Agile Strategy Development

Every organization needs to innovate. But what type of innovation to give priority to? This simple matrix with four types of innovation may help. Innovation basically means introducing something new (‘nova’). This “something new” can be anything and that’s where the problem starts. In two ways. - First, by an overemphasis on product (or service) innovation, thereby not giving enough attention to other types - Second, by getting overwhelmed by all the innovation opportunities that are out there. To solve both problems at the same time, it helps to gain some clarity on what types of innovation there are. To that end, I’ve created this simple 2x2 matrix containing what I think are the four most important types of innovation for every organization. Let me first explain the two axes. The first is the inward-outward axis. Outward-oriented innovations are those innovations that are mostly targeted at the market, at doing something new for customers. Inward-oriented innovations, on the other hand, are innovating the organization itself. On the second axis, Operational innovations are typically quite technical and tangible, and focused on the practical work and output. Strategic innovations, on the other hand, regard how the organization is functioning overall and how it creates value. This leads to the following four types of innovation: 1. Product Innovation. The most well-known type of innovation in which you change, improve or renew an organization’s products and/or services, or create new ones. 2. Process Innovation. Often efficiency and quality-driven to improve the way the organization works on a day-to-day basis. This can concern any type of process. 3. Business Model Innovation. A newer type, focused on changing how the organization creates and captures value. Often focused on developing new revenue models. 4. Management Innovation. Less commonly known but critical, this type concerns innovating how an organization is organized, managed, and led. Often implies decentralization. All four types are important and with this matrix you can start managing your innovation portfolio. Ask yourself questions like: Do I have sufficient initiatives in all quadrants? And, which type of innovation should get priority now? [Featured in The Strategic Leadership Playbook. Originally published in June, 2023] More of this? For 63 more tools like this, plus step-by-step instructions for using them, get The Strategic Leadership Playbook. See link in the comment below. #innovationmanagement #processimprovement #productdesign #businessmodel

One critical skill of great Product Managers is that they can take an immense amount of information and make sense out of it to find a path forward. Your job isn’t just to get the data, it’s to create action out of that data. But this is where many people get paralyzed. For product managers who struggle with this, I find tools like Affinity mapping extremely helpful to help organize your thoughts. Affinity Mapping is a basic facilitation and collaboration tool, but it’s extremely powerful. Put simply, it’s a practical way to sort through different pieces of data, group them into common themes, and discover valuable insights. Whether you're dealing with complicated user research or trying to get everyone on the same page, this method helps you focus and find your way forward. Here's how to run an Affinity Mapping session that's not just productive, but also a bit of fun: 1️⃣ Gather Your Data: Start with all the raw data you have – post-its from brainstorming, customer feedback, interview notes, you name it. Get it all on the table. Literally. 2️⃣ Invite the Right People: Bring together a diverse group from your team. Yes, diversity! You want different perspectives – designers, developers, marketers, and especially those who are often quiet but have brilliant thoughts simmering under the surface. 🧠 3️⃣ Create a Safe Space: Before diving in, set the stage for open collaboration. Remind everyone that every idea is valuable and we're here to discover, not judge. This is about finding patterns, not picking favorites. 4️⃣ Sort and Cluster: Now, get sticky! Start placing related ideas together. Don't overthink it. Go with your gut. You'll see themes start to emerge as you cluster similar thoughts. It's like a puzzle where the picture becomes clearer with each piece. 🧩 5️⃣ Label the Themes: Once you have your clusters, give each one a name that captures the essence of the ideas within it. These labels will be your guideposts for action later on. 6️⃣ Reflect and Discuss: Take a step back. What do you see? Any surprises? Discuss as a group and make sure everyone's voice is heard. This is where the magic happens – insights start to bubble up to the surface. 7️⃣ Prioritize and Act: Finally, decide what's most important. Which themes align with your goals? Which insights are game-changers? Make a plan to act on these priorities. Affinity mapping is not just about organizing thoughts; it's about unlocking the collective wisdom of your team. It's a powerful way to build consensus and ensure everyone's voice is heard. So, next time you're grappling with data overload, grab some sticky notes and start mapping! What else have you used to help organize your thoughts and data? #ProductManagement #UserResearch #Collaboration #AffinityMapping

