The document discusses the philosophy of continuous innovation in rapidly changing markets, using examples from companies like Google and IMVU. It emphasizes understanding customer needs, agile development processes, and the importance of fostering a culture of experimentation and teamwork. Additionally, it highlights the significance of hiring based on curiosity and passion while advocating for an environment where employees can freely engage and innovate.

1. Imagine
…
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

2. Imagine you had aliens as customers…
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek

3. How would you
discover their
pain-points or
features they
desire?
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012

4. How would you validate you got it right?
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012

5. Even if they are
humans...
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012

6. That like to dress as furries
http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Furry: !
The word furry (adj, f'eree), has several meanings,
dependent on the context in which it is used.
Predominantly, it means "consisting of or resembling
fur".It also pertains to an interest in anthropomorphic
animals and/or mythological or imaginary creatures
which possess human or superhuman capabilities.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012

7. Or as fairies
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012

8. Do you speak !
their language?
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012

9. Do you understand !
their culture?
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012

10. Can !
you !
relate !
to !
their
interests?
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012

11. Do you know how to approach them?
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012

12. So, how do
you determine
their needs?
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012

13. And,
how
would
you
validate
you !
got !
it !
right?
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek-­‐
October,
2012

14. Con=nuous
Innova=on
In
a
Rapidly
Evolving
Market
Experimen*ng
and
being
agile
with
products,
processes,
…
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

15. The path to enlightenment lies not in the footsteps of another
What is the one
mantra to follow
religiously?
Follow no mantra
religiously
初心
Beginner’s
Mind
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

16. Con=nuous
Innova=on
in
a
Rapidly
Transforming
Market
Google
$0 to $.25B in 5 years
$0 to $37.9B in 10 years
Pivot
1:
Broad-­‐Band
to
Internet
Pivot
2:
Technology
rewrite
Pivot
3:
From
1
B2C
App
to
7
Apps
in
7
Markets
”Innova'ng
at
a
breakneck
pace;
rolling
out
a
new
service
capability
prac'cally
every
month1.”
1. The
Ten
Faces
of
Innova*on
by
Thomas
Kelley
&
Jonathan
LiMman
hMps://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-­‐ten-­‐faces-­‐of-­‐innova*on/id421032598?mt=11
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

17. The
Compe==on
Why
I
didn’t
go
to
Google
in
2000
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

18. Lean Staffing
Hiring Your Most Valuable Resources
Hire
for
Tomorrow
not
Today
• The
top
10
in-­‐demand
jobs
in
2010
did
not
exist
in
2004
“Did You Know? Shift Happens (August 2011)“
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJpSqeQbh4o
Skills
vs
Curiosity
&
Passion
• "CQ
+
PQ
>
IQ”
Curiosity
&
Passion
Quo:ents
are
more
important
than
Intelligence
Quo:ent
Thomas
Friedman,
The
World
is
Flat
AVtude
MaWers
• “It
is
not
their
ap:tude
but
their
aFtude
that
will
determine
their
al:tude.”
Jesse
Jackson,
Washington
Post
21
May
1978
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

19. Don’t
stop
at
Hiring
Invest
in
spinning
up
At
IMVU,
we
dedicate
a
mentor
to
every
new
engineer
that
will
sit
next
to
them
and
spend
6
weeks
spinning
them
up
according
to
a
boot
camp
guide
-­‐
including
a
day-­‐one
push
of
a
change
to
produc*on.
Spinning
Marathon
voor
WAR
CHILD
-­‐
Some
rights
reserved
By
isafmedia
(cropped)
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

20. Manage
Your
Most
Valuable
Resources
What
makes
for
the
most
produc*ve
&
innova*ve
employee?
Happiness
=
Passion,
Engagement
• Support
your
team
Perspec=ve:
Managers
work
for
the
engineers
to
enable
them
to
be
produc=ve
• Sell
vs
Tell
=
No
show,
No
go
Winning
the
hearts
and
minds
bring
engagement
as
opposed
to
bodies
in
seats.
5-­‐Whys:
Company
Direc=ves
Alignment
=
What
are
you
working
on
and
Why
is
it
important?
• Be
Transparent
&
Invite
Challenges
Share
business
objec=ves
and
reward
those
who
ques=ons
them
• Let
them
pick
their
team
&
project
LiMle
startups/laboratories
• Let
them
Hack
Hack
weeks
once
a
quarter
• Let
them
experiment
• Let
them
choose
their
tools
• Let
them
determine
when
done
is
Story
Point
Sizing
• Keep
teams
small,
agile
and
fun
(BVSN
5
man
teams
vs
whole
companies)
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

