Author

Mik Kersten

Summary

A practical guide to developing a product focussed management framework that allows competing in the Age of Software.

Takeaways

We are at the turning point of the digital revolution. Companies need to transform their business practices to effectively leverage software development and technology. Many companies realize the need for transformation but rely on management practices that are not adequate for the task.

Products differ from projects in multiple ways. Products have a longer life cycle and receive incremental funding based on business results. The direct mapping to business results enables transparency into the delivery progress and the impact a product has. The Flow Framework is a way to track and visualize the network of product value streams of an organization and identify bottlenecks that require attention.

Quotes

“Software delivery concepts near and dear to technologists, such as technical debt and story points, are meaningless to most business leaders who manage IT initiatives as projects and measure them by whether they are on time and on budget."

“The problem is not with visualizing the information; the problem is that, at a business level, we have not come up with a compelling set of abstractions for what to visualize. Contrast this with the DevOps team, who knows the exact telemetry to show, such as deploys per day and change success rate. Or contrast it with the development team, who uses Scrum or kanban boards to make work in progress visible to the entire team. In other words, the work should already be visible at the specialist and team level. It’s the business-level visibility that organizations lack. This is what flow metrics provide."

“In contrast, the key aspect of tracking business outcomes using the Flow Framework is that they are tracked continually for each product-oriented value stream. This is in contrast to many existing approaches, which track metrics according to project or organizational structures. It is this shift in what we measure that is key to accomplishing the move from project to product, as accurate feedback at the right level of granularity is essential to supporting decision making."

Author

Peter Thiel

Summary

Practical advice for founders how to build a successful startup and create something new.

Takeaways

Competition is a concept that has a high value in our educational system and economic thinking. The emphasis on competition leads to a uniform approach to development and only incremental improvements. Innovation and success come from avoiding competition and focusing on individual strengths and believes that set yourself apart from others.

If we believe the future to be something definite, we can create bold plans and see them through completion. An indefinite attitude leads to a lack of specific plans, missing innovation, and prevents us from shaping the future.

Quotes

“Competition means no profits for anybody, no meaningful differentiation, and a struggle for survival. So why do people believe that competition is healthy? The answer is that competition is not just an economic concept or a simple inconvenience that individuals and companies must deal with in the marketplace. More than anything else, competition is an ideology –the ideology– that pervades our society and distorts our thinking."

“If you treat the future as something definite, it makes sense to understand it in advance and to work to shape it. But if you expect an indefinite future ruled by randomness, you’ll give up on trying to master it. Indefinite attitudes to the future explain what’s most dysfunctional in our world today. Process trumps substance: when people lack concrete plans to carry out, they use formal rules to assemble a portfolio of various options."

“Instead of pursuing many-sided mediocrity and calling it ‘well-roundedness’, a definite person determines the one best thing to do and then does it. Instead of working tirelessly to make herself indistinguishable, she strives to be great at something substansive–to be a monopoly of one."

Author

Jack Welch

Summary

The life and professional career of Jack Welch, Chairman of General Electric from 1981 to 2001, described in his own words.

Takeaways

Leadership requires more than the knowledge to make sound business decisions. It is equally important to establish the right culture with a focus on people that allows for differentiation and development, and that empowers everyone to contribute ideas (“boundaryless”).

Being able to react to changes trumps a well thought out longterm strategy. Speed and decisiveness are important to remain competitive in changing circumstances even if not all decisions or judgment calls stand the test of time. The characterization of some associates who receive high praise in the book but were later on criticized for their leadership (Jeff Immelt, Bob Nardelli) or general conduct (Roger Ailes, Matt Lauer), is one example that appears to not have aged well.

Quotes

“We learned the hard way that we could have the greatest strategies in the world. Without the right leaders developing and owning them, we’d get good-looking presentations and so-so results."

“Business success is less a function of grandiose predictions than it is a result of being able to respond rapidly to real changes as they occur. That’s why strategy has to be dynamic and anticipatory."

“Informality isn’t about first names, unassigned parking spaces, or casual clothing. It’s so much deeper. It’s about making sure everybody counts–and everbody knows they count."

“Your back room is somebody else’s front room … Don’t own a cafeteria: Let a food company do it. Don’t run a print shop: Let a printing company do it. It’s understanding where your real value added is and putting your best people and resources behind that.”