The Decision Stack - Speaker Deck

The Decision Stack

by Martin Eriksson

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THE DECISION STACK CONNECTING THE DOTS FROM VISION TO ACTION @BFGMARTIN

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@BFGMARTIN @bfgmartin

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@BFGMARTIN 25+ YEARS 200+ CITIES 500+ INTERVIEWS 70+ STARTUPS

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HOW DO WE KNOW IF WE’RE BUILDING THE RIGHT THING? @BFGMARTIN

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WHAT SHOULD WE DO? WHY ARE WE DOING IT? HOW ARE WE DOING IT? @BFGMARTIN

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DECISIONS @BFGMARTIN

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DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS @BFGMARTIN DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONSDECISIONSDECISIONSDECISIONSDECISIONSDECISI DECISIONS

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@BFGMARTIN DECREASE DECISION OVERLOAD

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@BFGMARTIN INCREASE DECISION VELOCITY & QUALITY

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@BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY THE DECISION STACK OBJECTIVES OPPORTUNITIES OBJECTIVES NO NO NOT DOING THIS NOT DOING THIS NO NO PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES NO NO

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Decisions from latin: decidere “to cut off" @BFGMARTIN

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@BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY THE DECISION STACK OBJECTIVES OPPORTUNITIES OBJECTIVES How? How? How? Why? Why? Why? PRINCIPLES How? Why? OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN VISION THE DECISION STACK OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES How? Why? Why? PRINCIPLES ??? OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES @BFGMARTIN DECISIONCEPTION VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTI O O OBJECTI O O VISION STRATEGY OBJECTI O O OBJECTI O O

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@BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY BUILDING YOUR DECISION STACK OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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WHY @BFGMARTIN VISION

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@BFGMARTIN “TO BE THE LEADING PRODUCT COMMUNITY IN THE WORLD” MIND THE PRODUCT - 2015

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@BFGMARTIN “TO MAKE PRODUCT PEOPLE MORE SUCCESSFUL BY COMING TOGETHER TO FURTHER OUR CRAFT” MIND THE PRODUCT - 2018

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75% OF VENTURE BACKED STARTUPS FAIL NUMBER 1 REASON? LACK OF FOCUS HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL @BFGMARTIN VISION = FOCUS

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@BFGMARTIN VISION = MOTIVATION “TO MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES BEYOND BASIC TASKS, GIVE THEM AUTONOMY, MASTERY, AND PURPOSE - THE DESIRE TO DO SOMETHING THAT HAS MEANING AND IS IMPORTANT.” DANIEL PINK - MIT & THE SURPRISING TRUTH ABOUT WHAT MOTIVATES US

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@BFGMARTIN VISION = MOTIVATION “WE NEED MISSIONARIES, NOT MERCENARIES” JOHN DOERR - KLEINER PERKINS

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@BFGMARTIN VISION = ALIGNMENT

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@BFGMARTIN VISION TO BE THE (LEADING/BEST) (PROVIDER/SUPPLIER) OF (CUSTOMER FOCUSED/MARKET DRIVEN) (SOLUTIONS/PRODUCTS/SERVICE)

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@BFGMARTIN VISION THERE IS NO FILL-IN-THE-BLANK VISION STATEMENT

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@BFGMARTIN GOOD VISION ▸ Is customer-centric ▸ Is concise and clear ▸ Sets an audacious goal ▸ Avoids detail

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@BFGMARTIN BAD VISION ▸ Is company centric ▸ Doesn’t tackle challenges ▸ Sets you up for bad strategy

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@BFGMARTIN “Our vision is to create a better everyday life for many people.” IKEA “Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. (*If you have a body, you are an athlete.)” NIKE “To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy” TESLA “To help bring creative projects to life.” KICKSTARTER “A world without poverty.” OXFAM

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HOW @BFGMARTIN PRINCIPLES

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@BFGMARTIN PRINCIPLES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN “IT’S NOT HARD TO MAKE DECISIONS WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR VALUES ARE.” ROY E. DISNEY - DISNEY

