“We don’t have time to experiment.”

I get this argument a lot.  

CPOs and CDOs share with me over and over again, that they would love to spend more time experimenting, building prototypes, and validating solutions.

However, the CEO expects them to build and get something launched as quickly as possible.

Taking time away from building to do product discovery, is a luxury that they simply cannot afford.

How do you overcome this organizational mindset? 

To get past this mindset (first to convince ourselves and then others), run the following impact/cost analysis.

If you like what you see. Then socialize it with the rest of the organization. Especially the CFO. They are going to love you.

Impact / Cost Analysis:

For the last 10 features (critical user journeys) that were just released,

1. Did each feature deliver the desired customer impact? Are they using it? (e.g adoption, retention, engagement, NPS metrics, etc.)
2. Did each feature drive a business benefit? Move the needle?  (e.g revenue, cost, churn, cycle time, etc.)
3. Can you back the above answers with data/metrics?
4. How much did you spend and how long did it take to develop the last 10 features?

Answer the first 3 questions with a yes/no/maybe. For question #4, use a high-level ballpark.

One big caveat, just releasing something is not considered an impact.  For this exercise to work, we want to measure business outcomes.

Potential results:

Mostly yes:

If you answered mostly yes to the first three questions, then you don’t need to worry about finding time to do product discovery.

Your team is already well tuned in to your customer’s needs and is building the right solution.  Your money and time (#4) are well spent. 

Mostly no / I don’t know:

If however, you answered mostly no or don’t know to the first three questions, then you have spent a tremendous amount of time and money (#4) on building something that either did not deliver an impact.  Or worse, you don’t know if it delivered an impact.  

In that case, you cannot afford NOT to stop and do proper product discovery.  Because if you continue to do the same, then you are just blindly building for building sake.  

What do you do next?

The analysis is the crucial first step.

The next step is to use the analysis to secure a product discovery pilot program. Which you can then use to show real value (as opposed to just calculations on a powerpoint slide).

If you run the pilot program right, 1 or 2 teams are all you need, will help you:

1. Change hearts and minds: You can talk about the benefits of discovery till you are blue in the face. But if you want people to change, you need to show it.
2. Scale the change: Use the win to expand the pilot to more teams or put in a more formal product discovery program.

Happy building!!