Name: Agile Innovation Series: Getting Started with Agile Learning
Uploaded: 2022-09-23T12:58:56.308Z
Duration: 684.27
Description: You want to introduce Agile learning into your workplace, but don't know where to start? In this Streamly series, Garsen Yap, Director of Business Model Innovation, introduces us to this innovative process.

Agile Innovation Series_ Getting Started.vtt

English

{{00:00:19}}
I worked in innovation and
marketing for about 15 years.

{{00:00:23}}
Consumer goods pharmaceuticals most
recently in the industrial space.

{{00:00:28}}
Companies like Procter and Gamble,
Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer,

{{00:00:32}}
US, Canada, and also globally.

{{00:00:35}}
I've had the pleasure of
leading innovation teams from

{{00:00:39}}
inception through post launch on
multi-billion dollar brands, as

{{00:00:44}}
well as small scrappy local brands.

{{00:00:46}}
And I'm excited to be a part
of this pilot program, share

{{00:00:49}}
a couple things I've learned.

{{00:00:51}}
Hopefully, we inspire a few
people to try some new approaches.

{{00:00:54}}
And also I'd love to learn from
others who are a part of this

{{00:00:56}}
program, and who are watching.

{{00:01:02}}
I see Agile as an
approach to innovation.

{{00:01:06}}
It's flexible, it's fast, it's
iterative and it's lower cost.

{{00:01:11}}
And its primary purpose really is
to learn as much as you possibly

{{00:01:16}}
can in the shortest possible time.

{{00:01:18}}
So that over time your innovation
becomes more successful.

{{00:01:22}}
So my experience, I know it
can be really hard to actually

{{00:01:25}}
practice Agile, since being an
environment center, you know.

{{00:01:29}}
In companies with large established
processes and how to innovate,

{{00:01:33}}
or that might not be used to
more innovative approaches.

{{00:01:36}}
In those environments that's not
how things are done, as a result,

{{00:01:40}}
Truly Agile processes, that we'll
talk about today, can be seamless

{{00:01:44}}
with skepticism or resistance.

{{00:01:59}}
So one of the biggest pitfalls is
figuring out the governance structure.

{{00:02:04}}
How are we going to, how are
we going to manage this thing?

{{00:02:07}}
And I would say probably more of
an issue in larger companies where

{{00:02:12}}
there's just this innate need to
you know, have clear and detailed

{{00:02:16}}
processes and procedures of how
innovation will work and listen,

{{00:02:19}}
I understand and appreciate that.

{{00:02:21}}
That is important to do.

{{00:02:24}}
But I also think that having
experienced agile thinking, Agile

{{00:02:28}}
needs to be treated differently.

{{00:02:29}}
Otherwise you can waste
an awful lot of money and

{{00:02:32}}
resources figuring all that out.

{{00:02:34}}
And the reason I say that is
that if you can imagine creating

{{00:02:39}}
an innovation process is an
enormous amount of effort.

{{00:02:42}}
You have to create it.

{{00:02:44}}
You have to lie in it.

{{00:02:45}}
You have to deploy it.

{{00:02:47}}
Who's gonna lead this.

{{00:02:48}}
How are we going to educate
people all over the world?

{{00:02:51}}
Who's going to be the key decision
maker in these situations.

{{00:02:55}}
Just a couple of examples of the
things you have to wrestle with.

{{00:03:00}}
Inevitably there'll be situations
you haven't thought about.

{{00:03:03}}
Oh yes.

{{00:03:04}}
There's this exception, oh now
that, now the model doesn't work.

{{00:03:06}}
So, so you're going
to miss things anyway.

{{00:03:09}}
So why not just start small
and start experimenting, get

{{00:03:12}}
some real data around what this
thing is, and that will inform

{{00:03:17}}
what your processes needs to.

{{00:03:19}}
Think of it more as agile learning
and not as agile innovation,

{{00:03:24}}
because, you know, that'll help
people focus on what really is

{{00:03:27}}
important to get into this process.

