Innovation anti-patterns: bonkers beans and magic numbers

Craft Conf Holly Cummins Senior Principal Software Engineer Red Hat
@holly_cummins innovation anti-patterns bonkers beans and magic numbers

@holly_cummins #RedHat now senior principal software engineer helping to build
Quarkus

@holly_cummins #RedHat consultant in IBM Garage worked with businesses to
help them innovate huge enterprises + teeny startups before

@holly_cummins #RedHat the best ideas are on the edge of
‘impossible’ and ‘stupid’

@holly_cummins #RedHat the best ideas are on the edge of
‘impossible’ and ‘stupid’ … but now seem kind of normal

@holly_cummins #RedHat “everybody knows”

@holly_cummins #RedHat 15 years ago everybody knows programs go fastest
if you compile them ahead of time

@holly_cummins #RedHat 15 years ago uhh … not actually true
– JIT and GC can enable surprising speed- ups everybody knows programs go fastest if you compile them ahead of time

@holly_cummins #RedHat now everybody knows programs go fastest if you
let the runtime optimisers do their thing

@holly_cummins #RedHat now uhh … not actually true – moving
more to build-time enables surprising speed- ups everybody knows programs go fastest if you let the runtime optimisers do their thing

@holly_cummins #RedHat ideas that seemed stupid … that were not

@holly_cummins #RedHat “People don't want to lug a computer with
them to the beach or on a train to while away hours they would rather spend reading the newspaper. Somehow, the microcomputer industry has assumed that everyone would love to have a keyboard grafted on as an extension of their fingers. It just is not so.” New York Times, 1985 laptops

@holly_cummins #RedHat “the popularity of the wheel is doomed.” Washington
Post, 1906 bicycles

@holly_cummins #RedHat “the combination of beef with cheese may seem
bizarre.” New York Times, 1947 putting cheese on burgers

@holly_cummins #RedHat ideas that seemed stupid … that actually were

@holly_cummins #RedHat george washington carver

@holly_cummins #RedHat george washington carver 1894: first African American to
earn a BSc

earn a BSc 1943: first non-President to receive a national monument

earn a BSc 1943: first non-President to receive a national monument 1943: ship named after him

earn a BSc 1943: first non-President to receive a national monument 1943: ship named after him 1990: inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame

peanut bread

peanut bread peanut sausage

peanut bread peanut sausage peanut coffee

peanut bread peanut sausage peanut coffee peanut paint

peanut bread peanut sausage peanut coffee peanut paint peanut nitroglycerine

@holly_cummins #RedHat how do we tell the difference between ‘almost
impossible and stupid’ and ‘actually impossible and stupid’?

@holly_cummins #RedHat mvp how do we tell the difference between
‘almost impossible and stupid’ and ‘actually impossible and stupid’?

@holly_cummins #RedHat minimum viable product

@holly_cummins #RedHat maximal viable product

@holly_cummins #RedHat minimum viable prototype

@holly_cummins #RedHat modestly visionary product

@holly_cummins #RedHat

@holly_cummins #RedHat mvp mvp mvp

@holly_cummins #RedHat are we communicating? mvp mvp mvp

@holly_cummins #RedHat are we communicating? (no) mvp mvp mvp

@holly_cummins #RedHat minimally valuable phrase

@holly_cummins #RedHat our MVP has been through five architecture review
boards, so we will start coding soon

@holly_cummins #RedHat our MVP has been through five architecture review
boards, so we will start coding soon can you make it bigger? I want a £12M MVP

@holly_cummins #RedHat mvp mvp mvp

@holly_cummins #RedHat first release first release but quality is so
boring experiment be explicit about what we are trying to accomplish

@holly_cummins #RedHat innovations in improving soil quality

@holly_cummins #RedHat george washington carver “Everything looked hungry: the land,
the cotton, the cattle, and the people.”

@holly_cummins #RedHat we may not truly understand the problem we
are trying to solve until after our first attempt

@holly_cummins #RedHat doing an MVP ‘right’: mueller

@holly_cummins #RedHat doing an MVP ‘right’: mueller visual designs

@holly_cummins #RedHat doing an MVP ‘right’: mueller visual designs user
research

research devops

research responsive web app devops

research responsive web app TDD devops

research responsive web app TDD devops deployed to prod

research responsive web app TDD devops deployed to prod order processing system

@holly_cummins #RedHat wizard of Oz mvp

@holly_cummins #RedHat high uncertainty moderate uncertainty

@holly_cummins #RedHat high uncertainty moderate uncertainty experiment

@holly_cummins #RedHat high uncertainty moderate uncertainty experiment hypothesis

@holly_cummins #RedHat high uncertainty moderate uncertainty experiment hypothesis able to
fail

@holly_cummins #RedHat high uncertainty moderate uncertainty experiment hypothesis designed to
fail

fail strong metrics

fail strong metrics learning

fail follow-on experiment strong metrics learning

fail follow-on experiment radical descoping strong metrics learning

fail follow-on experiment radical descoping really hope to succeed strong metrics learning

fail follow-on experiment radical descoping really hope to succeed strong metrics learning user value

fail follow-on experiment radical descoping really hope to succeed iterative continuous expansion of scope strong metrics learning user value

@holly_cummins #RedHat we have data! and no matter what the
numbers, it shows we are doing a good job!

