it occurs.
Describe what a specific customer segment is trying to get
done. It could be the tasks they are trying to perform and
complete, the problems they are trying to solve, or the needs
they are trying to satisfy.
What functional jobs are you helping your customer
get done? (e.g. perform or complete a specific task, solve a
specific problem, …)
What social jobs are you helping your customer get
done? (e.g. trying to look good, gain power or status, …)
What emotional jobs are you helping your customer
get done? (e.g. esthetics, feel good, security, …)
What basic needs are you helping your customer
satisfy? (e.g. communication, sex, …)
Besides trying to get a core job done, your customer performs
ancillary jobs in different roles. Describe the jobs your
customer is trying to get done as:
Buyer (e.g. trying to look good, gain power or status, …)
Co-creator (e.g. esthetics, feel good, security, …)
Transferrer (e.g. products and services that help customers
dispose of a product, transfer it to others, or resell, …)
Rank each job according to its significance to your
customer. Is it crucial or is it trivial? For each job
indicate how often it occurs.
Outline in which specific context a job
is done, because that may impose
constraints or limitations.
(e.g. while driving,
outside, …)
What would make your customer’s job or life easier?
(e.g. flatter learning curve, more services, lower cost of
ownership, …)
What positive social consequences does your
customer desire?
(e.g. makes them look good, increase in power, status, …)
What are customers looking for?
(e.g. good design, guarantees, specific or more features, …)
What do customers dream about?
(e.g. big achievements, big reliefs, …)
How does your customer measure success and
failure?
(e.g. performance, cost, …)
What would increase the likelihood of adopting a
solution?
(e.g. lower cost, less investments, lower risk, better quality,
performance, design, …)
Rank each gain according to its relevance to your customer.
Is it substantial or is it insignificant? For each gain indicate
how often it occurs.
strategyzer.com
The Value Proposition Canvas
Value Proposition Customer Segment
The makers of Business Model Generation and Strategyzer
Copyright Business Model Foundry AG
Produced by: www.stattys.com
The Business Model Canvas
Revenue Streams
Channels
Customer SegmentsValue PropositionsKey ActivitiesKey Partners
Key Resources
Cost Structure
Customer Relationships
Designed by: Date: Version:Designed for:
designed by: Strategyzer AG
The makers of Business Model Generation and Strategyzer
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
strategyzer.com
What are the most important costs inherent in our business model?
Which Key Resources are most expensive?
Which Key Activities are most expensive?
is your business more
Cost Driven (leanest cost structure, low price value proposition, maximum automation, extensive outsourcing)
Value Driven (focused on value creation, premium value proposition)
sample characteristics
Fixed Costs (salaries, rents, utilities)
Variable costs
Economies of scale
Economies of scope
Through which Channels do our Customer Segments
want to be reached?
How are we reaching them now?
How are our Channels integrated?
Which ones work best?
Which ones are most cost-efficient?
How are we integrating them with customer routines?
channel phases
1. Awareness
How do we raise awareness about our company’s products and services?
2. Evaluation
How do we help customers evaluate our organization’s Value Proposition?
3. Purchase
How do we allow customers to purchase specific products and services?
4. Delivery
How do we deliver a Value Proposition to customers?
5. After sales
How do we provide post-purchase customer support?
For what value are our customers really willing to pay?
For what do they currently pay?
How are they currently paying?
How would they prefer to pay?
How much does each Revenue Stream contribute to overall revenues?
For whom are we creating value?
Who are our most important customers?
Mass Market
Niche Market
Segmented
Diversified
Multi-sided Platform
What type of relationship does each of our Customer
Segments expect us to establish and maintain with them?
Which ones have we established?
How are they integrated with the rest of our business model?
How costly are they?
examples
Personal assistance
Dedicated Personal Assistance
Self-Service
Automated Services
Communities
Co-creation
What Key Activities do our Value Propositions require?
Our Distribution Channels?
Customer Relationships?
Revenue streams?
categories
Production
Problem Solving
Platform/Network
What Key Resources do our Value Propositions require?
Our Distribution Channels? Customer Relationships?
Revenue Streams?
types of resources
Physical
Intellectual (brand patents, copyrights, data)
Human
Financial
Who are our Key Partners?
Who are our key suppliers?
Which Key Resources are we acquiring from partners?
Which Key Activities do partners perform?
motivations for partnerships
Optimization and economy
Reduction of risk and uncertainty
Acquisition of particular resources and activities
What value do we deliver to the customer?
Which one of our customer’s problems are we helping to solve?
What bundles of products and services are we
offering to each Customer Segment?
Which customer needs are we satisfying?
characteristics
Newness
Performance
Customization
“Getting the Job Done”
Design
Brand/Status
Price
Cost Reduction
Risk Reduction
Accessibility
Convenience/Usability
types
Asset sale
Usage fee
Subscription Fees
Lending/Renting/Leasing
Licensing
Brokerage fees
Advertising
fixed pricing
List Price
Product feature dependent
Customer segment
dependent
Volume dependent
dynamic pricing
Negotiation (bargaining)
Yield Management
Real-time-Market

40. Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
or
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust

41. Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
or
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust

42. Think about that time when you couldn’t sleep because all you could think about was everything that was
broken in your business.
Recall when you had 50 things you should be doing and you had no idea which one was the most
important.
Remember when you knew your business had a major issue, but all the detailed analysis didn’t fix it.

43. Why do these situations exist?

44. Level of UncertaintyLow High
DegreeofImpactLowHigh
Impact & Uncertainty Based on work done by Rally Software
Past example where the
solution was obvious to
everyone
Past example where you
had no time to think,
and you knew you had
to act immediately
Past example where an
expert, after some
analysis, knew how to
help you
Past example where the
data supported
multiple hypotheses
and only in hindsight
could you understand
the correct solution
background
Why does it matter that this problem be solved or improvement made?
Current Conditions
Describe the current situation, by including facts, data, figures, pictures, etc that demonstrate you’ve experienced the
situation first hand.
Goals and Targets
What is the desired future state? Describe what will improve, be specific.
Risks and Dependencies
What things may prevent you from making this improvement?
recommendations
What will circumvent the obstacles between you an your goals? Consider many options and rank them by viability, feasibility,
desirability and sustainability. Show how addressing the root causes of the obstacles will lead to achieving your goals.
actions
What sequence of major actions will accomplish your improvement?
Unresolved Issues
What further learnings are necessary to gain before you can make this improvement?
analysis
What obstacles are preventing you from achieving your goal? What are the causes of those obstacles? Why do those
obstacles exist? What cause-and-effect relationships indicate those obstacles are preventing you from achieving your goals?
Company Name:
Improvement:
Date:
Version:Improvement Worksheet Based on work done by Rally Software
Experiment Name Experiment Name Experiment Name Experiment Name
Desired learning Desired learning Desired learning Desired learning
What do you want to learn and
why? How will this experiment build
evidence about the true nature of
the environment?
What do you want to learn and
why? How will this experiment build
evidence about the true nature of
the environment?
What do you want to learn and
why? How will this experiment build
evidence about the true nature of
the environment?
What do you want to learn and
why? How will this experiment build
evidence about the true nature of
the environment?
Hypothesis to test Hypothesis to test Hypothesis to test Hypothesis to test
[Specific repeatable action] will
create [expected specific,
measurable, relevant and time-
bound result].
State your hypothesis as an if/then
assertion. Is this hypothesis
falsifiable?
[Specific repeatable action] will
create [expected specific,
measurable, relevant and time-
bound result].
State your hypothesis as an if/then
assertion. Is this hypothesis
falsifiable?
[Specific repeatable action] will
create [expected specific,
measurable, relevant and time-
bound result].
State your hypothesis as an if/then
assertion. Is this hypothesis
falsifiable?
[Specific repeatable action] will
create [expected specific,
measurable, relevant and time-
bound result].
State your hypothesis as an if/then
assertion. Is this hypothesis
falsifiable?
Describe experiment Describe experiment Describe experiment Describe experiment
Describe the experiment you plan to
run and how it can falsify your
hypothesis. What steps are needed
to run the experiment?
Describe the experiment you plan to
run and how it can falsify your
hypothesis. What steps are needed
to run the experiment?
Describe the experiment you plan to
run and how it can falsify your
hypothesis. What steps are needed
to run the experiment?
Describe the experiment you plan to
run and how it can falsify your
hypothesis. What steps are needed
to run the experiment?
Safety and recovery Safety and recovery Safety and recovery Safety and recovery
What about your experiment
method protects you from harmful
side effects?
How will you undo the experiment
upon completion or if you discover
it is no longer safe to run?
What about your experiment
method protects you from harmful
side effects?
How will you undo the experiment
upon completion or if you discover
it is no longer safe to run?
What about your experiment
method protects you from harmful
side effects?
How will you undo the experiment
upon completion or if you discover
it is no longer safe to run?
What about your experiment
method protects you from harmful
side effects?
How will you undo the experiment
upon completion or if you discover
it is no longer safe to run?
I-2
Background
Describe the Guess, Hunch, Assumption, Risk, or Unknown you want to investigate further. Why
is it critical to build evidence about the true nature of this uncertainty? Describe the
dynamically changing environment surrounding this uncertainty and why expertise alone isn’t
sufficient to create understanding.
Managing the Experiments
What limits or guiding principles will you apply to the experiments? How will people know they’re
about to go too far with an experiment? Do you need to establish working agreements with any
stakeholders before running these experiments?
How will you foster a diversity of background and opinion among the people running the
experiments? How will you make it safe for them to constructively disagree with each other?
How will you communicate the progress and learnings from the experiments? How will you help
people see the emerging patterns?
Degree of Impact
What impact will not knowing the true nature of this Guess, Hunch, Assumption, Risk, or
Unknown have? What other uncertainties may be impacted by the evidence you generate around
this uncertainty?
Experiment Worksheet
Based on work from Rally Software.