21. The
Apple
Approach
Hire
and
keep
p
Then
again,
…
eople
that
know
what’s
bout
What
aright.
the
Newton?
“The
Newton
itself
was
d
on't
know
“A
lot
of
*mes,
people
a flop,
but
the
introduc*on
of
ou
show
it
to
what
they
want
un*l
y a
reflexive,
handheld
device
was
the
first
them.
indica*on
of
Jobs
intui*on
of
introducing
a
roducts
eople
awApple
That's
why
p lot
of
p before
t
e
knew
we
a
lanted
or
needed
them.1”
get
paid
w ot
of
money,
because
they're
supposed
to
be
on
top
of
these
things.1”
1.
hMp://www.wjla.com/pictures/2011/10/how-­‐steve-­‐jobs-­‐has-­‐changed-­‐our-­‐world/the-­‐newton-­‐9618-­‐666.html
1.
hMp://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may1998/nf80512d.htm
Henry
Ford:
“If
I
had
asked
people
what
they
wanted,
they
would
have
said
faster
horses.”
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

22. Number
of
uses
of
new
feature
Con=nuous
Innova=on
Validate
Hypotheses
with
Data
Time:
Experiment
A:
up
~6%
over
2
weeks
prior
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

23. Number
of
uses
of
new
feature
Con=nuous
Innova=on
Validate
Hypotheses
with
the
Right
Data
Time:
Subgroup
A1:
up
~48%
over
2
weeks
prior
Subgroup
A2:
down
~68%
over
2
weeks
prior
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

24. Experiment
as
individuals
but
also
as
teams
5
Teams
5
Different
Processes
IMVU
con*nually
runs
process
experiments
as
a
way
to
improve
our
processes
and
to
avoid
falling
into
dysfunc*onal
rou*nes.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

25. Minimal
Viable
Products
• Different
Kinds
of
MVPs
hMp://www.rise.net/blog/minimum-­‐viable-­‐product
– A
heavily
used
system
(IMVU’s
Landing
Pages
Millions
of
monthly
hits)
– New
Feature
Sets
(inventory
management
into
exis*ng
product)
– A
brand
new
subsystem
(a
new
game
with
a
new
game/fun
loop)
– A
paradigm
shim
(an
iPhone
App)
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

26. Deploy,
Iterate
&
Learn
at
New
Speeds
Production releases
How
oien
do
you
deploy?
• Waterfall
Development
:
every
6-­‐12
months
• Agile
Methodology:
every
1-­‐3
weeks
• Con=nuous
Deployment:
every
day
• IMVU
every
7
Minutes
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

27. Test-­‐Driven
Development
Where/How
to
start?
Test
Driven
Development
hMp://www.flickr.com/photos/brunobord/3987593006/lightbox
Some
rights
reserved
by
brunobord
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

28. Immune
Systems
Small
Change-­‐Sets
=
Easy
Debugging
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

29. 5
Whys
Turning
Losses
into
Wins
1. Why
did
the
server
grind
to
a
halt?
DB
query
took
forever.
2. Why
did
the
query
take
so
long?
Un-­‐indexed
query
on
large
table.
3. Why
didn’t
the
engineer
realize
the
query
would
be
slow?
Local
tests
ran
fine
against
a
small
test
db.
4. Why
didn’t
the
engineer
know
to
run
a
“try”
against
produc:on?
It
was
his
first
database
change
as
a
new
hire.
5. Why
did
his
mentor
not
tell
him?
The
mentor
had
lem
for
the
day.
6. Why
did
the
new
hire
not
know
to
only
check-­‐in
with
mentor?
This
was
the
first
mentee
for
that
mentor
and
he
hadn’t
told
him.
Follow-­‐Up
1)
Update
Spin-­‐Up
Doc
for
Mentor
and
Mentee
to
start
with
a
clear
statement
that
mentee
should
not
check
into
produc*on
without
mentor
or
without
having
reached
that
stage.
Follow-­‐Up
2)
Add
notes
to
DB
Query
sec*on
of
spin-­‐up
doc
on
use
of
“try”
Post-­‐Mortems
=
Teachable
Moments
;
Fix
what
needs
fixing
Ques*on
mark
sign
photo
by
Colin_K
on
Flickr
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