@holly_cummins #RedHat vanity metrics “magic numbers” we have data! but
the numbers can’t tell us what actions to take

learning is only possible with psychological safety

failed experiments are only possible with psychological safety

is the org supportive of this?

is the org supportive of this? it means they are
asking questions they didn’t already know the answer to

@holly_cummins #RedHat innovation funnels

@holly_cummins #RedHat prune out the bad ideas early

@holly_cummins #RedHat innovation funnel

@holly_cummins #RedHat idea innovation funnel

@holly_cummins #RedHat production idea innovation funnel

@holly_cummins #RedHat production idea innovation funnel innovation railroad

@holly_cummins #RedHat production idea innovation funnel organisational incentive to plough
on; failure is punished innovation railroad

@holly_cummins #RedHat production idea innovation funnel innovation fizzle organisational incentive
to plough on; failure is punished innovation railroad

@holly_cummins #RedHat production idea innovation funnel innovation fizzle most projects
the same length few get to production incentive for ‘innovation activity’ organisational incentive to plough on; failure is punished innovation railroad

the same length few get to production incentive for ‘innovation activity’ organisational incentive to plough on; failure is punished innovation railroad filtering for ‘sure thing’ focus on risk reduction bureaucracy paperwork

the same length few get to production incentive for ‘innovation activity’ organisational incentive to plough on; failure is punished innovation railroad filtering for ‘sure thing’ focus on risk reduction bureaucracy paperwork lack of psychological safety innovation teams

@holly_cummins #IBM dedicated innovation team

@holly_cummins #RedHat george washington carver

@holly_cummins #RedHat why peanuts?

@holly_cummins #RedHat peas soy beans peanuts (a peanut is a
bean, not a nut)

@holly_cummins #RedHat cotton exhausts soil

@holly_cummins #RedHat cotton exhausts soil beans restore it

@holly_cummins #RedHat cotton peanuts

@holly_cummins #RedHat but there was a problem

@holly_cummins #RedHat but there was a problem • idea! peanut
butter

butter • idea! salted peanuts

butter • idea! salted peanuts • idea! chocolate covered peanuts

butter • idea! salted peanuts • idea! chocolate covered peanuts • …

@holly_cummins #RedHat 1 + 1 = 3 double win

@holly_cummins #RedHat this works for people, too

@holly_cummins #RedHat innovation teams are innovation monocultures

@holly_cummins #RedHat peas cotton

@holly_cummins #RedHat year 1 peas cotton

@holly_cummins #RedHat innovation team rest of team

@holly_cummins #RedHat year 1 innovation team rest of team

@holly_cummins #RedHat “innovation needs time, and we wouldn’t want to
give that time to everyone in our company”

@holly_cummins #RedHat a change is as good as a rest

@holly_cummins #RedHat since you’ve been working your socks off on
this release, we will give you time off! … you still come to work, but you can work on anything you like rotations, or …

@holly_cummins #RedHat advantage: everyone is ‘off’ at the same time

@holly_cummins #RedHat we will reward innovation from all teams, not
just the innovation team rotations, or …

@holly_cummins #RedHat we will reward learning & accept risk from
all teams, not just the innovation team rotations, or …

@holly_cummins #RedHat the fauxnovation

@holly_cummins #RedHat “innovation needs time, and we wouldn’t want to
give that time to everyone in our company” remember this?

@holly_cummins #RedHat “we don’t have slack in the system for
normal improvement, but we do have an innovation budget.” corollary

@holly_cummins #RedHat “we need a chatbot.”

@holly_cummins #RedHat “we need a chatbot.” “we need a chatbot…”

@holly_cummins #RedHat “we need a chatbot.” “we need a chatbot…”
“… because our internal search is really bad.”

@holly_cummins #RedHat “we need blockchain.”

@holly_cummins #RedHat “we need blockchain.” “we need blockchain…”

@holly_cummins #RedHat “we need blockchain.” “we need blockchain…” “… because
our processes need to be digitised.”

@holly_cummins #RedHat ‘normal’ improvement smuggled in with disruptive innovation

@holly_cummins #RedHat ‘normal’ improvement smuggled in with disruptive innovation ‘normal’
improvement enabled by disruptive technology (actually, this is kind of ok?)

@holly_cummins #RedHat (actually, this is fine)

@holly_cummins #RedHat (actually, this is fine) (actually, this is kind
of ok?)

@holly_cummins #RedHat sometimes, disguises have value

@holly_cummins #RedHat sometimes, disguises have value (actually, this is kind
of ok?)

@holly_cummins #RedHat … but think about why they are needed?
are you measuring the right things?

@holly_cummins #RedHat so …

@holly_cummins #RedHat so … • don’t say MVP – say
what you mean

what you mean • experiment and measure to act

what you mean • experiment and measure to act • beware the innovation silos

what you mean • experiment and measure to act • beware the innovation silos • are you sneaking in fauxnovation?

thank you @holly_cummins slides

Innovation anti-patterns: bonkers beans and magic numbers

Innovation anti-patterns: bonkers beans and magic numbers

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