{{00:03:34}}
So that's the first one.

{{00:03:35}}
I think the second one is, I
would say being too stealth

{{00:03:40}}
about what you're doing.

{{00:03:42}}
It is important to get some
organizational commitment and

{{00:03:46}}
alignment so that you have air cover
and then you have resources and

{{00:03:51}}
money to do some workloads, right?

{{00:03:53}}
So you do want to make sure that
the company is truly committed to

{{00:03:57}}
actually experimenting in this space
and we'll let you do something.

{{00:04:02}}
That doesn't mean you need to be
meeting the executive committee every

{{00:04:06}}
single week and updating all the time.

{{00:04:08}}
You just want a couple of key folks
to know that something's cooking.

{{00:04:12}}
You know, it's going to help us with
innovation and that's kind of it.

{{00:04:21}}
The third pitfall is not having
enough, you know, true believers or

{{00:04:25}}
supporters that can help you with this.

{{00:04:28}}
You know, a lot of the time
you'll have a group, like I

{{00:04:30}}
know a little bit of Agile.

{{00:04:31}}
I watch a couple of talks or what not.

{{00:04:34}}
But not everybody, you might not
have enough people to understand how

{{00:04:38}}
that process should work effectively.

{{00:04:41}}
They may start to become resistant
to anything that's different

{{00:04:44}}
and actually I have, I called
that the Schopenhauer effect.

{{00:04:47}}
This is one of my favorite quotes.

{{00:04:49}}
It comes from a 19th century German
philosopher named Arthur Schopenhauer.

{{00:04:56}}
And basically it's that all truth
passes through three stages.

{{00:05:01}}
First it's ridiculed.

{{00:05:02}}
Secondly, it is violently
opposed and thirdly, it is

{{00:05:06}}
accepted as being self-evident.

{{00:05:08}}
So I'm sure you've seen this.

{{00:05:10}}
I, I I've lived this so many times.

{{00:05:13}}
It can be very frustrating as
an innovator, especially in

{{00:05:16}}
the first couple of stages.

{{00:05:18}}
By the time you get to stage three,
it feels really good because it's

{{00:05:20}}
like, you kind of probably saw
that vision all along, but now

{{00:05:24}}
other people are getting this out.

{{00:05:25}}
So, but it is important to know that
you need enough believers to help

{{00:05:30}}
you get through to the goal line.

{{00:05:35}}
First thing is to start
small and experiment, right?

{{00:05:38}}
So find a project that's important
enough to actually work on, but not

{{00:05:43}}
mission critical for the company's
success, because usually that

{{00:05:45}}
means you've got lots of oversight,
lots of people watching you.

{{00:05:50}}
You want something you can fast
where you can make quick decisions

{{00:05:53}}
as a team, and quite frankly, where
you can have room to make a mistake.

{{00:05:58}}
It's all about getting quick
learning as you experiment.

{{00:06:06}}
Second thing I would say is
to really think of your self

{{00:06:10}}
and your team as a startup.

{{00:06:12}}
And now, again, that's really
big as a startup, but it really,

{{00:06:15}}
what I mean by that is you've got
limited means you have limited

{{00:06:19}}
time and you'd have to find more
scrappy way to move this forward.

{{00:06:23}}
What are the most important
questions that we need to answer?

{{00:06:27}}
What are the most important
things we need to do.

{{00:06:29}}
So we're maximizing all the
learnings and time using

{{00:06:32}}
respect basically less is more.

{{00:06:35}}
And the reason I think that's
important is that for many corporate

{{00:06:39}}
innovators tend to have honestly pretty
decent sized budgets, a lot of time.

{{00:06:45}}
It can very easily say, oh, well just
let's increase the sample size to 105

{{00:06:51}}
or whatever, or let's get that agency
to do it, cause I'm really busy.

{{00:06:54}}
I would very much advise against
outsourcing it or spending more

{{00:06:59}}
than what is absolutely necessary

{{00:07:06}}
Be prepared to bring a very
different mentality to the process.