30. An
Enhancement
/
Story
is
Born
• Project
Brief
Goes
to
a
Exec
Checkpoint
– User
stories
– Success
criteria
by
date
x…
(engagement,
revenue,
…)
• Preview
Mee*ng
by
Product
Owner
– To:
Tech
Lead,
QA
Lead,
Data
Analyst
• Tech
Design,
Test
Plan,
Data
Design
• Planning
Mee*ng
– Story
point
sizing
– High
and
low
es*mate
jus*fica*on
– Risk
buckets
for
stories
vs
risk
included
in
task
es*mates
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

31. Delivering
Innova*on
to
Risk
Averse,
Enterprise
Customers
• In
1985,
I
came
to
Edinburgh
from
Munich
to
help
sell
the
Bank
of
Scotland
on
transi*oning
to
our
new
product
that
resulted
from
our
second
pivot
at
Somlab.
• What
unfolded
was
not
quite
according
to
script.
• They
were
not
at
all
excited
about
adop*ng
innova*on,
having
in
8
previous
systems
suppor*ng
180
of
their
IT
staff.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

32. Apply
Beginner’s
Mind
and
Con=nuously
Innovate…
Your
Product
Direc*on,
Your
Company
Direc*on,
初心
Beginner’s
Mind
Your
Development
Processes,
Your
Resource
Management,
Your
Marke*ng
Strategy,
Your
Technology
Choices,
Your
Analy*cs
Approaches,
Understanding
Your
Customers
&
Prospects,
..
Everything
You
Do
and
Every
Approach
You
Take.
Chris
Dolezalek
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

33. Thank You!
Chris Dolezalek
Chris@IMVU.com
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012
33

34. References
&
Other
Links
•
Eric
Ries,
IMVU,
former
CTO
of
Engineering
-­‐
The
Lean
Startup
How
Today's
Entrepreneurs
Use
Con*nuous
Innova*on
to
Create
Radically
Successful
Businesses
hMp://www.amazon.com/Lean-­‐Startup-­‐Entrepreneurs-­‐Con*nuous-­‐Innova*on/dp/0307887898/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318352510&sr=8-­‐1
hMp://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-­‐lean-­‐startup/id422540072?mt=11
•
BreW
DurreW,
IMVU,
CEO
–
Con=nuous
Deployment…
Con=nuous
Deployment:
Possibility
or
Pipe
Dream?
hMp://bos*nnova*on.com/2011/11/21/con*nuous-­‐deployment-­‐possibility-­‐or-­‐pipe-­‐dream
Con=nuous
Deployment
&
Learning
Fast
with
A/B
Tes=ng
hMp://www.slideshare.net/bgdurreM/con*nuous-­‐deployment-­‐at-­‐lean-­‐la
hMp://www.slideshare.net/bgdurreM/learning-­‐fast-­‐with-­‐ab-­‐tes*ng-­‐and-­‐con*nuous-­‐deployment
hMp://www.mediabistro.com/The-­‐Challenges-­‐of-­‐Con*nuous-­‐Deployment-­‐Social-­‐Developer-­‐Summit-­‐467-­‐ondemandvideo.html
•
•
•
•
•
James
Birchler,
IMVU,
VP
Engineering
Learning
from
Experiments
hMp://www.slideshare.net/jamesbirchler/learning-­‐from-­‐experiments-­‐at-­‐imvu
Flickr,
10+
Deploys
Per
Day:
Dev
and
Ops
Coopera*on
at
Flickr
hMp://www.slideshare.net/jallspaw/10-­‐deploys-­‐per-­‐day-­‐dev-­‐and-­‐ops-­‐coopera*on-­‐at-­‐flickr
Carol
Dweck,
Mindset:
The
New
Psychology
of
Success
hMp://www.amazon.com/Mindset-­‐Psychology-­‐Success-­‐Carol-­‐Dweck/dp/0345472322/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318359458&sr=1-­‐1
hMp://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mindset/id422549774?mt=11
hMp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHW9l_sCEyU
Did
You
Know
(a.k.a
Shim
Happens)
Blog
Post,
Slides,
Videos
hMp://www.lps.k12.co.us/schools/arapahoe/fisch/fischbowlpresenta*ons.htm
hMp://shimhappens.wikispaces.com
Paul
Stoltz,
Peak
Learning
hMp://www.peaklearning.com
–
Erik
Weihenmayer
&
Paul
Stoltz,
The
Adversity
Advantage
hMp://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-­‐adversity-­‐advantage/id381515439?mt=11
hMp://www.amazon.com/Adversity-­‐Advantage-­‐Everyday-­‐Struggles-­‐Greatness/dp/1439199493/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318360603&sr=1-­‐1
–
Paul
Stoltz,
Adversity
Quo*ent
at
Work
hMp://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/adversity-­‐quo*ent-­‐work/id385756581?mt=11
hMp://www.amazon.com/Adversity-­‐Quo*ent-­‐Work-­‐Finding-­‐Capacity/dp/0060937211/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318360551&sr=1-­‐1-­‐spell
•
•
•
Michael
Jordan,
"Failure"
Nike
Commercial
hMp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc
Malcolm
Gladwell,
Outliers
&
Tipping
Point
hMp://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html
hMp://itunes.apple.com/us/book/outliers/id357396748?mt=11
hMp://www.gladwell.com/*ppingpoint/index.html
hMp://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-­‐*pping-­‐point/id357658331?mt=11
Is
Con=nuous
Innova=on
Too
Risky?
hMp://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2012/02/10/is-­‐radical-­‐management-­‐too-­‐risky
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

