Digging deeper with User Stories

The INVEST acronym from the User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development book by Mike Cohn I think serves as a good guideline for defining User Stories. The following is from Doug Seven’s take on INVEST. INVEST stands for Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimatable, Small and Testable.

• Independent: The story should not carry with it dependencies, which can lead to estimating problems. Instead the story should be completely independent so that it can be worked on without pulling in a set of other stories.
• Negotiable: Stories should have room to negotiate – they are a starting point, not a contract.
• Valuable: The story should communicate the value to a user or customer, not to the developer. The story should define not only what a user can do, but what value the user gets from the implemented story. If there is no value, cut the story.
• Estimateable: You need to be able to estimate the amount of work required to implement the story. If it is too big and too daunting (an epic), break it up into smaller stories.
• Small: Similar to the previous, stories need to be small. Large stories are too complex to manage, and are typically more than one story compounded together.
• Testable: The implementation of the story needs to be testable. Define the tests that can be performed to validate the story was correctly implemented.

From a marketing perspective, you could develop user stories for many of your projects. For an example, consider developing a direct mail piece for a home roofing contractor: Using the standard outline for developing a user story: “As a [end user role], I want [the desire] so that [the rationale]. The user story may go something like this: As a roofing contractor, I would like to develop a 4-part mailing program targeting subdivisions of 20 to 24 year old homes.

• Using INVEST, I could look at this user story and conclude:
• Independent: Yes it is very independent.
• Negotiable: I think it is negotiable from the standpoint that you might be able to yse a 3 or 5 part or make some recommendations after initial testing.
• Valuable: I think presently it is rather weak in that area.
• Estimable: Time frames are very easily estimated.
• Small: The actual story is very small and well-defined.
• Testable: I think like most direct mail pieces, unless under a time constraint sample pieces could be sent and feedback given as additional pieces are developed and modified from the feedback.

Though this is a very easy initial user story, it still could be broken down into a variety of story points to put in the backlog, However, I think user stories for marketing should even go a step further. Using this example, they really should be re-directed so that they are written from the home owner’s perspective (the end user).

What could we create using our standard outline: “As a [end user role], I want [the desire] so that [the rationale]. As a homeowner, I would like information on the telltale signs that my roof needs inspected.

With this approach, you can see not only the need for supplying relevant content that is of value to the consumer but this story will strengthen your marketing. As you develop the piece, you may even find more content and/or a more targeted message.

P.S. Notice that I did not say replaced but inspected.

Related Post:

Using Stories to explain your Marketing Efforts

Start your Marketing with a User Story

Technorati Tags: Stories,Agile,Marketing,User Story,Invest

Small Business Lean Ebook

My guest on the Business901 Podcast last week was Ankit Patel, the founder of The Lean Way Consulting.This Ebook is a transcription of the podcast.  We discussed applying Lean principles to Small Business. Ankit is a Lean Practitioner that has taken his expertise to the front-line of many small business. Little theory was discussed in this conversation.

Small Business Lean

Find out about Ankit’s 6 month challenge (found on www.TheleanWayconsulting.com) outlined below:  

Get Results For Your Business

1. We set goals for 6 months and we will review the goals together and come up with a plan
2. Once you agree to the goals then we updated our progress on KBZNZ radio show (optional)
3. You are satisfied or you don't pay

Related Podcast::Small Business Lean

Related Posts:
Go to MoSCoW and improve your marketing Copy
User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development
evaluate your Customer Needs
Receiving Better Response Rates thru Agile

Work in Process is Wasteful even in Sales and Marketing

One of the tenants I am convinced of is that Work in Process is wasteful and unproductive. If you look at this from a Sales and Marketing Process it basically says that the more people you have in your sales and marketing funnel the more unproductive you are. A blog recently by Jim Benson of Personal Kanban said this (and more) in a recent post Inventory makes Work:

Inventory lowers organizational effectiveness because the time and money spent taking care of the inventory could have been spent making the company more successful. Therefore, Lean organizations tend to receive the things they need to operate at the last responsible moment, this is called “Just in Time” (JIT). A JIT organization does not take on inventory until the moment they need it and therefore spends as little as possible maintaining inventory, greatly reducing the risk of having overstock.

But inventory isn’t just “stuff.” Inventory for us as individuals includes anything we have that requires maintenance or on-going attention. We have responsibilities, they aren’t going away. We will have a yard, it will need to be mowed. Dishes need to be washed. Children need to be raised.

Inventory for sales and marketing is prospects! As you think about what stops your marketing from being effective it is all about trying to appeal to the masses and as a result losing effectiveness both in time and money. As Jim said above, you should be taking the time making your company more successful and working on ineffective or wasteful leads is not going to do it..

