Breaking Down Lean, Agile, and Design Thinking: Which One Fits Your Business?
As companies evolve to adopt, integrate, and leverage software as the defining element of their success in the 21st century, a rash of processes and methodologies are vying for their product teams’ attention. In the worst cases, each discipline on these teams learns a different model: product management, design, and software engineering. This short, tactical talk reconciles the perceived differences in Lean Startup, Design Thinking, and Agile software development by focusing not on rituals and practices but on the values that underpin all three methods.
The tactics in this talk draw on Jeff’s years of practice as a team leader and coach in companies ranging from small, high-growth startups to large enterprises. Whether you’re a product manager, software engineer, designer, or team leader, you’ll find practical tools in this talk immediately applicable to your team’s daily methods.
00:00 Introduction
03:46 The problem
20:18 The solution
21:03 Principle #1 Customer value == Business Value
24:27 Principle #2 Work in short cycles
27:47 Principle #3 Hold regular retrospectives
29:05 Principle #4 Go and see
30:06 Principle #5 Test high-risk hypothesis
32:52 Principle #6 Do less more often
36:37 Principle #7 Work as a balanced team
39:19 Principle #8 Radical transparency
42:45 Principle #9 Review incentive structures
44:04 Principle #10 Make learning a 1st class citizen of the backlog
46:00 Summary