Planning and testing

Planning vs. testing

Because we can't predict the future, time and resources devoted to planning are a less valuable investment than embracing agile methods that encourage experimentation and fuel rapid learning.

http://www.responsive.org/manifesto

In an era that demands you leverage the benefits of unpredictability, you need to create a culture of hypothesis-testing and quickly change course based on results.

http://www.inc.com/first-round-review/letting-go-of-efficiency-can-accelerate-your-company.html

Experiments require short-term losses for long-term gains.

http://hbr.org/2010/04/column-why-businesses-dont-experiment/ar/1

http://www.innovationmanagement.se/2011/11/15/unlearn-your-mba/ Minute 11.

The discovery model reflects what a company is like in its start-up phase.

In this period management is likely to be relatively informal, and even vague about how work should get done and to what end. Google began life using the discovery model, and to some extent still does. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6ce11196-35f3-11df-aa43-00144feabdc0.html

When pharmaceutical companies conduct clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of their drugs as part of the process for obtaining regulatory approval, some patients receive the drug and others some standard existing treatment or a sugar pill (placebo).

A comparison of the two sets of results tells us whether the drug improves patients’ symptoms and has side effects.

Many potential changes in your organizations can be subjected to a similar experiment: Implement the change in some places, but not in others, and compare performance in the two groups to learn whether the change is effective. https://hbr.org/2014/10/experiment-with-organizational-change-before-going-all-in/

The most traditional view of strategy sees its chief aim as the definition of the company’s long-term objectives, action programs and resource allocation priorities.

Because strategic planning generally happens annually, it shares the same shortcomings for companies as for countries with centrally planned economies: misallocation of resources when market conditions change and difficulty responding to changed realities. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-strategic-is-your-board/

Further inspiration https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-do-we-become-agile-1542611