The past several years the buzz word has been Inbound Marketing. Though I am a advocate of the basic approach and an advocate of using Social Media I have found that it really has resulted in a failed marketing strategy for many companies. Though it has increased the number of prospects it has done little to increase qualified buyers. That is why there has been push back from many organizations. It just has not been effective as the principle seems to indicate. Just because we automated the process does not mean we are managing Work in Process better.  

So what happens if we limit work in process or the numbers of leads that we receive? Marketing to a targeted audience results in a cost savings and time savings. Would you need to hire more salespeople? Would you be able to use more experienced people at the right time and in the right place more often? Would you nurture and promote to a better qualified prospect? I believe the most important part of limiting Work in Process is that your message would simply be better. Not only would your information packet be much more targeted and information rich, it would also have a better chance to be delivered on time or in other words when a prospect is ready for it. Giving a prospect what he needs, when he needs it and how he wants it is a pretty important factor in today’s market. If you look at what vehicles prospects and your customers use to acquire the information they need, you will notice one important factor: they are just about all different. Multiplying that number by the number of prospects should certainly give you reason to start narrowing your field.  

Why is now, the best time to convert to this strategy? The market itself has caused a constriction for most companies. This constriction has narrowed your market that should enable you to readily identify your target market. What are the last minute adjustments or concessions you make (JIT) to capture the sale? These are the present value drivers of your business. Are these the value drivers that you are willing to live with in the long term? How do they help you in identifying your present and future market? 

Work in process is wasteful. It is wasteful in your personal life when not managed well, it is bad in manufacturing, it is bad from a sales and marketing perspective. Quit marketing at the top of your funnel. Instead learn how to manage your Work in Process!

P.S. By the way, I don’t even believe in a marketing funnel any more. I will tell you more about that later!

Technorati Tags: Lean,Sales Cycle,Marketing Funnel,Work in Process,JIT,Inventory,Prospects,Kanban,Agile Marketing

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put things off until the last responsible minute – Personal Kanban

One of the Personal Kanban tips that Jim Benson gave us in the Business901 Podcast:

We basically create different projects, and those projects, aren't atomized until the last possible minute. So we keep things in an aggregated form as long as we possibly can, which is a fancy way of saying that we procrastinate. But this is a good type of procrastination.

The other day I wrote and basically said; "You can put things off until the last responsible minute", which means that you're waiting until you have to get it done, which seems like procrastination, but what it actually is, is you're not doing something too soon.

So, lots of times we will start a task before we need to, and then as we're doing the task, more information or more knowledge will come to us and we will figure out "Oh! I should have done it a different way!" Then we end up having waste in the work that we've just done, because we started the work too soon.

On the other hand, there's the other type of procrastination which is the "I'm going to ignore it, until it becomes a problem." That's not good. Nobody wants to do that.

 
Personal Kanban

If you did not open the e-book, maybe this will entice you enough:

Any productive group that is inside an object that isn't part of that object is basically a cancer. So I've seen extremely productive, thoughtful, wonderful groups that act contrary to the needs of their organization, because of their disenfranchisement from that organization.- Jim Benson

Related  Podcast: Kanban too simple To be Effective?

Jim’s Web Sites:
Personal Kanban: personalkanban.com
Blog: ourfounder.typepad.com
Company: moduscooperandi.com

Business901 Related Information:
Marketing Kanban

Key Marketing Concepts from the Korean War

From Wikpedia: Boyd's key concept was that of the decision cycle or OODA Loop, the process by which an entity (either an individual or an organization) reacts to an event. According to this idea, the key to victory is to be able to create situations wherein one can make appropriate decisions more quickly than one's opponent. The construct was originally a theory of achieving success in air-to-air combat, developed out of Boyd's Energy-Maneuverability theory and his observations on air combat between MiGs and F-86s in Korea. Harry Hillaker (chief designer of the F-16) said of the OODA theory, "Time is the dominant parameter. The pilot who goes through the OODA cycle in the shortest time prevails because his opponent is caught responding to situations that have already changed."

Boyd hypothesized that all intelligent organisms and organizations undergo a continuous cycle of interaction with their environment. Boyd breaks this cycle down to four interrelated and overlapping processes through which one cycles continuously:

• Observation: the collection of data by means of the senses
• Orientation: the analysis and synthesis of data to form one's current mental perspective
• Decision: the determination of a course of action based on one's current mental perspective
• Action: the physical playing-out of decisions

Of course, while this is taking place, the situation may be changing. It is sometimes necessary to cancel a planned action in order to meet the changes.