35. References
on
Experimen=ng
•
Trustworthy Online Controlled Experiments: Five Puzzling Outcomes Explained
Ron Kohavi, Alex Deng, Brian Frasca, Roger Longbotham, Toby Walker, Ya Xu
http://www.exp-platform.com/Documents/puzzlingOutcomesInControlledExperiments.pdf
•
Puzzling outcomes in A/B testing - Greg
Linden
http://glinden.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/puzzling-outcomes-in-ab-testing.html
•
Microsoft EXP - Experimentation Platform - Ronny Kohavi
Accelerating software innovation through trustworthy experimentation
http://www.exp-platform.com/Pages/default.aspx
•
•
What types of things does Netflix A/B test aside from member sign-up?
http://www.quora.com/What-types-of-things-does-Netflix-A-B-test-aside-from-member-sign-up
From Zero to a Million Users - Dropbox and Xobni lessons learned - Adam Smith
http://www.slideshare.net/adamsmith1/from-zero-to-a-million-users-dropbox-and-xobni-lessons-learned
• Data-­‐Driven
Startups
-­‐
July
23,
2010
http://davidcancel.com/data-driven-startups
• Analy=cs
Maturity
hMp://www.forbes.com/sites/piyankajain/2012/06/22/what-­‐is-­‐your-­‐organiza*ons-­‐analy*cs-­‐maturity/
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

36. Who
is
Chris?
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

37. Appendix,
Drill
Down
Slides
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

38. • Run
Experiments
• Minimal
Viable
Products
• Con*nuous
Deployment
• Smart
Test
Coverage
• Use
an
Immune
System
• Post
Mortems,
&
Retrospec*ves
&
5
Whys
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

39. Lean
Staffing
Appendix
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

40. Innova=ve
People
MaWer
Ten
Faces
of
Innova*on
• Learning
Persons
• Building
Personas
– Anthropologist
– Experience
Architect
– Experimenter
– Set
Designer
– Cross-­‐Pollinator
– Storyteller
• Organizing
Personas
– Caregiver
– Hurdler
– Collaborator
– Director
The
Ten
Faces
of
Innova=on
by
Thomas
Kelley
&
Jonathan
LiWman
itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-­‐ten-­‐faces-­‐of-­‐innova=on/id421032598?mt=11
www.tenfacesofinnova*on.com/tenfaces
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