Your Head of Product will tell you this: The best PMs aren’t product people. The best PMs are business people. Early in my career, I thought being a strong PM meant: ✅ Clean roadmaps ✅ On-time releases ✅ Backlog grooming like a pro I checked every box—and still missed the mark. Because none of that matters if the product doesn’t drive the business. Old way: PMs manage features, coordinate teams, and keep the engine running. New way: PMs challenge assumptions, prioritize by impact, and own outcomes—not just outputs. Before anything goes on the roadmap, ask: - What business metric does this move? - What customer problem does it solve? - Why now? When you start thinking like a business owner—not just a product owner—everything changes. Here are 3 ways to make that shift: ✅ Take the initiative to drive action. Don’t wait for direction—own the next move. -> Frame problems, not just solutions. -> Bring data and customer insights to support your case. -> Proactively align with cross-functional partners. 💡 Actionable step: Use a BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) to pitch new ideas: - What we’re proposing - Why it matters to the business - What we need to move forward ✅ Ensure the team knows the vision you’re pursuing. People don’t rally behind features—they rally behind purpose. -> Set clear outcomes, not just outputs. -> Anchor sprints to customer impact. -> Tell the story behind the roadmap. 💡 Actionable step: Start each sprint with a one-liner: "This week, we’re solving this problem for this customer because it supports this business goal." ✅ Prioritize by business impact. Great PMs don’t chase effort—they chase outcomes. -> Tie every feature to a metric that matters. -> Cut what doesn’t move the needle. -> Make tradeoffs visible and deliberate. 💡 Actionable step: Make sure every feature on the roadmap is linked to a prioritized strategic initiative. If it doesn’t ladder up, it doesn’t ship. Final thought: You don’t need an MBA. But you do need to think like a GM. -- 👋 I’m Ron Yang, a product leader and advisor. Follow me for insights on product leadership & strategy.

I love Impact Mapping because it's helpful in so many ways - even with prioritization! Like the KANO model, Impact Mapping is not a prioritization method in itself but it can help you to determine relevant features in the first place which you can further evaluate for prioritization. What does "relevant" mean in this context? As product people we define products that create both user value (desirable) and business value (viable). We get flooded with requests or ideas that look random. How can we pick the right ones to further evaluate, so that we have high confidence right from the beginning that our ideas are aligned with business goals and product strategy? ✨✨✨ Enter the magic world of Impact Mapping ✨✨✨ Impact Mapping by Gojko Adzic "is a lightweight, collaborative planning technique for teams that want to make a big impact with software products. [...] Impact maps help delivery teams and stakeholders visualise roadmaps, explain how deliverables connect to user needs, and communicate how user outcomes relate to higher level organisational goals." - impactmapping.org It has been widely adopted in software product and project management. Nowadays, Impact Maps guide discovery, OKRs, Opportunity Solution Trees, and more (see image). They help eliminate non-aligned elements and focus on relevant features, tasks, ideas, and conversations that contribute to business goals and user outcomes. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀: There are SO MANY cases you do an Impact Map for, I can't list them all. In prioritization some cases are: ● check your roadmap / backlog / idea bank against business goals every now and then ● ideate/select solutions (initiatives or features) for relevant Outcomes that you describe in OKRs ● find outcomes that pay into business goals in the first place ● focus only on outcomes and solutions that serve a specific persona's needs (the Apple way) ● ... 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 Facilitation, moderation, ideation, strategic thinking, discovery/analytical thinking 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 1️⃣ Goal: Start from a business or product goal you want to achieve 2️⃣ Actors: Identify actors that can have a pos. or neg. impact on achieving our goal. Pick the most impactful actors. 3️⃣ Impact: Identify behaviours that we want the actors to show. Write them in outcomes. Use adjectives and superlatives to articulate the improvement. Pick outcomes that potentially have the highest business & user value. 4️⃣ Deliverables: Ideate solutions that will help you reach these outcomes. Identify the ones that potentially have high user impact. Identify which ones you want to test, consider to plan in, or reject. 👆This is easy but not simple. Group mapping requires strong moderation skills to avoid getting lost in discussions. Writing effective outcomes can be challenging, but there are helpful tricks available. Note: There are lots of nuances to an Impact Map that I haven't mentioned in this post.