This decision cycle is thus known as the OODA loop. Boyd emphasized that this decision cycle is the central mechanism enabling adaptation (apart from natural selection) and is therefore critical to survival.

I first ran across the material in the writings of Eric Ries of Startup Lessons Learned. Eric is the creator of the "Lean Startup" methodology and "The New Entrepreneurship". His conference The Startup Lessons Learned Conference on April 23 is fast approaching. He has a new website up at http://sllconf.com. and several scholarship programs up and running. You can view for the day (go take a look).

These concepts have influenced my thinking of marketing the past few months that I had to sit back and re-evaluate many of my own processes I had in place. Next week, I will release the 1st draft of my new E-book: “Still Looking at Marketing with an Old Set of Tools?” In the E-book, I derived a Value Stream Marketing concept from a combination of Boyd’s OODA Loop and Eric’s Lean Start-up Development loop. Below is a diagram of the Lean Product Development Cycle devised by Eric.

Is anyone else looking at Marketing in cycles such as this? Are there similar Agile Marketing Concepts?

Related Posts:

Receiving Better Response Rates thru Agile

evaluate your Customer Needs

Using Agile Marketing in real life

Boyd’s Law of Iteration: Speed beats Quality

Kanban, A Great Organizational Idea

I have been using Scrum and Kanban for a while now and have been finding them very useful. In fact, I like it so much that I am even practicing it on a personal level. Where I picked up the idea of Personal Kanban is from Jim Benson, an Expert in Personal Kanban. He states this:

Unlike other personal productivity tools, Personal Kanban is a pattern – it is not an edict. You can mold it into whatever shape or form works best for you at the time. Personal Kanban is also scalable – it can work with just you, or with your family, or even with work groups.

There are only two real rules with Personal Kanban:

1. Visualize your work

2. Limit your work-in-progress

It’s just that simple.  After you’ve used this “introductory’ kanban for a little while, your understanding of the nature of  you work will evolve. As it does, your kanban will likewise evolve.

InfoPak3 Personal Kanban Design Patterns

View more presentations from Jim Benson.

You can really formulate some great ideas from such simple beginnings. My hat goes off to Jim!

Personal Kanban 101 is a great page to visit.

Technorati Tags: Kanban,Scrum,Scrumban,Agile,Personal Kanban

Customer Value Lens

In part 2 of this 3 part podcast Mike Dalton the founder of Guided Innovation Group, discussed The Customer Value Len. Mike says, "That means the first thing you have to do is be out in the marketplace, be out with customers, potential customers or new markets and be looking for the problems, the things that they are trying to do that are difficult for them."

In Mikes recent book, Simplifying Innovation: Doubling speed to market and new product profits - with your existing resourceshe discussed the Customer Value Lens and much more. The book was just released in January and has received some good reviews.

“A Theory of Constraints approach to the process of innovation was long overdue. Production, project management, supply chain, and policy constraint analysis have all been comprehensively addressed. But until now, no one has thought to examine the ramifications of constraint theory on the challenge of innovation. Mike Dalton’s novel was worth waiting for. Simplifying Innovation synthesizes innovation best practices and the focusing step framework to create a powerful new application of TOC. Let it stimulate your imagination as it did mine.” –H. William Dettmer, author of Strategic Navigation

“Inside a fascinating business novel, that I literally couldn’t put down, Mike Dalton has created a hands-on field manual to extending the Theory of Constraints to innovation – I only wished I had the benefit of Mike’s insights during my days as an R&D leader in Bell Labs.” –Dr. Matthew W. Sagal, co-author of The Strongest Link

Mike's company, Guided Innovation has created The Guided Innovation System™ , their unique TOC-based approach to rapid innovation improvement is helping companies slash time to market in half and nearly double new product profits.

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Related Posts:

Value Stream Marketing and the Indirect Marketing Concept

A Simple Exercise to Differentiate Yourself

Design for Lean Six Sigma, The Xerox Way

How effective does your Sales and Marketing team work together?

Many organizations would say not at all. Others believe they do, but really don’t know. A few will say very well, but I would believe these really, really don’t know. Why since they are so intertwined do they not work well? A few reasons:

1. Marketers are typically introverts and Sales are extroverts.
2. Marketers deal with the future, Sales with the present.
3. Marketers think about the big picture, Sales close a sale.
4. Marketers seldom get credit, Sales gets all the credit.
5. Marketers really don’t do anything, Sales work their tail off.
6. Marketers wonder why Sales don’t work the leads.
7. Sales wonder why Marketers give them such crap leads.
8. Marketers wonder why they have to do everything to get a sale.
9. Sales wonder why they have no support.