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@BFGMARTIN “Job Seekers come first - Recruiters will follow” MONSTER “Focus on the user and all else will follow” GOOGLE “Put merchants first” SHOPIFY “Conversion trumps profitability optimisation” KLARNA

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@BFGMARTIN PRODUCT PRINCIPLES DESIGN PRINCIPLES VALUES ▸ Framework for decision making ▸ Should help all the tiny decisions you and your team have to make every day ▸ Specific, actionable “rules” ▸ Manifestation of your vision

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@BFGMARTIN EVEN OVER STATEMENTS Get specific about the trade-offs: ▸ Conversion even over revenue ▸ User growth even over revenue ▸ Mobile experience even over desktop

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@BFGMARTIN EVEN OVER STATEMENTS Recognise these? ▸ Individuals and interactions over processes and tools ▸ Working software over comprehensive documentation ▸ Customer collaboration over contract negotiation ▸ Responding to change over following a plan

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@BFGMARTIN GOOD PRINCIPLES ▸ Make decisions easy ▸ Describe how you want to build your product ▸ Are specific to your company ▸ Are easy to remember ▸ Evolve over time

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@BFGMARTIN BAD PRINCIPLES ▸ Are meaningless fluff ▸ Everyone wants to make products “delightful” ▸ Don’t differentiate you

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@BFGMARTIN INCREASE DECISION VELOCITY DECREASE CONFLICT & DEPENDENCIES PRINCIPLES

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WHAT @BFGMARTIN STRATEGY

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WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO ACHIEVE YOUR VISION? @BFGMARTIN

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@BFGMARTIN STRATEGY VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN STRATEGY “TACTICS WITHOUT STRATEGY IS THE NOISE BEFORE DEFEAT” SUN TZU - THE ART OF WAR

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STRATEGY @BFGMARTIN

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@BFGMARTIN STRATEGY SWOT | Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats SCORE | Strengths, Challenges, Options, Responses, and Effectiveness SOAR | Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results NOISE | Needs, Opportunities, Improvements, Strengths, and Exceptions

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@BFGMARTIN STRATEGY YOUR CURRENT SITUATION THE OUTCOME YOU’RE AIMING FOR POSSIBLE ACTIONS + + OPPORTUNITIES TO LEVERAGE +

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@BFGMARTIN WHAT IS YOUR SITUATION? CUSTOMERS, MARKET, CONTEXT

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@BFGMARTIN WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES? COMPETITION, CHANGING BEHAVIOUR

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@BFGMARTIN WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES? MARKET, TECHNOLOGIES, TRENDS

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@BFGMARTIN WHAT ACTIONS CAN WE TAKE? VALUABLE, USABLE, FEASIBLE

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$ @BFGMARTIN VALUABLE TO CUSTOMERS + YOUR BUSINESS

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@BFGMARTIN Situation: UK used car market is huge, but highly fragmented, and famous for it’s poor customer experience Opportunities: Huge market barely penetrated by e-commerce, that would take significant capital to succeed in Threats: US companies looking to expand, UK offline businesses catching on and investing in e-commerce Strategy? Build the best possible experience, raise enough money to build a big business, and do it quickly.

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@BFGMARTIN

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@BFGMARTIN GOOD STRATEGY ▸ Is based on your current reality ▸ Tackles challenges ▸ Outlines the value to your customers ▸ Includes coherent actions ▸ Emphasizes focus over compromise

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@BFGMARTIN BAD STRATEGY ▸ Is full of meaningless fluff ▸ Pretends there are no challenges ▸ Mistakes goals for strategy ▸ Sets bad strategic objectives

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@BFGMARTIN A SERIES OF PRODUCT/MARKET FITS GEOGRAPHIES SEGMENTS PERSONAS CHANNELS PRODUCT VALUE CHAIN NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN STRATEGY IS ART + SCIENCE STRATEGY IS JUST LIKE A SCIENTIFIC HYPOTHESIS - AN INDUCTIVE LEAP THAT MUST BE SUBJECTED TO THE SAME LOGICAL AND EMPIRICAL TESTS BEFORE IT CAN BE VALIDATED

