Winning your company over to modern product thinking

Winning Your Company Over to Modern Product Thinking

keith@keithhopper.com@khopper

Keith Hopper coaches enterprise teams in how to rapidly bring the best new ideas to market

and avoid costly missteps.

What is Modern Product Thinking?

Modern Challenges• Lowered-barriers to

entry• Rapidly evolving user

needs• Need for being quick to

market• Highly uncertain

Modern Practices• Work in small, cross-

functional teams• Plan and adjust iteratively• Fix time, vary scope• Put the user at the center• Identify and test

hypotheses• Measure and learn

The Problem

1. The product market is increasingly competitive and dynamic

2. To respond, organizations need to change their approach to Product Management

3. It’s hard to bring change into an organization when you’re not in charge

• Disrupted by digital change• Seeing problems everywhere, internally and

externally• Overwhelmed by directions they could go in;

stuck• Had no clear answers

The Christian Science Monitor is a 108 year old secular international news organization

How best to Help?

• Small, x-functional team• Outside of normal business operations • One simple goal: “Demonstrate some type of

new value to existing customers.” • Create a prototype and test it in a week

Design / Discovery Sprints

AGILE(fixed-time iterations)

LEAN(experimentation)

DESIGN THINKING(user-centric)

Value: make a difference beyond reporting the news

Six-month Outcomes

• Several testing iterations• Launched major new editorial initiative, digital property

and campaign: csmonitor.com/redirect• Surpassed all existing internal metrics

– Page engagement– Shares, Likes, Views– Sign-ups / conversions

• Executive pronouncements embracing new product direction and methods

• Org change creating PMs and cross-functional teams• Editorial and publishing on the same team

The Rider & the Elephant

Riders, Elephants & Paths

Elephants & Riders Have Issues

• Riders get overwhelmed with options• Riders focus on problems, doubt • Riders get stuck in planning and analysis• Elephants do what is familiar, safe• Elephants don’t listen to reason for long• Elephants are motivated by fear

Direct the Rider

• Focus on one, small behavior change• Create a single, achievable, near-term goal • Fight analysis by doing• Script the critical moves with specific and clear

instructions on how to proceed• Help visualize a near-term destination

Motivate the Elephant

• Address emotions, not logic– Social pressure, FOMO, pride, fear, safety, hope

• Shrink the change, but make it meaningful• Create wins and immediate gratification• Expect and permit failure “en route”• Grow people: build reassurance and

confidence

Shape the Path (Make the Journey Easier)

• Avoid breaking existing habits• Build new habits• Give the team real skills and practice• Find the bright spots and highlight – behavior

is contagious

How to Change Product Thinking

• Focus on one small, near-term goal• Deploy a small team for a short timeframe• Deploy a proven, highly structured process• Avoid analysis paralysis through execution• Equip people with modern product skills• Create and celebrate small wins• Understand what’s working and highlight

Q&A

keith@keithhopper.com@khopper