Radhika Dutt | Iterate Less & Achieve more | BoS USA Online 2020

1. Radical Product Thinking
How to iterate less and achieve more
@RadhikaDutt

2. To build products we must:
● Iterate quickly
● Move fast and break things
● Fail fast, learn fast

3. “We don’t have the right designer on the
team, but that just means a few more
iterations… eventually we’ll get there.”

4. Our approach to
building products is
optimized for an
economy on an
upswing.

5. Calling BS

6. A bull market lets us throw money at the
problem.
A bear market forces us
to iterate less and
achieve more.

7. Some common “diseases”

8. Time for a checkup ?

10. Hero Syndrome
Focus is on scale instead
of having a real impact
High risk decisions,
perception of success
“BER’s vision was filled with superlatives: To be the biggest,
most modern airport to put Berlin on the map.”

11. Pivotitis
Rapid, frequent changes
in product direction
Confused customers,
confused product team
“Doubled capacity after construction started, added a floor
for retail.”

12. Obsessive Sales Disorder (OSD)
Trading off the long
game for quick gains
Fragmented product,
distracted engineers
“Making short term decisions to show politicians new shiny
objects to justify new rounds of funding.”

13. Locked-In Syndrome
Commitment to a
technology platform rather
than a problem space
“We’ve spent so much public money, we can’t scrap the
project and restart.”
Reduces flexibility in
solving customer needs

14. They’re common (but avoidable!)
problems that occur in the absence of
clear product vision and strategy.

15. Lean Agileand
Why can’t we just
our way out of trouble?

16. Lean Agileand
...are risk-mitigating execution techniques,
not value-creating product strategy tools
...are important, but not sufficient, for
creating vision-driven products

17. Speedcan look like this...

18. What is RADICAL PRODUCT THINKING ?

19. It’s a methodology for building
successful products that create the change
you want to see in the world.
...using a shared language
of product vision, strategy and execution

20. Vision
What’s the end-state
you want to create?
Strategy
How will you
create that?
Execution &
measurement
How will you measure
and adapt?
Prioritization
In what order will
you deliver it?
Team
What team and
culture do you
need in place?
You can systematically engineer your change:
...and communicate your rationale across
your team and within your organization

21. VISION
Define your

22. “Contributing to
human progress
by empowering
people to express
themselves.”

23. We must unlearn all we
know about a “good
vision”.

24. Your Vision should articulate...
● Whose world are you changing?
● What does their world look like today?
● Why does their world need changing?
● How are you going to change it for them?
… the Who, What, Why, and How

25. Use the Radical Vision Worksheet to iterate
on your vision until you’re happy with it
Today, when
identified group
want to
desirable outcome
,
they have to
current activity/solution(s)
. This is unacceptable, because
shortcomings of current solution
. We envision a world where
shortcomings are resolved
.
We’re bringing this world about through
broad technology/approach
.

26. Share!
1. Do you think your current vision is detailed
enough? Is it causing product diseases?
2. Could you engage your team in a visioning
exercise to create more alignment?

27. Singapore had to iterate less and
achieve more.

28. In 1950’s Singapore,
the majority had
no running water
or sanitation.

29. A radical vision
1. Intended change: “To create a
better life for Singaporeans”
2. The vehicle: “Produce a
first-world oasis in a
third-world region, a platform
to explore the region. ”

30. Defining your vision is only the first
step in engineering change.

31. Capabilities
C
Design
“What does our
solution look
like?”
DR
Real Pain Points Logistics
“How do we
deliver it?”
L
“What do
businesses need
in the oasis?”
“How do we
enable those
capabilities?”
Product Strategy
(RDCL is just a mnemonic)

32. Capabilities
C
Design
“What does our
solution look
like?”
DR
Real Pain Points Logistics
“How do we
deliver it?”
L
“What do
businesses need
in the oasis?”
“How do we
enable those
capabilities?”
1. Easy to
communicate
2. Easy to do
business
3. Looks and feels
like home
English as official
language
Talent, business
friendly policies
Clean and green
city
Language
education
Education, tackle
corruption
Get public buy-in,
water purification
Loans to fund the
efforts, investing in
infrastructure, rules
and the ability to
enforce rules

33. Prioritization means factoring in
the pesky problem of survival

35. Declaring
independence
Building alliances
Creating an army
BUILDING
VISION DEBT
IDEAL
DANGER!
INVESTING IN
THE VISION
Investing in
education
Taking loans to fund
development
Creating access
to water

36. Your product is your improvable
mechanism to create the change you
envision...
...which means anything can be your product.

37. How do we plug this in
to what we’re doing today?

38. Speed + Direction = Velocity
Before launching into Lean and Agile execution,
we must define the direction of our speed
+ =

39. Lean and Agile help you execute,
learn and iterate under uncertainty
Radical Product Thinking + Lean and Agile
Vision Strategy Execution
Radical Product helps you define and communicate
what you’re building and why

40. Share!
1. What are some examples of products you’re
working on?
2. What are some takeaways from Radical
Product Thinking that you’re going to apply?

41. Want to learn more?
● Get the free toolkit from www.radicalproduct.com
● Blog: Accessible from www.radicalproduct.com
● Upcoming book: Sept 2021 (join mailing list for free chapters)

42. Questions?
www.radicalproduct.com
@RadhikaDutt