Innovation anti-patterns: bonkers beans and magic numbers

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

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

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

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

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat “everybody knows”

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

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

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@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

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

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

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

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat george washington carver

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@holly_cummins #RedHat george washington carver

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@holly_cummins #RedHat george washington carver

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat george washington carver 1894: first African American to earn a BSc 1943: first non-President to receive a national monument

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@holly_cummins #RedHat george washington carver 1894: first African American to earn a BSc 1943: first non-President to receive a national monument 1943: ship named after him

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

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peanut bread

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peanut bread

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peanut bread peanut sausage

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peanut bread peanut sausage

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peanut bread peanut sausage peanut coffee

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peanut bread peanut sausage peanut coffee

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peanut bread peanut sausage peanut coffee peanut paint

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peanut bread peanut sausage peanut coffee peanut paint

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peanut bread peanut sausage peanut coffee peanut paint peanut nitroglycerine

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peanut bread peanut sausage peanut coffee peanut paint peanut nitroglycerine

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

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat minimum viable product

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@holly_cummins #RedHat maximal viable product

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@holly_cummins #RedHat minimum viable prototype

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@holly_cummins #RedHat modestly visionary product

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@holly_cummins #RedHat

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@holly_cummins #RedHat mvp mvp mvp

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@holly_cummins #RedHat are we communicating? mvp mvp mvp

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat minimally valuable phrase

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@holly_cummins #RedHat

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

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@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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat mvp mvp mvp

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat innovations in improving soil quality

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat doing an MVP ‘right’: mueller visual designs user research responsive web app TDD devops

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@holly_cummins #RedHat doing an MVP ‘right’: mueller visual designs user research responsive web app TDD devops deployed to prod

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@holly_cummins #RedHat doing an MVP ‘right’: mueller visual designs user research responsive web app TDD devops deployed to prod order processing system

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@holly_cummins #RedHat doing an MVP ‘right’: mueller visual designs user research responsive web app TDD devops deployed to prod order processing system

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@holly_cummins #RedHat wizard of Oz mvp

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@holly_cummins #RedHat high uncertainty moderate uncertainty

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@holly_cummins #RedHat high uncertainty moderate uncertainty experiment

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@holly_cummins #RedHat high uncertainty moderate uncertainty experiment hypothesis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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@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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@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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@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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@holly_cummins #RedHat

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

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

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learning is only possible with psychological safety

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failed experiments are only possible with psychological safety

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is the org supportive of this?

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is the org supportive of this?

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat innovation funnels

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@holly_cummins #RedHat

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@holly_cummins #RedHat prune out the bad ideas early

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@holly_cummins #RedHat

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@holly_cummins #RedHat innovation funnel

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@holly_cummins #RedHat idea innovation funnel

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@holly_cummins #RedHat production idea innovation funnel

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@holly_cummins #RedHat production idea innovation funnel innovation railroad

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

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

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

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@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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@holly_cummins #IBM dedicated innovation team

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@holly_cummins #RedHat george washington carver

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@holly_cummins #RedHat why peanuts?

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@holly_cummins #RedHat

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat

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@holly_cummins #RedHat cotton exhausts soil

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@holly_cummins #RedHat cotton exhausts soil beans restore it

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@holly_cummins #RedHat cotton peanuts

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@holly_cummins #RedHat cotton peanuts

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@holly_cummins #RedHat cotton peanuts

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@holly_cummins #RedHat but there was a problem

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@holly_cummins #RedHat but there was a problem

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

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

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

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat 1 + 1 = 3 double win

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@holly_cummins #RedHat this works for people, too

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@holly_cummins #RedHat innovation teams are innovation monocultures

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@holly_cummins #RedHat peas cotton

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@holly_cummins #RedHat year 1 peas cotton

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@holly_cummins #RedHat year 2 peas cotton

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@holly_cummins #RedHat year 3 peas cotton

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@holly_cummins #RedHat year 4 peas cotton

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@holly_cummins #RedHat innovation team rest of team

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@holly_cummins #RedHat year 1 innovation team rest of team

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@holly_cummins #RedHat year 2 innovation team rest of team

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@holly_cummins #RedHat year 3 innovation team rest of team

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@holly_cummins #RedHat year 4 innovation team rest of team

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

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

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@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 …

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

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

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat the fauxnovation

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

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

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

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat “we need blockchain.”

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

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

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

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

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat sometimes, disguises have value

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

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat

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@holly_cummins #RedHat so …

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

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@holly_cummins #RedHat so … • don’t say MVP – say what you mean • experiment and measure to act

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@holly_cummins #RedHat so … • don’t say MVP – say what you mean • experiment and measure to act • beware the innovation silos

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@holly_cummins #RedHat so … • don’t say MVP – say what you mean • experiment and measure to act • beware the innovation silos • are you sneaking in fauxnovation?

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thank you @holly_cummins slides