No wonder they don’t like each other. However, I think I have an answer. In Lean Product development Eric Reiss believes that you need both a programming and customer development team. My idea is to make the marketers like the programmers and sales like the customer development team. My post on the subject, Receiving Better Response Rates thru Agile displays the diagram of the interrelationship that must be developed and elaborates on their roles.

But the bottom line is that they have to start building trust. They have to break down the dysfunctional aspect that exist between the two. They have to build Trust. Who better to explain this than one of my favorite authors Patrick Lencioni? In this short video, Patrick pinpoints the issue of group behavior in the final book of his popular corporate fables trilogy. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable tells a story and teaches lessons about using leadership to inspire real teamwork.

 

Patrick has a complete Five Dysfunctions of a Team Workshop Deluxe Facilitator's Guide Package that is outstanding and can be a great start for not only sales and marketing but your entire organization.

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Product Development at Xerox with Agile

This is a transcription of the podcast that I had with Helen DeNero and Patrick Waara, both an integral part of the training team at Xerox Corporation on Agile Product development and the Lean Six Sigma Process. A great short read on the basics of Agile, but some key facts are included on just how a large company would go about the implementation of Agile in conjunction with DFSS. 

Instead of reading you can choose to download the podcast at the Business901 ITunes store or listen to it in the above player. 

Agile Product Development at Xerox -

Related Posts:

Design for Lean Six Sigma, The Xerox Way

The Kaizen Event, A Critical Component of Xerox’s Customer Experience

Learn more about the Xerox Design for Lean Six Sigma

E-book on Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

 

Technorati Tags: agile,agile product development,scrum,lean six sigma,dfss

Don’t miss this conference – Lean Startup Lessons Learned

Kiss Metrics founder is participating in the Start-up Lessons Learned Conference Friday, April 23, 2010 from 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM (PST) San Francisco, CA. The goal for this event is to give practitioners and students of the lean startup methodology the opportunity to hear insights from leaders in embracing and deploying the core principles of the lean startup methodology. It is also being Simulcast across many locations.

Kiss Metrics: http://www.kissmetrics.com/

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Technorati Tags: Lean startup,Start-up,Lean,Kiss Metrics,Lean Marketing

understanding your Customer’s problem

Your product or service solves a problem for the customer, right? Does your customer understand the problem you're solving? Have you been able to put or involve numerical relationships in this problem-solving process?

Go back-to-school for a second, maybe even as far back as grade school and think about solving mathematical word problems. Remember word problems, each problem described a situation that involved numerical relationships. However, the situation and those relationships had to be first interpreted and understood. That was really just a matter of simple arithmetic computations needed to be performed to get the answer. But, how good were you at it?

Many of the computations were simple and even the use of algebra or other formulas were not required. The problem required that you understood and spelled out precisely the situation that was being described. Once a problem had been set up properly in arithmetic, it was typically very easy.

Here's a take-off for solving math word problems that simply could be applied to solving your customers problems:

First things first, don't try to do it alone. Do your analysis with a partner, the customer. This is a joint effort, so blasting your message in the hope someone will understand does not work.

Try to do all of your thinking as part of a conversation lot. Communicate all of your thoughts, decisions, analysis, and conclusions. Communicate how you're starting the problem, questions you're asking yourself, steps you're taking a break in the problem in parts, conclusions you are drawing -- everything. If you perform any mental operations even translating an unfamiliar word, or visualizing a picture of a relationship, communicate these operations. Letting each other know what you're thinking is just imperative.

Use step-by-step analytical procedure. Use the techniques that good problem solvers use, break a problem into parts. Work one part accurately and then move on to the next part. Translate unfamiliar phases into your own words and/or visualize or make diagrams of the relationships presented verbally. Simplify problem by substituting easier numbers, making a table of successive computations, or referring to an earlier problem.

Be extremely accurate. Continually check your thinking. Your thoughts should drive questions like: Is that entirely correct? Is that completely accurate? Never work so quickly that leads to errors. Give efficient time to all parts of the problem. Never just give up on the problem and get some answer. Always try to reason the problem out.

While your customer is working through the problem, keep checking the accuracy so that you will learn to think with more precision and thoroughness. In addition, in your own mind contrast the methods with the way the problem was attacked. How might you break the problem down more completely into some problems? What other steps might you take? How might you visualize or diagrams or relationships making it more effective? Would you work more carefully? In other words, try to imagine ways in which you might attack the problem more effectively.

If your customer uses inaccurate information or computations that lead to wrong answers or maybe does not spell out situations with full understanding try showing them a table or diagram which illustrates, step-by-step, the relationships between the facts in the problem. Stopping your customer and requesting a full explanation of certain computations is your responsibility in helping both of you to fully understand the problem.

