Innovation Anti-patterns: Bonkers Beans and Magic Numbers

The innovation fizzle, the fauxnnovation, the maximal viable product. Holly’s seen them all.
In a world where there’s always too much to do and too little time, how can organisations make time to innovate?
(Spoiler: siloes probably aren’t the answer.)
A presentation on practical innovation strategy, exploring how to design an MVP, how to get something for nothing, and psychological safety.

Transcript

1. Holly Cummins
   
   
   Senior Principal Software Engineer
   
   
   Red Hat
   
   
   @holly_cummins
   innovation anti-patterns
   
   
   bonkers beans and magic numbers
   Voxxed Athens
   
   
   

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2. @holly_cummins
   #RedHat
   george washington carver
   

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3. @holly_cummins
   #RedHat
   george washington carver
   first African American to earn a BSc
   

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4. @holly_cummins
   #RedHat
   george washington carver
   first African American to earn a BSc
   first non-President to receive a national monument
   

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5. @holly_cummins
   #RedHat
   george washington carver
   first African American to earn a BSc
   first non-President to receive a national monument
   ship named after him
   

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6. @holly_cummins
   #RedHat
   george washington carver
   first African American to earn a BSc
   first non-President to receive a national monument
   ship named after him
   inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame
   

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7. @holly_cummins
   #RedHat
   george washington carver
   

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8. @holly_cummins
   #RedHat
   george washington carver
   

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9. @holly_cummins
   #RedHat
   why peanuts?
   

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10. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    cotton farming plantations
    
    
    

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11. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    cotton exhausts soil
    
    
    

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12. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    

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13. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    hungry farmers could not afford expensive
    fertilizers to restore the soil
    

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14. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    hungry farmers could not afford expensive
    fertilizers to restore the soil
    … so they got hungrier
    

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15. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    

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

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17. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    

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18. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    cotton exhausts soil
    beans restore it
    

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19. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    cotton peanuts
    

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20. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    cotton
    peanuts
    

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21. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    cotton peanuts
    

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22. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    but there was
    a problem
    

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23. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    but there was
    a problem
    

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

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25. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    but there was
    a problem
    idea! peanut butter!
    idea! salted peanuts!
    

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26. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    but there was
    a problem
    idea! peanut butter!
    idea! salted peanuts!
    idea! chocolate covered peanuts!
    

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27. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    but there was
    a problem
    idea! peanut butter!
    idea! salted peanuts!
    idea! chocolate covered peanuts!
    …
    

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28. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    

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29. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    the double win:
    

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30. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    the double win:
    improved soil, great cotton yields
    

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31. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    the double win:
    improved soil, great cotton yields
    yummy peanuts to eat
    

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32. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    

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33. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    the double win
    

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34. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    the double win
    win-win
    

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35. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    the double win
    win-win
    win-squared
    

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36. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    the double win
    win-win
    win-squared
    1 + 1 = 3
    

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37. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    the double win
    win-win
    win-squared
    1 + 1 = 3
    twofer
    

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38. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    the double win
    win-win
    win-squared
    1 + 1 = 3
    twofer
    überwinden
    

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39. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    the double win
    win-win
    win-squared
    1 + 1 = 3
    twofer
    überwinden
    the extra win
    

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40. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    the double win
    win-win
    win-squared
    1 + 1 = 3
    twofer
    überwinden
    the extra win
    

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41. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    life before the shopping cart
    

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42. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    life before the shopping cart
    heavy
    

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43. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    life before the shopping cart
    heavy
    annoying
    

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44. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    life before the shopping cart
    heavy
    annoying
    ow, my arm
    

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45. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    life after the shopping cart
    

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46. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    life after the shopping cart
    easy
    

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47. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    life after the shopping cart
    easy
    nice
    

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48. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    life after the shopping cart
    easy
    nice
    ooh, I can also take this .. and this …
    

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49. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    life after the shopping cart
    easy
    nice
    ooh, I can also take this .. and this …
    the double win
    

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50. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    “everybody knows”
    

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51. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    everybody knew …
    peanuts are barely edible
    

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52. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    everybody knew …
    peanuts are barely edible
    

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

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54. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    “innovation leader” in corporate strategy
    
    
    consultant in IBM Garage
    
    
    worked with businesses to help them innovate
    
    
    huge enterprises + teeny startups
    before
    

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

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56. @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
    

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57. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    now
    
    
    (innovative leap)
    
    
    everybody
    knows programs go
    fastest if you let the
    runtime optimisers
    do their thing
    

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58. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    now
    
    
    (innovative leap)
    
    
    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
    

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59. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    everyone knows reflection
    is a good idea :)
    

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60. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    2020
    
    
    (another innovative leap)
    
    
    and what if we
    did ahead-of-time
    for libraries, not just
    the JVM itself?
    