{{00:07:11}}
What's the most essential assumptions?

{{00:07:14}}
What are the most critical questions?

{{00:07:16}}
Be willing to abandon ideas
early, and also be choiceful.

{{00:07:22}}
Well, why?

{{00:07:23}}
Well, cause we're not
getting as much learning, not

{{00:07:25}}
because you don't like it.

{{00:07:25}}
Right.

{{00:07:26}}
And, and most important for me,
is just having faith, right.

{{00:07:30}}
That you'll find the right path over
the course of the experimentation.

{{00:07:39}}
So an ideal project would be an early
stage discovery project where it might

{{00:07:44}}
be a new user group, a new target, and
you might not know much about them,

{{00:07:49}}
what their habits or practices are.

{{00:07:51}}
And you need to understand that.

{{00:07:52}}
So, typically you might say, oh,
well, let's go do some focus groups

{{00:07:56}}
across the country or across the
world, whatever the scope is, or

{{00:08:00}}
do a quant study to assess that.

{{00:08:02}}
So, instead of that, you might say,
you know what, let's, let's go.

{{00:08:07}}
Let's go recruit some
people on Craigslist, you

{{00:08:10}}
know, very different idea.

{{00:08:12}}
Actually, I read about this in
a book, Sprint by Jack Knapp.

{{00:08:18}}
It's really interesting and very
good learning for those who you

{{00:08:21}}
haven't read it yet, it's about
how to solve big problems and

{{00:08:25}}
testing ideas and just five ways.

{{00:08:26}}
So instead of, you know, having this
discussion guide that's super long and,

{{00:08:33}}
you know, reviewed by multiple groups.

{{00:08:36}}
Maybe you start by saying,
hey, I got five questions, five

{{00:08:39}}
questions I need to answer.

{{00:08:41}}
In previous lives, I literally having
discussion guides we could spend

{{00:08:46}}
weeks, you know, what are all the
possible questions we want to answer?

{{00:08:50}}
Let's get several layers of
management and people around

{{00:08:54}}
the world to input on this.

{{00:08:56}}
So, you know, this process
even get a discussion guide can

{{00:08:59}}
often take weeks if not longer.

{{00:09:02}}
And it's just in today's
world that's just too long.

{{00:09:05}}
In the early stages it's really,
what's critical assumption that

{{00:09:09}}
you need to understand or confirm
what must be true for your project

{{00:09:15}}
to move forward, start there.

{{00:09:17}}
So it kind of comes down to the core
of the idea it's about agile learning.

{{00:09:22}}
And importantly, it's very probable,
likely, that the first couple of

{{00:09:28}}
experiments you run aren't going to
result in this enormous breakthrough

{{00:09:32}}
innovation that's going to put
your company on the map instead.

{{00:09:35}}
It'll probably teach you, oh,
that was really interesting.

{{00:09:37}}
We should do more of this or
we really shouldn't do that.

{{00:09:40}}
And it informs your innovation process
that ultimately over time will lead

{{00:09:45}}
to that bigger innovation success.

{{00:09:50}}
Conclusion one, it can, I think
agile can be applied to all parts

{{00:09:54}}
of the innovation process, but
it's particularly helpful in

{{00:09:57}}
the early stages, especially for
folks who are starting to get used

{{00:10:01}}
to this and getting, you know,
company engagement, et cetera.

{{00:10:04}}
The next thing I'd say
is just, just go do it.

{{00:10:08}}
Go get some support and start learning.

{{00:10:12}}
Don't make this bigger
than it has to be.

{{00:10:14}}
You won't have a lot of the
answers up front, it's okay.

{{00:10:17}}
You know, but it's like,
it's like riding a bicycle.

{{00:10:19}}
It'll feel uncomfortable first, but
once you get going, surprisingly,

{{00:10:23}}
I think you'll get used to it.

{{00:10:24}}
Start on a smaller project.