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Mirror Marketing search on Business901

Ok, how good are you? John can run 7 feet in the time that Fred runs 5 feet. How far will John run in the time that Fred runs 15 feet? Show your work?

Reference for this post and a great book for learning Problem Solving & Comprehension techniques.

Technorati Tags: Word Problems,Problem Solving,Customer Questions

Content Marketing Strategies utilize Blended Learning

In today's marketing, we use Content Marketing as one of our number one lead generating sources. This content tends to be educational in nature. Since the content typically is both online and off-line it very much resembles the training model defined as Blended Learning. Blended Learning is a training model that integrates multiple delivery modes and learning activities, generally a mix of e-learning, classroom exercises, coaching and project based applications. A well-designed blended learning package combines complementary learning activities that will attain a defined level of subject matter mastery. Is this not basically what we're asking our marketing to do?

I discovered a study (while reading The Blended Learning Playbook published by MoreSteam) by the Centre for Studies in Advanced Learning Technology of Lancaster University. It suggested that there is a wide use for networked learning for the following reasons:

• Students found a high degree of interactivity and flexibility when combining online tools with other virtual activities. 54% of survey respondents reported feeling more in control of their learning over time and location.
• The variation of interactive options(discussion forums, classroom activities, cats, study halls(encourage more interaction among students in situations where those opportunities did not exist.
• Students in organize blended programs experience more reflective learning, while facilitated deeper processing the material. They felt that they were better able to respond to content or afforded the opportunity to the sword it over time, rather than respond immediately, as is often the case in a traditional classroom environment.
• Recorded discussion and e-learning leaves a permanent record. In a classroom, when the instructor has finished their remarks, most of the instruction is also finished. When e-learning is used as the primary delivery mode for content, it can be re-access as often as a surrogate for refresher in just-in-time learning.
• Network learning provides richer opportunities for peer learning. Particularly in deployments where students are not co-located, tools like discussion forums and project management applications foster more communication within cohorts. Students find great value in the strength of their new network. 79% of respondents to this case study felt they had learned from the contributions of fellow students.

MoreSteam also put a small chart in the book explaining Blended Learning which I thought could serve as an excellent outline for a content marketing strategy. I have used parts of it below to outline the reasons for developing a content marketing strategy:

• Less expensive, more flexible and more effective
• Don't believe design integration of live and online materials and methods
• Designed to have scheduled meetings with trainers, technicians and sales.
• Rooted in best practices as identified in adult learning theory
• Designed to be delivered as needed and in harmony with work schedule
• More scalable, allowing redirection of personnel resources
• For a variety of experience and levels of technical savvy
• Highly interactive exercises and activities
• Opportunities for team members in leadership to manage project workflow and receive Information on demand

Blended Learning is being proven as a very effective way of learning and for the adult population it may be the most effective way of learning. I encourage before developing a content marketing strategy of your own to review some of the principles of Blended Learning. MoreSteam is a great resource and offers a wide variety of resources at www.moresteam.com

If we are talking about Blending, I have to include a Will it Blend Video in lieu of a picture: How about one for marbles?

By the way, how blended is your marketing?

Technorati Tags: Blended Learning,Content Marketing,Educational Marketing,E-learning

Kanban is so simple or is it?

Kanban just seems to simple to be that effective, or is that the beauty of it. Listen to Jim Benson discus the intricacies of not only Personal Kanban but how Kanban can be used effectively within industry. Jim was seldom lost for words as you will see and his passion of the subject is obvious.

Jim Benson incorporates his background in cognitive psychology, government, and management to build community through policy and technology. His company, Modus Cooperandi, helps organizations change through the application of Lean principles, Agile methodologies, and social media. He is also the developer of the productivity tool Personal Kanban, an adaptation of industrial kanban which helps individuals and small teams actualize. His book on Personal Kanban, which applies Lean thinking to daily living, will be out in Spring 2010.

Jim says, “Personal kanban is an idea that arose from necessity. I began a personal kanban prior to starting Modus Cooperandi, but it didn’t translate as cleanly from the programming and industrial world as I would have liked.  It wasn’t until one day when Corey Ladas and I sat down and really started to talk about the differences between industrial kanban and personal kanban that things really started to gel.”

Part 1 of 2

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Part 2 of 2

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Jim’s Web Sites:
Personal Kanban: personalkanban.com
Blog: ourfounder.typepad.com
Company: moduscooperandi.com

Business901 Related Information:
Marketing Kanban

Technorati Tags: personal kanban,lean software,kanban,agile methodologies,3V7DFUG678RR

Using Stories to explain your Marketing Efforts

In Scrum, work is expressed in the backlog as user stories. A team may write its user stories in a number of ways as long as they are written from the perspective of the end user. Put another way, team members are encouraged to think of their work from the perspective of who will use it, hence “user” story.