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61. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    quarkus starts so fast
    
    
    quarkus runs so fast
    

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62. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    … and the developer experience is joyful
    quarkus: a double win
    

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63. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    (actually, a triple win)
    
    
    it can halve your app’s carbon
    

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

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

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

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67. @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
    

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68. the double-win
    
    
    

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69. the single-win
    
    
    

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

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71. View Slide

72. peanut bread
    

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73. peanut bread
    

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74. peanut bread
    peanut sausage
    

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75. peanut bread
    peanut sausage
    

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76. peanut bread
    peanut sausage
    peanut coffee
    

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77. peanut bread
    peanut sausage
    peanut coffee
    

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78. peanut bread
    peanut sausage
    peanut coffee
    peanut paint
    

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79. peanut bread
    peanut sausage
    peanut coffee
    peanut paint
    

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80. peanut bread
    peanut sausage
    peanut coffee
    peanut paint
    peanut nitroglycerine
    

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81. peanut bread
    peanut sausage
    peanut coffee
    peanut paint
    peanut nitroglycerine
    

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82. peanut bread
    peanut sausage
    peanut coffee
    peanut paint
    peanut nitroglycerine
    the non-win
    
    
    

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84. failed experiments are only possible
    with psychological safety
    

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85. learning is only possible with
    psychological safety
    

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86. is the org supportive of this?
    

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87. is the org supportive of this?
    

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88. is the org supportive of this?
    

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89. is the org supportive of this?
    

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

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

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92. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    build something small
    how do we tell the difference between ‘almost impossible
    and stupid’ and ‘actually impossible and stupid’?
    

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93. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    build something small
    and incremental
    how do we tell the difference between ‘almost impossible
    and stupid’ and ‘actually impossible and stupid’?
    

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94. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    optimising for feedback can feel weird
    

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95. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    optimising for feedback can feel weird
    visual
    designs
    

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96. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    optimising for feedback can feel weird
    visual
    designs
    user
    research
    

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97. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    optimising for feedback can feel weird
    visual
    designs
    user
    research
    devops
    

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98. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    optimising for feedback can feel weird
    visual
    designs
    user
    research
    responsive
    web app
    devops
    

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99. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    optimising for feedback can feel weird
    visual
    designs
    user
    research
    responsive
    web app
    TDD
    devops
    

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100. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     optimising for feedback can feel weird
     visual
     designs
     user
     research
     responsive
     web app
     TDD
     devops
     deployed to
     prod
     

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101. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     optimising for feedback can feel weird
     visual
     designs
     user
     research
     responsive
     web app
     TDD
     devops
     deployed to
     prod
     order
     processing
     system
     

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102. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     optimising for feedback can feel weird
     visual
     designs
     user
     research
     responsive
     web app
     TDD
     devops
     deployed to
     prod
     order
     processing
     system
     

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103. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     wizard of Oz mvp
     

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104. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     this only works if you can
     release often
     

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105. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     this only works if you can release
     more than once
     

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106. how do you measure a win?
     
     
     

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107. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     we’re going to be
     data-driven!
     

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108. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     the quantitative fallacy
     
     
     (the McNamara fallacy)
     

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

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111. how do you measure a double win?
     

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112. how do you measure a double win?
     

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113. how do you measure a double win?
     usually, one of the wins is a surprise
     

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114. how do you measure a double win?
     usually, one of the wins is a surprise
     may not have metrics in place
     

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115. how much effort should you
     put into measuring?
     

