You were promised innovation. You were promised more customers, new streams of value, a nimble organization. You were let down. They said all it would take was an open-plan office, some scrum masters, and a dash of "design thinking" (whatever the heck that is), but here you are with three ping-pong tables and no market disruption. What happened? There are no silver bullets. There's no one weird trick, no perfect universal framework that guarantees innovation, and anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something. Creating an organization that innovates regularly is hard, and while the strategies and steps we can use to get there are simple, that doesn’t mean they’re quick or easy.

1. A CARGO CULT OF
INNOVATION
ThoughtWorks Atlanta — 24 August 2016
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HELLO!

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POST HOC, ERGO
PROPTER HOC
after this, therefore
because of this

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INNOVATION

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YOU AREN’T STEVE JOBS,
AND YOUR COMPANY
ISN’T APPLE.

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INNOVATION IS A
TERRIBLE GOAL

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UNDERSTAND WHAT IT
IS YOU REALLY WANT
AND WHY

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WORK TOWARD YOUR
FIRST PRINCIPLES
data —> insight —> beliefs —> bets

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MAKE BETS AGAINST
BELIEFS; UPDATE BELIEFS
data —> insight —> beliefs —> bets

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THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

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THE LONG, HARD,
STUPID WAY

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MAKE BETS WITH THE
BEST POSSIBLE ODDS

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LISTEN TO YOUR
DAMN CUSTOMERS
data —> insight —> beliefs —> bets

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EXPERIMENTATION
STILL NEEDS A PLAN,
AND A VISION

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MAKE SMALL BETS
DON’T EXPECT SUCCESS
KILL RUTHLESSLY

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REMEMBER THAT
IDEAS ARE CHEAP

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LET YOUR TEAMS
SOLVE PROBLEMS,
NOT DO TASKS

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EASIER SAID
THAN DONE

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IF YOUR CULTURE DOESN’T
ALLOW FOR SOMETHING
LIKE THIS, GET AWAY FROM
YOUR CULTURE.

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YOU CAN GET HELP, BUT
YOU MUST ULTIMATELY
DO THIS FOR YOURSELF

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STOP LOOKING FOR
SILVER BULLETS

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THESE ARE LEAD
BULLET PROBLEMS

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THANKS.
Coleman Collins
ccollins@thoughtworks.com