In the Scrum Methodology blog they stated:

Many Scrum teams have adopted the user story template developed by Mike Cohn, which identifies who the end user is, what the end user wants, and why in a single sentence. This model of the user story is most often written like this: “As a [end user role], I want [the desire] so that [the rationale].

They also defined it further in a contest that they had by asking for these requirements:

• The Problem. What was going wrong at your organization that made you decide to implement agile or Scrum?
• The Application. Once your organization decided to use Scrum to surface dysfunction and transform its processes, how did you go about doing it? What were the first steps you took? Was it an organization-wide adoption or just on the team level? Did you use training or tools?
• The Solution. What was the result? Can you quantify the improvements that Scrum and agile helped realize? Have other teams at your organization begun adopting agile management techniques?

Stories are used because they make it easier to understand,  remember and use. The limitation is that you do not know if you have been given all the facts.  A short clip from a training class Paul of ThinkSticky teaches on the content of the book, Made to Stick. This hands-on training illustrates how those qualities can be leveraged in your daily work.

I have started to use stories in explaining the outcome that is desired in a marketing campaign or event. I  plan on further developing this topic in a series of blog post. This is the first blog in this series.

Related posts:

Agile Marketing – Maybe?

Start your Marketing with a User Story

Further reading:

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

 User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development

Technorati Tags: Stories,stroyboard,Scrumban,Agile,XP,Marketing stories

Staying engaged with your Core Values

Last year, I was introduced and read a book by Steve Blank called, The Four Steps to the Epiphany. It has served me well and there are five questions from it that I constantly use and have found it to be a great help in determining my own core values – from MY CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE .

A quick overview of the book on Amazon states:

The essential "how to" book for anyone bringing a product to market, writing a business plan, marketing plan or sales plan. Step-by-step strategy of how to successfully organize sales, marketing and business development for a new product or company. The book offers insight into what makes some startups successful and leaves others selling off their furniture. Packed with concrete examples, the book will leave you with new skills to organize sales, marketing and your business for success.

This series of questions I have recently been using in discussing potential marketing opportunities with customers. It quickly determines how effective I can be marketing their product. If they have trouble answering these, there can be a huge disconnect between them and their customers/prospects.

1. What problem are you solving for your customer?
2. Does the customer know they have this problem?
3. Are your customers actively trying to solve this problem?
4. Do customers have a budget allocated to solve this problem or otherwise trying to spend money to solve it?
5. Are your customers actively spending money, time or effort on solving this problem and failing?

These questions though derived for a startup sometimes are even hard to answer for a mature company. I would even encourage you to re-visit these questions as time goes on so that you don’t drift away from your core values or mission.

If you would like to learn more about Steve Blank, he is participating in the Start-up Lessons Learned Conference Friday, April 23, 2010 from 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM (PST)
San Francisco, CA. The goal for this event is to give practitioners and students of the lean startup methodology the opportunity to hear insights from leaders in embracing and deploying the core principles of the lean startup methodology. It is also being Simulcast across many locations.

Read this before holding your next webinar

Whether he's introducing the new iPhone or delivering a keynote presentation, Steve Jobs electrifies audiences with his incomparable style and showmanship. He doesn’t just convey information in his presentations; he tells a story, paints a picture, and shares a vision. He gives his audience a transformative experience that is unique, inspiring, and unforgettable.

Now you can do it too, by learning the specific techniques that have made Jobs the most captivating communicator on the world stage. Using Jobs's legendary presentations as a blueprint, communication-skills coach Carmine Gallo has mapped out a ready-to-use framework of presentation secrets to help you plan, deliver, and refine the best presentation of your life.

You’ll learn how to:

• Create an inspiring brand story
• Answer the one question that matters most
• Paint a specific, memorable, and consistent vision
• Make numbers meaningful
• Deliver unforgettable moments
• Build visually engaging slides
• Master stage presence
• Make it look effortless
• Rehearse effectively
• Have fun

Read a Free Chapter courtesy of McGraw-Hill-Hill

Just Buy-it:  The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience

My Next Webinar: Value Stream Marketing Webinar

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Technorati Tags: Steve Jobs,Presentations,Webinars,Storyboards,A3 Reporting

Utilizing the Theory of Constraints

I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr Lisa Lang on the Business901 Podcast. She is considered the foremost expert in the world in applying Theory of Constraints to Marketing and currently the President of the Science of Business. She recently served as the Global Marketing Director for Dr Goldratt who is the father of Theory of Constraints and author of The Goal. This is a transcription of the 2-part podcast.

