I have decided to whittle SOGOTP down in to a shorter book that focuses on what I have to offer to entrepreneurs and businesses that is of most value; what I consult on:
How large established organizations can apply startup methodology to be more responsive to the marketplace and survive the rapidly changing business landscape.
I am publishing the SOGOTP-Innovation outline for two reasons:
First I want your feedback.
Second publishing this will help me limit myself from adding more random crap into the book that will water it down.
Here is the outline for my first book in a series, SOGOTP-Innovation:
0. Introduction
0.1. Foreword
0.2. Overview
This sums up what I said in the second paragraph of this post with more detail. This books is about:
How large established organizations can apply startup methodology to be more responsive to the marketplace and survive the rapidly changing business landscape.
0.3. A fundamental change in thinking
Here I discuss how complex hierarchies have evolved over thousands of years to help maintain structure and control of large organization ranging from the kingdoms of old to the mafia. Furthermore why that structure is not fit to survive in the market today.
We examine how many large organizations are failing and some succeeding in staying on the cutting edge. How the successful ones are offering a little autonomy to their employees and how it is paying back in a huge way.
1. The Team
I talk about your most important asset the people you lead.
1.1. What it takes
You can't just give autonomy to anyone. Some people just don't want it. But others thrive on it. These are the in-trepreneurs.
What does it on an individual level to be an in-trepreneurs? What qualities do you look for when recruiting?
1.2. Small distributed team
This is where we get into how hierarchies break down communication and how we can learn from guerilla warfare.
Specifically how they manage to be effective and function without constantly being in communication with central command.
1.3 Purpose:
This will be a short chapter. Every C level executive and middle manager has already over used the word 'vision' but none the less it is important for your team to have a shared vision and purpose. This will be more real life down to earth tips on how your actions speak louder than words.
It is tough for troops on the front line to march into battle when they don't trust the sargent behind them or the lieutenant behind them or the general behind all of them. The best leaders lead from the front where all the troops can see them. For all of his faults Steve Jobs was constantly roaming through the trenches and seeing what people on the ground floor were up to.
(I may just put that above paragraph in the book)
1.4 Building a learning machine
The apprenticeship model has also evolved over thousands of years. An apprentice would be paired with and learn from a more experienced craftsman(technician).
We seem to have abandoned this one on one real world experience model for our modern university's mass production of highly theoretical assembly line education system.
Here I have some real world examples of how I have taught many junior devs with zero experience to be productive members of the team.
1.5 Interchangeable Parts
Here we talk about measures you will want to take to ensure no one team in your organization goes to far off the deep end. I will cover real world Fire Drills that you can use to protect your organization from worse case scenarios. This is how you can keep a little bit of control in your organization.
1.6 The Environment:
This chapter is on creating an environment internally that facilitates innovation, happiness a sense of community and a shared vision.
For example I find teams are much more productive if they sit around a table focused inward rather than facing walls or god forbid in a cubical.
1.? Real World Tips:
Miscellaneous tips:
- Legal - IP Assignments
2. The Model
Lessons learned on how modern business models are changing and how you will need to adapt new product and services in the future.
2.1. Focus on your core
Though it might look like google has undertaken so many endeavours that you might think that they have lost focus they have not.
Search Engine:
The search box is still google.com's focus but their core value is actual providing marketing opportunities based off of data.
Having thousands of anonymous people searching for random things on your platform was great but when they wanted to hone in on specific habits for specific demographics then they needed to know who you are.
Making users sign up for a search engine would have dropped them out of the search engine battle. Through google's famous 20% time they came up with a reason for their users to login, GMail.
Google Analytics, Chrome Browser, and the Android OS are other amazing ways they have creatively found to measure users habits and better deliver content to their users. All of this information and a massive distribution network increases their core value: providing marketing opportunities based off of data.
2.2. Innovation can come from externally as well as internally
Facebook didn't just hoard all of your social information for its own uses. Nor do they charge to get access to your info. No, they opened up their API's (Application Programming Interface which allows developers to talk to their platform programmatically). This allowed information to flow freely out of and into Facebook, with the users permission of course.
The old way of thinking would have kept this locked down but by opening it up for free they created much more value for their users. Their fore increasing their value as a network.
This allowed them to crowdsource innovation. 3rd parties have built thousands of apps(I have even written a handful). If they saw an app they liked they could acquire them and know that the technology was already compatible with their own technology.
More on API's in the final section.
2.3 What was in demand is in abundance, what is abundant in in demand
When the world was charging by the Megabyte for storage Youtube decided to go a different route. Seeing Moore's Law in action and realizing that available memory was becomeing more abundant, not scarce, they designed a business model that gave away their storage space for free. By allowing users to release their videos for free they created a network that became the standard for video sharing. They drew in users by giving away something for free that no one else was.
Once they had the user they could control which content was featured and promoted to the users. The featured spot was the scarcity, the created their own demand.
This should help you decide where to let your employees experiment. If the cost of something is dropping or there is abundance of a resource you have access to then put your teams to the task of figuring out an innovative way to put those resources to use.
This also can be applied to your teams and how you compensate your team members. There are more and more ways to make a dollar coming out every day, but your team members only have so many chances to watch their kid score the game winning goal at their soccer games.
2.?. If you refuse to give up autonomy then you better have focus
I felt I needed to throw in an outlier case. Steve Jobs was notorious for being a bit of a control freak. He would tinker in every aspect of product design, development, and marketing. So if he didn't give up control and give his team members the autonomy I have been going on about then how did Apple become such a success?
Perhaps you have heard the story of when Steve returned to Apple in the 90s and drew four boxes on a white board and said "We are going to make four things" two laptops and two desktops, no more printers, nothing else. That is focus. Eventually years later they developed the iPod, then the iPhone but they didn't try to do them all at once. They did it in serial, not parallel, allowing their leader Steve to stay focused on one thing at a time.
So if you want to be like Steve and have the final say on every little detail and give up little to no autonomy my suggestion is to get focused!
3. The Technology:
(Other possible Title: The Architecture) This section is on how many others have built their entire technology to facilitate innovation on a large scale.
This will be the most technically complex and for that reason the shortest section. This is where I personally have the most to offer.
No one else has yet, that I know of, covered this in great detail. Pleases send me a link if you know of anyone else writing on this.
4. Conclusion
If there are two takeaways I can give from this book it is
Focus:
If you don't want to give up control you had better keep your organization lean and focus. Don't take on too many initiatives.
Trust your people:
You started an organization so you didn't have to be the only one doing everything otherwise that is just called consulting or freelancing. You need to be able to build teams of people you can trust and can act on new ideas without you holding their hands if you wish to survive in this market.
SOGOTP-Innovation Outline End
Final Note From Matt:
If you read this far that was the end of the outline. As always I love to hear your feedback and comments! Thanks for your support.