How do you select and adapt the most suitable lean and agile methods for your specific context and goals?

Let's say for example we have a beauty brand that's launching a new line of skincare products. The brand identifies the customer pain point of skin irritation from harsh chemicals and offers a value proposition of natural and organic ingredients. They define their assumptions and hypotheses and identify metrics such as customer retention rate, feedback, and sales. They select and adapt lean and agile methods to test their assumptions and iteratively develop and test their products. They remain flexible and adjust their approach based on feedback and new information to increase their chances of success in the competitive beauty industry.

When I was working as a financial analyst for a major international bank, we had a focus on continual process improvement throughout the organization. I would interview at least one person for every unique position in an area that was under review and determine the flow of work into and out of their specific function. This interview process helped determine how to use lean processes by eliminating any non value added activity, automating when appropriate, and seeking to create new value added activities. At the end of the day, costs were reduced, and both employees and clients were happier.

Let's continue with the example of the beauty brand developing a new line of natural & organic skincare products. They might use the Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas to help them better understand their target market & value proposition; Customer Development & Lean Experimentation to test their assumptions and gather feedback from customers; Minimum Viable Product to develop and test a basic version of their skincare products; as well as Agile Scrum, Agile Kanban, and Agile Sprints to manage their development process and increase efficiency. Through iteration and constant feedback, the brand can refine their product development and marketing strategies to best serve their target market and grow their business.

Now let's say this beauty brand developing a new line of natural and organic skincare products has team of 5 and has raised $500,000 in a family and friends round. In addition, they are facing competition from other organic skincare brands. Given that they have raised some capital, they have resources available to them. However, they need to use these resources judiciously and avoid waste. They might consider using the Minimum Viable Product method to develop and test a basic version of their skincare product, rather than investing heavily in a fully-featured product that may not be successful. From there, early customers can provide crucial feedback for future product development.

The beauty brand could create an MVP of their organic skincare product. They could then offer this product to a small group of target customers through a limited distribution channel, such as a pop-up shop or a small online store. The brand could collect feedback on the product's performance, packaging, messaging, etc. in comparison to competitors' products. Based on the feedback, the brand could iterate & improve the product by adding or removing ingredients, changing the packaging, or adjusting the marketing messaging. They could then test the improved version of the product with the same group as well as new test groups & continue to iterate & improve until they have a product that is validated by those customers.

Reiteration is key. Nothing novel can be accomplished without adapting during experimentation and being open to failure. Focus on agile methods when the priority is to optimize the project’s development process. Focus on lean methods when the priority is to optimize process flow. Either way, increased costumer value, maintaining efficiency, and overall product improvement are the end goals.

Essentials of Adapting Agile: Engagement, Tech, Tenacity, Triumph Engaging your team is key when selecting and adapting lean and agile methods. Their input and commitment can shape and enhance its effectiveness. Utilizing suitable tools and technologies can streamline the process. However, this transition requires patience and persistence, with a readiness to learn from mistakes and adapt. Amid challenges, celebrating successes is vital. It motivates the team, reinforcing the value of the chosen method, fostering an environment of continuous improvement and achievement.

I like the idea of continuous improvement It is a Japanese business concept. Always iterate. Until it’s as good as you can get it ;) Don’t let fear get in the way of launching.

I agree that agility is not a linear process and entrepreneurs should understand that each of these skills require context that is sequential. For example, measuring performance and evaluating strengths and weaknesses are often merged, but measurements must be created before evaluating, and both must be in place before the process moves on to designing improvements. Learning from prior successes and failures sounds like a good plan, but must be part of that process before new innovations can be embraced. A mindset of experimentation, learning, and improvement is required. But it's the step-by-step process of research, evaluating, communicating and listening that helps develop this mindset. And repetition embeds these skills more deeply.