Utilization of the Theory of Constraints

Related Podcast:
If your constraint is in the marketplace, Do this!
Theory of Constraints equals Focus and Leverage

Technorati Tags: theory of constraints,marketing,mafia boot camp,manufacturing,machining,velocity

Selling a Fort Wayne Home thru Value Stream Marketing

Disclaimer: This is about selling my own home and information can be found at http://FortWayneHomeforSalebyOwner.com.

I feel somewhat challenged to use predominately Social Media, the web and a 28 day plan in selling our Fort Wayne home. Yes, I do have yard sign.

I have always discussed that people that talk the talk should walk the walk. Last year I did a blog post  Hiring a consultant, can I see your marketing plan?, that referred to this idea.  I have always been dead serious about this requirement, it is really not an option to me. So, I have take upon to sell a house primarily through social media and the web but more importantly I am following a Value Stream Marketing Concept that includes:

First thing that we did was develop a 28-day plan. We broke down into user stories and than into 4 – 1 week scheduled iterations much like the Agile or Scrum practices that I use. I have even developed a Marketing Kanban board for the occasion which I think will be quite interesting for the whole process.

One of the initial steps or iterations we did was to include a Home Staging Release to promote the Interior Design store, Wild Hare Decor (another disclaimer – it is my wife’s store). Of course, we listed on Craig’s list, scheduled a pre-moving sale, an open house and blogged about it on several sites. I think it should be a lot of fun and a true learning experience.  

I am very interested in sharing this process as it takes place. It is always one thing talking the talk, it is another Walking the walk.

Related Post:
Eagle Lake Home Staged by Wild Hare Decor
Fort Wayne Home for Sale by Owner
Eagle Lake Home Staging
Wild Hare Blog

Craig’s List for Home
Craig's List for Pre-Moving Sale

Sustaining Lean in Manufacturing

Lonnie Wilson, the owner and principal of Quality Consultants is an expert in Lean Manufacturing techniques and applications. He not only instructs management professionals in the applications of these lean techniques; he is an on-the-floor-implementation professional. His new book, How To Implement Lean Manufacturing, was released by McGraw Hill, August 2009.

Listen to answers like this in part 1 of 2 of the podcast;

Joe:  What makes sustaining them so difficult for people? You put a process in, this is what we are going to do from now on. What makes that tough?

Lonnie:  Boy, I'll tell you ‑‑ now that is a great question and I get asked that question frequently. It seems to be almost obvious that people would say "Well, OK, we made this gain, now let's sustain it." It's a whole lot better to build on progress than deterioration. The truth of the matter is that people in real life ‑‑ people have tremendous, tremendous problems sustaining the gains. I think the single, biggest thing that I can put my finger on is the business' attitude towards problems. I find, particularly in the West, and I don't like to make a Japanese/Western dichotomy, but at some level there is.

I find, in the West, that we look at problems as a royal pain in the "tush." We don't want them. The fewer problems we have, the happier we are. Some of my Japanese clients, when they find a problem they almost celebrate it. They recognize they found a weakness in the system. The system is, therefore, deficient and now we have got a way to improve it.

They look at problems as opportunities to make their system better, and I think that carries over into then, how they finish up those problems. Once you have solved the problem ‑‑ to sustain it, there's a whole series of activities you need to do. You need to maintain it. You need to standardize it. All of that is just good old‑fashioned hard work.

To me, that is the most fundamental thing that I find that makes people ‑‑ makes companies ‑‑ shy away from sustaining issues, is first, how they view the problem. I think the second thing is that once a problem gets fixed, it's very easy to jump to the next problem, because you don't have any more symptoms.
What happens is you take on the next problem. Everybody's interested in progress, so they want to make more and more progress. They forget that the last thing they fixed maybe isn't fixed completely. It's fixed enough so they don't have any current symptoms, but it's going to reappear at a later date.

That discipline that it takes to think through the possible future problems, put fixes in place for things that haven't even gone wrong; anticipate what might happen. That just isn't quite as sexy as moving onto the next problem and solving it.

The third thing that I find that really prevents sustainability, is our system of goals and objectives. You'll very often find out that companies have all kinds of production and financial goals and profits, and those are far more important than quality goals. One quality goal we implemented in one place that was particularly progressive, was the goal of zero for things we really didn't do that well.

They made a list of the problems that reappeared and put them on the list of "things we didn't do really well." Then they made that a highlighted issue within the company. That company was the very best of any that I've ever worked at in my 40 years at sustaining the gains.