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116. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     high uncertainty moderate uncertainty
     

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117. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     high uncertainty moderate uncertainty
     experiment
     

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118. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     high uncertainty moderate uncertainty
     experiment
     hypothesis
     

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

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

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121. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     high uncertainty moderate uncertainty
     experiment
     hypothesis
     designed to fail
     strong metrics
     

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122. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     high uncertainty moderate uncertainty
     experiment
     hypothesis
     designed to fail
     strong metrics
     learning
     

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123. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     high uncertainty moderate uncertainty
     experiment
     hypothesis
     designed to fail
     follow-on
     experiment
     strong metrics
     learning
     

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124. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     high uncertainty moderate uncertainty
     experiment
     hypothesis
     designed to fail
     follow-on
     experiment
     radical
     
     
     descoping
     strong metrics
     learning
     

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125. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     high uncertainty moderate uncertainty
     experiment
     hypothesis
     designed to fail
     follow-on
     experiment
     radical
     
     
     descoping
     really hope
     to succeed
     strong metrics
     learning
     

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126. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     high uncertainty moderate uncertainty
     experiment
     hypothesis
     designed to fail
     follow-on
     experiment
     radical
     
     
     descoping
     really hope
     to succeed
     strong metrics
     learning
     user value
     

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127. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     high uncertainty moderate uncertainty
     experiment
     hypothesis
     designed to fail
     follow-on
     experiment
     radical
     
     
     descoping
     really hope
     to succeed
     iterative
     continuous
     expansion of
     scope
     strong metrics
     learning
     user value
     

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128. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     high uncertainty moderate uncertainty
     experiment
     hypothesis
     designed to fail
     follow-on
     experiment
     radical
     
     
     descoping
     really hope
     to succeed
     iterative
     continuous
     expansion of
     scope
     strong metrics
     learning
     user value
     

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129. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     the innovation funnel
     

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130. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     

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131. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     prune out the bad ideas early
     

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132. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     

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133. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     innovation funnel
     

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134. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     idea innovation funnel
     

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135. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     production
     idea innovation funnel
     

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136. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     production
     idea innovation funnel
     innovation railroad
     

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

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

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

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140. @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
     

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141. @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
     filtering for ‘sure thing’
     
     
     focus on risk reduction
     
     
     bureaucracy
     
     
     paperwork
     

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142. @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
     filtering for ‘sure thing’
     
     
     focus on risk reduction
     
     
     bureaucracy
     
     
     paperwork
     lack of psychological safety
     innovation teams
     

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143. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     this starts to become a lot like work
     

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144. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     can you try too hard
     to innovate?
     

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145. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     the fauxnovation
     

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

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147. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     innovation keeping the
     lights on
     

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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156. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     (actually, this is fine)
     

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

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158. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     sometimes, disguises have value
     

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

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

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161. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     work … work … yawn
     

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162. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     1 + 1 = 3
     double win
     

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163. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     this works for people, too
     

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164. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     the daily grind exhausts teams
     
     
     

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165. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     the daily grind exhausts teams
     
     
     play restores them
     

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166. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     play helps adaptation
     people play
     
     
     robots don’t play
     

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167. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     play can turn into a product
     “our founder wrote this on a plane, for fun.”
     

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168. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     ok but we can’t play all the time?
     

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169. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     year 1
     peas
     cotton
     

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170. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     peas cotton
     year 2
     

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171. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     year 3
     peas
     cotton
     

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172. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     peas cotton
     year 4
     

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

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174. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     week 1
     play
     daily chores
     

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175. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     play daily chores
     week 2
     

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176. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     week 3
     play
     daily chores
     

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177. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     play daily blah
     week 4
     

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178. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     rotations
     

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179. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     10% time
     every friday afternoon you
     can do a cool side-project
     (tends to fall apart in presence of deadlines)
     

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180. @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
     or …
     

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

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182. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     play isn’t always easy
     especially in organisations
     

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183. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     play has consequences
     

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184. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     lost productivity
     play has consequences
     

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185. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     untracked productivity
     play has consequences
     

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186. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     failure
     play has consequences
     

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187. remember peanut nitroglycerine?
     

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188. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     

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189. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     so …
     

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190. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     so …
     • play, to innovate
     

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191. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     so …
     • play, to innovate
     • iterate freely and measure
     (with caution)
     

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192. @holly_cummins
     #RedHat
     so …
     • play, to innovate
     • iterate freely and measure
     (with caution)
     • look for the double-win
     

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193. thank you
     
     
     @holly_cummins
     slides
     

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