Timeless Brands? HOW TO survive generational shift. Brands that don’t adapt risk fading fast. Legacy appeals like tradition, status, or performance alone no longer cut it. Today’s consumer evaluates not just what a brand sells, but how it behaves, ethically, culturally, and how well it evolves with them. +MILLENNIALS pushed digital convenience and authenticity. +GEN Z demands transparency, inclusivity, and real-time engagement. +GEN ALPHA will expect AI-native experiences and seamless omnichannel. >>TOP FEARS, contradictions & tensions<< One core challenge is managing internal contradictions. Heritage brands especially must walk the line between honoring tradition and embracing change, without alienating loyal audiences. +Tradition vs. Transformation +Profit vs. Purpose +Authenticity vs. Virality +Speed vs. Strategy +Control vs. Openness Brands face tension as consumers demand purpose, while investors expect growth. And chasing trends may win clicks but risks trust if it lacks authenticity. In today’s culture, relevance must be earned, not manufactured. >>BRAND identity & positioning<< Storytelling rooted in heritage is losing traction. Younger consumers want brands that reflect their values and worldviews. To stay relevant, brands must rethink their tone and purpose, often by co-creating with or hiring younger voices. +Cultural Mapping: Decode each generation’s values, symbols, and language to build resonant narratives. +Design Thinking: Use empathy-led tools, ethnographic research, personas, prototyping, to meet generational needs. >>SYSTEMATIC product innovation<< Static product lines and infrequent updates no longer work. Agile development, UX-first design, sustainability, and inclusivity are now baseline expectations. +Continuous Iteration: Move beyond one-and-done launches, consumers expect constant evolution. +Cultural Relevance: Use trend forecasting and cultural insights to align stories with social and emotional realities. >>AGILE marketing & communication<< High-production ads are losing ground to fast, authentic, social-first content led by influencers, UGC, micro-trends, and native storytelling on TikTok, Instagram, and emerging platforms. +Agile Marketing: Run short, iterative campaigns to test, learn, and adapt in real time. +Omnichannel Presence: Deliver seamless experiences across digital and physical, powered by AI, AR/VR, and real-time personalization. +Ethics, Sustainability & Inclusion: Go beyond performative moves, embed responsibility into your brand’s core. Conclusion Brands must do more than adapt—they must become adaptive. That means embracing discomfort, decentralizing control, and prioritizing cultural fluency and ethical transparency. Explore curated brand case studies to get inspired for what’s next. Featured brands: Adidas Balmain Burberry Carolina Herrera Chanel Gucci Hermès Miss Dior Louis Vuitton #beautybusiness #beautyprofessionals #luxurybusiness #luxuryprofessionals #genZ

Scrum as a Service: When Agile Teams Become Ticket Processors Scrum as a Service is when Agile teams are execution units, taking orders instead of owning value delivery. They don’t solve problems; or shaping the product, they just code and close Jira issues. It’s what happens when companies adopt Scrum mechanically but keep traditional thinking and control structures intact. Symptoms of Scrum as a Service 1) No Product Ownership The PO is a backlog manager, not a decision-maker. Teams can’t challenge priorities. The backlog is a job assignment queue. Sprint Planning is a scheduling exercise, not a conversation about functional or technical trade-offs. 2) No Cross-Discipline Collaboration UX, DevOps, and Security exist outside the team, creating slow handoffs. Developers get fully fleshed-out requirements, not problems to solve. Agile teams are ticket processors, not value creators. 3) Nothing Changes Daily Scrums become status meetings for managers. Retros don’t lead to improvements, just performance reviews. Teams are judged by team outputs like velocity, not business outcomes. How This Happens 1) No Organizational Change Leadership keeps command and control, just renaming old roles. 2) Waterfall Thinking Teams have fixed scope and deadlines, no room for continuous discovery or progressive elaboration. 3) POs as Middlemen, Not Leaders POs relay stakeholder demands instead of shaping product strategy. 4) SMs are Managers. Not Coaches SMs push teams to move faster rather than helping them achieve a sustainable pace. How to Fix It 1) Give Teams Ownership Let teams define and prioritize their backlog. Facilitate direct feedback loops with users, not just stakeholder requests. Make POs strategic leaders, not order-takers. 2) Tear Down Silos Embed UX, DevOps, QA, and Security into the Scrum team. Stop treating devs as coders for hire. Make them coequal partners in product thinking. 3) Shift to Outcome Metrics Stop measuring success by velocity, throughput, or tickets. Track customer impact, retention, usability, and product adoption. Ask: Are we solving problems or just releasing code? 4) Decentralize Decision-Making Replace top-down roadmaps with team-driven prioritization. Let teams influence scope, trade-offs, and release planning. Encourage teams to experiment and innovate. 5) Foster Continuous Improvement Make retros actionable. Give teams time for technical excellence, like refactoring, automation, and innovation. Shift from feature delivery to sustainable, high-quality product development. From Execution Teams to Product Teams Scrum teams should be value creators, not feature factories. Agile is meant to empower teams, not turn them into Jira clerks. If teams can’t challenge priorities, shape solutions, adjust processes, or innovate, then you don’t have Agile. You have Scrum as a Service. Does your organization trust teams to own the product? If not, Scrum isn’t the problem. Your structure is.