56. Current Performance, Gaps, and Targets
What objective data tells the story of how you got to your current situation?
Reactions and Reflections
React to and reflect on the above data, what did you learn?
Rationale Going Forward
What does the above learning imply about your goals for the future?
Risks and Dependencies
What things may prevent you from achieving your objectives or key results?
Primary Objective Secondary Objective Secondary Objective
What primary objective will help you
achieve your strategy?
What objective will help you achieve your
strategy?
What objective will help you achieve your
strategy?
Key Results Key Results Key Results
What specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant and time-bound metrics will
indicate you have achieved your primary
objective?
What specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant and time-bound metrics will
indicate you have achieved your
objective?
What specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant and time-bound metrics will
indicate you have achieved your
objective?
Actions Actions Actions
What sequence of major actions will
accomplish your primary objective and
key results?
What sequence of major actions will
accomplish your objective and key
results?
What sequence of major actions will
accomplish your objective and key
results?
Unresolved Issues Unresolved Issues Unresolved Issues
What further learnings are necessary to
gain before you can achieve your
primary objective and key results?
What further learnings are necessary to
gain before you can achieve your
objective and key results?
What further learnings are necessary to
gain before you can achieve your
objective and key results?
Company Name:
Strategy:
Date:
Version:Strategy Worksheet Based on work done by Rally Software

78. JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG
SE
P
OCT DECNOV
ANNUAL
PLANNING
QUARTERLY
STEERING
DEPT PLANNING
TEAM PLANNING
TEAM
INSPECT & ADAPT
DEPT
INSPECT & ADAPT
ALL HANDS
MEETING
WEEKLY
CORPORATE
COMMUNICATION

81. Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
or
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust

82. Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
or
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust

83. Remember when you had 20 priorities and no matter how hard you worked, none of them seemed to get
done.
Think about when your team was working hard, but no one was happy with how long it took to get things
done.
Recall when you were running experiments, but you really didn’t learn anything from them.

84. Why do these situations exist?

101. Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
or
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust

102. Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
or
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust

103. Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
or
Pro
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust
Company OS
Create Coherent
behaviors, decisions
and sense of purpose
Impact Uncertainty
Strategy
Surface key risks/
unknowns and take
focused action
Kanban
do more of the right work
faster by visualizing and
optimize the flow of work
maintain a shared
understanding of the
essence of your
business
Lean Canvas
Business Model Canvas
value Proposition Canvas
orcoherence
Energy
alignment
obstacles
opportunities
unknowns
risks
Integrate learning
daily
Integrate learning
Monthly
Integrate learning
Monthly
Integrate learning
quarterly
Progress
Learning
Learning
Learning
Experiments
Frame
Build
Measure
Learn
improvements
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust
Focus
Experiments
Improvements
Tactics

105. The Lean Startup applied a very small
subset of Lean to high uncertainty
environments. There is so much more
from Lean that can be used to
accelerate your business.