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@BFGMARTIN STRATEGY IS HARD THE ONLY WAY TO KNOW YOU’VE PICKED THE RIGHT STRATEGY IS TO VALIDATE IT WITH CUSTOMERS

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WHAT NEXT @BFGMARTIN OBJECTIVES

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@BFGMARTIN OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN DECLARE INTENT GIVE AUTONOMY ▸ Socialise vision and strategy with your organisation and team ▸ Let them work out how they can help achieve it in their areas

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@BFGMARTIN “IF YOU TELL PEOPLE WHERE TO GO, BUT NOT HOW TO GET THERE, YOU’LL BE AMAZED AT THE RESULTS” GEORGE S. PATTON - US ARMY

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COMPANY GOALS INDIVIDUAL GOALS INDIVIDUAL GOALS INDIVIDUAL GOALS INDIVIDUAL GOALS TEAM GOALS TEAM GOALS @BFGMARTIN CONTROL

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TEAM A OBJECTIVES INDIVIDUAL OBJECTIVES INDIVIDUAL OBJECTIVES TEAM B OBJECTIVES INDIVIDUAL OBJECTIVES INDIVIDUAL OBJECTIVES STRATEGY GAP @BFGMARTIN COMMITMENT VISION GOALS

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@BFGMARTIN OBJECTIVES ▸ Qualitative and Inspirational ▸ Time Bound ▸ Actionable KEY RESULTS ▸ Quantify the objective ▸ How do we know if we’ve succeeded? ▸ Max 3 metrics

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@BFGMARTIN IS YOUR BUSINESS FOCUSED ON DELIVERING CUSTOMER VALUE AND BUSINESS RESULTS (OUTCOMES) OR ON SHIPPING FEATURES / HITTING METRICS (OUTPUTS)?

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@BFGMARTIN OUTCOMES NOT OUTPUTS ▸ Features, stories, bugs, and lines of code are worthless if they don’t achieve an outcome ▸ Outcomes are meaningful to the business and measurable by the team

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@BFGMARTIN OUTCOMES HAVE IMPACT ▸ Thinking further: what impact do your intended outcomes have? ▸ How do they change your customers’ lives or work?

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@BFGMARTIN “THERE IS NOTHING QUITE SO USELESS AS DOING WITH GREAT EFFICIENCY SOMETHING THAT SHOULD NOT BE DONE AT ALL” PETER DRUCKER - IBM, SEARS, GM, GE & MORE

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WHAT NEXT @BFGMARTIN OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN OPPORTUNITIES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN OPPORTUNITY SOLUTION TREE OBJECTIVE OPPORTUNITY SOLUTION OPPORTUNITY OPPORTUNITY SOLUTION SOLUTION SOLUTION SOLUTION SOLUTION SOLUTION SOLUTION SOLUTION ASSUMPTION TEST ASSUMPTION TEST ASSUMPTION TEST BY TERESA TORRES

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@BFGMARTIN DECISION STACK / OST VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVE OPPORTUNITY SOLUTION ASSUMPTION TEST

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@BFGMARTIN OPPORTUNITIES/ASSUMPTIONS WHERE TO START? THE RISKIEST ASSUMPTION ON THE HIGHEST IMPACT OPPORTUNITY

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@BFGMARTIN OPPORTUNITIES/ASSUMPTIONS RAT MVP >

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@BFGMARTIN OPPORTUNITIES/ASSUMPTIONS “MAXIMISING THE RATE OF LEARNING BY MINIMISING THE TIME TO TRY THINGS.” TOM CHI, GOOGLE X