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.Part 2 of the Podcast: Implementing Lean

Technorati Tags: Lean,Lean manufacturing,Standard Work,Manufacturer

In your Prospects Circle of Trust?

In the movies, Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers the soon to be Father in Law, Jack, so brilliantly played by Robert DeNiro had a Circle of Trust that Ben Stiller, Greg, so desperately tries to become accepted into. Greg just keeps stumbling as he tries to penetrate that invisible barrier. As you sit back and look at the different things that happen; the cat’s tail, the truth serum and the babysitting adventure you may be able to create an analogy of your own trust building attempts with prospects. Have you ever tried being a little more than you are? Have you ever attempted to disguise the truth? Probably not, but have you ever told a prospect what you really thought of them?

We many times talk about partnering; being close or a term I like to use is to be intimate with our customers. In essence, we are really after gaining their acceptance, exactly what Greg Focker so valiantly tries. Have you ever felt like your prospects are checking you out in their own control center and sometimes even unfairly? No matter what size of sale though, you do have to crack that circle of trust. Fortunately, seldom do you have to gain the trust of such a skeptic like Jack.

I find it interesting that many of us struggle in this area; I certainly do on just defining what trust might mean to our customers. That word “Trust” how do you define that? Do you believe trust emerges from meeting obligations or just being open with a prospect? That's probably part of it. But these alone will not build trust. To leverage the power of choice in interpersonal relationships, trust must be built into the fabric of the relationship through continual reinforcement. It must be focused, manage, nurtured, and rewarded. Before someone decides to grant trust in a working relationship, a calculation goes on in the mind. The person granting your permission into their Circle of Trust can be simplified around these four dimensions:

• Confidence: Does the person have the skills necessary to accomplish the past?
• Reliability: Does the person deliver what is expected, when it is expected and in the form it is expected?
• Open/Honest communications: Is the person forthright in his or her dealings?
• Caring: Is this person willing to defend the interests of the other, even when that interest may affect his or her own interests?

According to the book,The Strongest Link: Forging a Profitable and Enduring Corporate Alliance, if the person scores are low on any one dimension, trust is difficult to achieve. The higher the person scores in each dimension, the stronger the trust. If someone is confident, reliable, honest, and willing to risk their career for you, what's not to like about them? Ask anyone about these dimensions of trust, and they usually place confidence, reliability, and honesty on the list. However, caring is a different issue. We asked people in a business relationship how they show caring for their counterparts, he had some interesting answers. Typical responses you should listen to the prospects views, think about issues from their perspective, and include that person in all decision-making. But that answer does not go deep enough. Carrying in a business relationship means taking risk even risks that threaten one's own standing in the firm. That is where true trust lies.

It would be great if your salespeople could develop this kind of trust. However, stop for a second and ask; does your organization build this kind of trust, internally and externally?

Technorati Tags: Sales Cycle,Marketing Funnel,Value Stream Marketing,Trust

Improve Communication - Have more meetings?

You know what you're thinking - another meeting? There is nothing though that improves communication in a project that meeting even more so then a Kanban board. Any team working toward a common goal will benefit because the practice will improve your communications.

The biggest resistance in meetings is because they're poorly run. Daily scrum meetings are an integral part of the scrum methodology. The meetings last for 15 minutes, occasionally where, but provide enough time to address problems and allow time to define solutions. Important part of having an effective meeting is to realize that maybe you're not eating look at solving and offered a solution to the problems it is about raising them.

Daily scrum meeting effectively answers these three questions:

1. What have you done since the last meeting?
2. What will you do between now and the next meeting?
3. What got in your way of doing work?

The daily meeting is not a design session and should not turn into a working session. Don't discuss design or start to solve a problem. The meeting informs the team leader direct information on what they can do to improve the productivity of the team. Meetings are for creating awareness, and if you want to solve the problem immediately suggest, anyone who's interested should hang around afterward.

Patrick Lencioni is one of my favorite authors. One of his books, Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business (J-B Lencioni Series)advocates the structure of a daily check in. He says the keys to make it successful are don't sit down, keep it administrative, don't cancel when someone can't be there. It is important to share the news. I highly recommend the book and the outline of the four different types of meetings he discusses: Daily, Weekly Tactical, Monthly Strategic, and Quarterly Review.

Having frequent short meetings simply keeps everyone on track. Sharing daily activities and schedules allows you to not operate in a vacuum and the knowledge of a team is always more powerful than the knowledge of an individual. .

BTW: Short Meetings are easier to manage and make interesting. Improve your communications - Start holding meeting but do it front of the Team Kanban Board.

Listen to a tip from Patrick about improving team communication:

 

P.S. Patrick’s book is great in audio: Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable

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