The most common timeboxing mistake is treating it like a to-do list with deadlines. When you timebox correctly, you're not measuring success by task completion. You're learning how long things actually take, so you can better plan future work. If you don't finish a task in its allocated time block, don't bleed into the next one. Instead, ask yourself: "How many more timeboxes will I need to complete this?" Then, schedule accordingly. The key is focusing on input (your time and attention) rather than output (which you can't always control). By tracking and adjusting based on real data about how you spend your time, you become more realistic and effective with your planning. Remember that as long as you’re focused on what you said you’d do, when you said you’d do it, you’re succeeding.  Want more focus and productivity tips? Join 150,000+ subscribers to my weekly newsletter (link in my profile).

Strategy Maps: The Secret to Making Strategy Work Brilliant strategies often fail—not because they’re wrong, but because they’re too complex to execute The fix? Strategy Maps. They simplify, visualise, and communicate your strategy so everyone can act on it. ☑ What a great Strategy Map does: ↳ Connects the dots: Links financial goals, customer needs, processes, and capabilities. ↳ Tells a story: Explains strategy visually so anyone—from frontline staff to the board—gets it. ↳ Drives focus: Highlights priorities and eliminates distractions. ☑ Why simplicity wins in strategy: ↳ Complexity confuses; simplicity inspires action. ↳ When people understand the “why,” they own the plan. ↳ Clear communication turns strategy into a shared mission, not a leadership memo. ☑ How to build Strategy Maps that work: 1️⃣ Start with outcomes—tie everything to your mission and vision. 2️⃣ Use plain language—clarity beats jargon. 3️⃣ Show cause-and-effect—map how goals connect. 4️⃣ Make it visual—one page beats a 50-slide deck. The best strategy is the one everyone can rally behind—and Strategy Maps make that possible. P.S. If you like content like this, follow me for more!

In a world where stability feels comforting, your capacity to navigate uncertainty determines what's truly possible. According to McKinsey & Company's 2025 Adaptability Index, organizations with high change readiness outperform competitors by 52% in market share growth and demonstrate 47% faster recovery from market disruptions. Here are three ways to transform change resistance into strategic advantage: 👉 Create "future-back thinking" rituals. Regularly practicing visualization of desired future states before mapping backward reduces change anxiety by 64%. Design structured processes that normalize positive future imagination as a core organizational competency. 👉 Implement "change partnership" protocols. Pair stability-oriented team members with naturally adaptive colleagues to create balanced change navigation teams. These partnerships demonstrate 3.4x greater implementation success than traditional top-down change management. 👉 Practice "possibility mapping". Replace threat-response with opportunity identification when disruption emerges. Build adaptive capacity by immediately documenting three potential advantages for every perceived challenge in the change landscape. This works and neuroscience confirms it: constructive change engagement activates your brain's reward pathways rather than threat responses, enhancing creativity, reducing cortisol, and enabling higher-order problem-solving. Your organization's resilience isn't built on rigid planning—it emerges from a culture where change becomes the most reliable competitive advantage. Coaching can help; let's chat. Follow Joshua Miller #executivecoaching #change #mindset

I typically do not use the term “change management” (unless I’m working with a partner who wants or needs to use it).  “Managing” change implies order, planning & stability; the ability to forecast, direct & deliver outcomes. Yet very few change or transformation plans deliver what they set out to deliver, in the predicted timescales. We no longer operate in a stable world where we undertake a change project and move back to equilibrium. Our environment moves faster, acts in more interconnected ways & is full of ambiguity. Change is relentless & continuous. We need to focus on building adaptive capacity & creating a collective process, not on "managing" change as a discrete, manageable task.  Michael Hudson talks about shifting from “change management” to “change fitness”. He sets out three core leadership practices for enabling change: 1. Continuous sensemaking: This involves incorporating five minutes of sensemaking into existing team routines, understanding what is different or changing. Over time, this practice builds "complexity capacity" & the ability to hold onto multiple, often contradictory realities without becoming overwhelmed. 2. Strategic energy management: Treating people’s energy as a finite resource that needs to be deliberately managed, like any other resource.  3. Learning from navigation, not just success: Shifting from an outcome-focus to process-focus builds the ability to prevail in situations where the path forward is unclear. https://lnkd.in/eqQQM5FF Via Forbes. Graphic from Corporate Rebels.