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IN PRACTICE @BFGMARTIN

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@BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES CORPORATE VISION PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES CORPORATE VISION to make the world around you universally accessible and useful PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES CORPORATE VISION to make the world’s information universally accessible and useful PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES CORPORATE VISION to create a home that takes care of the people inside it and the world around it PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES CORPORATE VISION to give everyone a voice and to show them the world PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN VISION STRATEGY CONNECTING THE DOTS OBJECTIVES OPPORTUNITIES To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful Leverage unrivalled store of data to better understand the content and serve the user with fast, accurate results PRINCIPLES Improve crawl rate to capture more data Improve ranking algorithm to better “understand” content Fast Accurate Secret Improve speed of search result computation NITIES

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THE TEAM @BFGMARTIN

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@BFGMARTIN OPEN LEADERSHIP ▸ Strategy = Leadership ▸ You have the overview, the insight, and the experience to make the intuitive leaps to good strategy ▸ But everyone owns the outcome, so don’t do it behind closed doors

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@BFGMARTIN “IF YOU’RE ONLY USING YOUR ENGINEERS TO CODE YOU’RE ONLY GETTING HALF THEIR VALUE” MARTY CAGAN

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@BFGMARTIN “IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE TO HIRE SMART PEOPLE AND THEN TELL THEM WHAT TO DO. WE HIRE SMART PEOPLE SO THEY CAN TELL US WHAT TO DO.” STEVE JOBS - APPLE

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@BFGMARTIN Detail Leadership Team Vision BALANCE The team is always involved At some point leadership gets out of the way

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COMMUNICATION @BFGMARTIN

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@BFGMARTIN CLARITY= TRANSPARENCY + UNDERSTANDING JOHN MAEDA - PUBLICIS SAPIENT

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@BFGMARTIN ACHIEVE CLARITY ▸ Over-communicate your vision and strategy - you can’t repeat it enough ▸ Print it on the walls ▸ Repeat it at every all-hands and progress update meeting

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@BFGMARTIN MISSION CLARITY AUFTRAGSKLÄRUNG

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CADENCE @BFGMARTIN

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@BFGMARTIN CHANGE “WE VALUE RESPONDING TO CHANGE OVER FOLLOWING A PLAN” AGILE MANIFESTO

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@BFGMARTIN VISION PRINCIPLES CHANGE OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES Constant Flux STRATEGY Static Evolves Slowly OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN CHANGE “STUBBORN ON THE VISION, FLEXIBLE ON THE DETAILS.” JEFF BEZOS - AMAZON

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Progress Check @BFGMARTIN 2019 2020 2019 Plan Q1 Review Q2 Review Q3 Review Q4 Review 2019 Results Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Progress Check Build a cadence for learning - are we making progress towards our goals? - what have we learned that might change our strategy? - what decisions do we keep weighing that might make for good product/design principles? CADENCE OF IMPROVEMENT

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YOUR JOB @BFGMARTIN

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@BFGMARTIN PRODUCT LEADERS ▸ Repeat the vision/mission often ▸ Ensure the full stack is in place and communicated often ▸ Tell the stories of how you got here and why this matters to customers

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@BFGMARTIN ▸ Use your product skills to help tell those stories and communicate the vision, mission, and principles ▸ Design better ways of working that put the customer at the centre ▸ Feed customer research and insights into the whole decision stack ▸ Keep asking why PRODUCT PEOPLE

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@BFGMARTIN “IF WE HAVE EVIDENCE, LET’S LOOK AT EVIDENCE. IF ALL WE HAVE ARE OPINIONS, LET’S GO WITH MINE.” JIM BARKSDALE - NETSCAPE

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@BFGMARTIN KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES How? How? How? Why? Why? Why? PRINCIPLES How? Why? OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN KEEP ANSWERING QUESTIONS VISION STRATEGY OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES User Research & insights PRINCIPLES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

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@BFGMARTIN GREAT VISION GREAT STRATEGY GREAT PRINCIPLES WHY WHAT HOW

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@BFGMARTIN INCREASES DECISION VELOCITY & QUALITY KNOWING WHY, WHAT, AND HOW DECREASES DECISION OVERLOAD & CONFLICT

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FURTHER READING @BFGMARTIN FIND OUT MORE AT THEDECISIONSTACK.COM THANK YOU!