CDOQ

There are thousands of technology companies working on building products, but only a few create products that delight their users. Generally, startup founders or product leaders start with a beautiful product vision, but what eventually gets released is not as pretty or delightful (see Figure 1). The main reason is that building products requires many people who think differently to work together, resulting in a compromise.  Figure 1 - Vision vs. Reality (image courtesy of Christine Wang) How do you build the culture and process that delivers products that delight users? The answer is simple: solve user problems and don’t compromise on the product vision. However, executing this simple idea is hard. Let's explore how we can make it a bit easier throughout the rest of this article. The organization needs a clear mission and an understanding of how solving user problems will deliver on that mission. Customers don’t buy your products because they like your mission; they buy them becau...

In Silicon Valley, the product development approach of releasing the most basic version of the product ( Minimum Viable Product or MVP ) to some users who would find it valuable compared to available options and then iterating the product based on user-feedback, is well understood. In the CPG ( Consumer Packaged Goods ) world, the approach of testing a new product idea before any development work is done is practiced regularly. It might be hard to develop an MVP for a new soap but we, in the technology product development, can test new product ideas before we start building an MVP. Performing this test also helps with positioning the product in the market. Following is the three step MBR ( M ental model, B enefit, R eason to believe) approach of testing new product ideas:  Testing new product ideas  Start with writing down the singular product idea and then follow the three step MBR process in writing.  1. M ental model: How do users think about the product cate...

It is not important to know everything but critical to know the difference between what you know and what you don't know. 

It is harder to reimagine what exists than to imagine what does not exist. 

Large heterogeneous systems work well under global policies executed locally with variance and transparency. 

A few pennies in the vase can make the flowers defy gravity. 

Boundaries make creativity pragmatic. 

The tech industry produces thousands of new products every year. How many products do you notice? How many wow you? Not many. The first iPhone wowed me. Google Search was awesome. Prezi was so cool. After these few examples, I really have to think hard on memorable products. The tech industry employs millions of very smart people worldwide. Most tech companies have a lot of cash. So, how is it that very smart people with a lot of money produce so many unmemorable and even bad products? To understand,  we have to examine how product development works in big tech environments . I have lead product development for many goods in the tech world. Let me take you behind the scenes. In any big organization, division of labor is in full force. Marketing and engineering are the two main groups involved in product development. To get started, someone in the marketing group writes a document called an MRD - Marketing Requirements Document. This doc...

Everything and everyone around you is someone else's idea. Are you living with your own ideas? 

There is no color without light . 

I have something to do with creation of all my problems. And, most of them exist only in my head.

Charlie Munger, one of my heroes, says that smart people are are often wrong because they don't use checklists for decision making. Here is Munger's checklist for problem solving: 1. Decide the "no-brainer" questions first 2. Apply Numerical fluency 3. Invert (think the problem in reverse) 4. Apply elementary multidisciplinary wisdom, never relying entirely upon others 5. Watch for combination of factors- the Lollapalooza effect Munger defines Lollapalooza as the critical mass obtained via a combination of concentration, curiosity, perseverance, and self-criticism, applied through a prism of multidisciplinary mental models.

I just finished reading a book which was part of my Complex Systems program in January. The book is a good introduction for anyone intersted in Complex System. It provides you with basic concepts of Complex Systems and its application to our Health Care, Education System, International Development, Ethnic Violance, etc. It will give you a new perspective on solving business problems.

We make decisions every day. Some big, some small. I noticed that most people do not have a framework that they apply to decision making. Most of the decisions are made on "gut-felling" and without required analysis. I attended an executive program on decision making at Harvard and as optional reading material, I read "Smart Choices" http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780767908863&itm=2 It outlines a very simple approach which can be applied to all decisions-business, personal, financial, etc. The recommended model is called PrOACT-URL . It is: Pr=Problem: Identify the problem correctly. E.g. when you buy a car, usually the problem is commute and not the car. O=Objectives: What are trying to achieve by solving the problem? You can have multiple objectives with one problem. A=Alternatives: What alternatives do you have and what alternatives can you create? C=Consequences: how well the Alternatives meet your Objectives?...