{{00:10:26}}
Something that's important enough
to work on, but not so critical that

{{00:10:29}}
you'll have to risk mitigate by adding
sample sizes or adding, you know,

{{00:10:34}}
insurance in case something goes
wrong and involve a lot of people.

{{00:10:38}}
Get a small group of believers
to help figure this out with you.

{{00:10:43}}
So this is what agile
learning is all about.

{{00:10:45}}
It's messy, it's
uncomfortable, but it's good.

{{00:10:48}}
And ultimately it should
unlock some new ideas and new

{{00:10:50}}
possibilities for you and your team.

I worked in innovation and
marketing for about 15 years.

Consumer goods pharmaceuticals most
recently in the industrial space.

Companies like Procter and Gamble,
Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer,

I've had the pleasure of
leading innovation teams from

inception through post launch on
multi-billion dollar brands, as

And I'm excited to be a part
of this pilot program, share

Hopefully, we inspire a few
people to try some new approaches.

And also I'd love to learn from
others who are a part of this

I see Agile as an
approach to innovation.

It's flexible, it's fast, it's
iterative and it's lower cost.

And its primary purpose really is
to learn as much as you possibly

So that over time your innovation
becomes more successful.

So my experience, I know it
can be really hard to actually

practice Agile, since being an
environment center, you know.

In companies with large established
processes and how to innovate,

or that might not be used to
more innovative approaches.

In those environments that's not
how things are done, as a result,

Truly Agile processes, that we'll
talk about today, can be seamless

So one of the biggest pitfalls is
figuring out the governance structure.

How are we going to, how are
we going to manage this thing?

And I would say probably more of
an issue in larger companies where

there's just this innate need to
you know, have clear and detailed

processes and procedures of how
innovation will work and listen,

But I also think that having
experienced agile thinking, Agile

Otherwise you can waste
an awful lot of money and

And the reason I say that is
that if you can imagine creating

an innovation process is an
enormous amount of effort.

How are we going to educate
people all over the world?

Who's going to be the key decision
maker in these situations.

Just a couple of examples of the
things you have to wrestle with.

Inevitably there'll be situations
you haven't thought about.

There's this exception, oh now
that, now the model doesn't work.

So, so you're going
to miss things anyway.

So why not just start small
and start experimenting, get

some real data around what this
thing is, and that will inform

Think of it more as agile learning
and not as agile innovation,

because, you know, that'll help
people focus on what really is

I think the second one is, I
would say being too stealth

It is important to get some
organizational commitment and

alignment so that you have air cover
and then you have resources and

So you do want to make sure that
the company is truly committed to

actually experimenting in this space
and we'll let you do something.

That doesn't mean you need to be
meeting the executive committee every

You just want a couple of key folks
to know that something's cooking.

You know, it's going to help us with
innovation and that's kind of it.

The third pitfall is not having
enough, you know, true believers or

You know, a lot of the time
you'll have a group, like I

But not everybody, you might not
have enough people to understand how

They may start to become resistant
to anything that's different

and actually I have, I called
that the Schopenhauer effect.

It comes from a 19th century German
philosopher named Arthur Schopenhauer.

And basically it's that all truth
passes through three stages.

Secondly, it is violently
opposed and thirdly, it is

It can be very frustrating as
an innovator, especially in

By the time you get to stage three,
it feels really good because it's

like, you kind of probably saw
that vision all along, but now

So, but it is important to know that
you need enough believers to help

First thing is to start
small and experiment, right?

So find a project that's important
enough to actually work on, but not

mission critical for the company's
success, because usually that

means you've got lots of oversight,
lots of people watching you.

You want something you can fast
where you can make quick decisions

as a team, and quite frankly, where
you can have room to make a mistake.

It's all about getting quick
learning as you experiment.

Second thing I would say is
to really think of your self

And now, again, that's really
big as a startup, but it really,

Best Practice

You want to introduce Agile learning into your workplace, but don't know where to start? In this Streamly series, Garsen Yap, Director of Business Model Innovation, introduces us to this innovative process. 