41. Lean
Staffing
The
Right
Mindset
Growth
Mindset:
• Embraces
challenges
• Persists
in
the
face
of
setbacks
• Sees
effort
as
the
path
to
mastery
• Learns
from
Cri*cism
• Finds
lessons
and
inspira*on
in
the
success
of
others
Do
or
do
not.
There
is
no
Try.
Carol
Dweck,
Mindset:
The
New
Psychology
of
Success
Stanford,
Department
of
Psychology
Wise
Yoda
(detail)Yoda
Fountain
at
the
entrance
of
the
Lucasfilm
offices
at
the
Le`erman
Digital
Arts
Center
Some
rights
reserved
by
miss_millions
Michael
Jordan
"Failure"
Nike
Commercial
hMp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

42. Lean Staffing
A Healthy Mindset:
Failure is OK
Michael
Jordan:
“I've
missed
more
than
9000
shots
in
my
career.
I've
lost
almost
300
games.
26
=mes,
I've
been
trusted
to
take
the
game
winning
shot
and
missed.
I've
failed
over
and
over
and
over
again
in
my
life.
And
that
is
why
I
succeed.”
Michael
Jordan
"Failure"
Nike
Commercial
h@p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc
Michael
Jordan
statue
-­‐
Some
rights
reserved
by
Esparta
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

43. Lean
Staffing
Hire
Rock
Stars
• Not
just
one,
but
everyone
• It
becomes
self-­‐perpetua*ng.
People
come
to
IMVU
because
they
want
to
work
with
rock
stars
• "Our
deepest
fear
is
not
that
we
are
inadequate.
Our
deepest
fear
is
that
we
are
powerful
beyond
measure.
It
is
our
light,
not
our
darkness,
that
most
frightens
us.
Your
playing
small
does
not
serve
the
world.
There
is
nothing
enlightened
about
shrinking
so
that
other
people
won't
feel
insecure
around
you.
We
are
all
meant
to
shine
as
children
do.
It's
not
just
in
some
of
us;
it
is
in
everyone.
And
as
we
let
our
own
lights
shine,
we
unconsciously
give
other
people
permission
to
do
the
same.
As
we
are
liberated
from
our
own
fear,
our
presence
automa'cally
liberates
others."
-­‐
Quoted
in
the
movies
Coach
Carter
and
Akeelah
and
the
Bee,
and
omen
aMributed
to
Nelson
Mandela
who
used
it
in
his
1994
Inaugural
Speech.
It's
actually
from
Marianne
Williamson's
book
A
Return
to
Love
-­‐
Reflec*ons
on
the
Principles
in
A
Course
in
Miracles
(Chapter
7,
Sec*on
3,
Page
165).
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

44. Lean
Staffing
On
Being
Wrong
Saint
Augus*ne
(1200
years
before
Descartes)
“Fallor
ergo
sum”
I
err
therefore
I
am
h@p://beingwrongbook.com
h@p://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong.html
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

45. Lean
Staffing
Dan
Pink:
The
surprising
truth
about
what
mo*vates
us
It’s
not
about
the
$
hMp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

46. Lean
Staffing
Hiring
The
Right
Mindset
• Passion
v
Skills?
Adversity
Quo=ent®
1
Global
|
Good
|
Grit
People
who
successfully
apply
AQ
perform
op*mally
in
the
face
of
adversity.
The
AQ
Profile
and
the
3G
Panorama
predict
how
well
an
applicant
will
perform
on
the
job1
James
Reed
and
Paul
G.
Stoltz
“Put
Your
Mindset
to
Work”
Global:
The
openness
and
big-­‐
picture
perspec=ve
to
compete
on
a
global
scale
in
any
job.
Good:
A
posi=ve
force
with
unwavering
moral
compass.
Grit:
The
tenacity
and
resilience
to
thrive
on
adversity.
hMp://www.peaklearning.com/about_3G-­‐mindset.php
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

47. Lean
Staffing
Some
of
these
“new”
ideas
have
been
around
for
a
while
“The
major
problems
of
our
work
are
not
so
much
technological
as
sociological
in
nature”.
PeopleWare,
Tom
DeMarco
&
Timothy
Lister
originally
published
in
1987
“By
and
large,
cost-­‐effec*ve
informa*on
technology
(IT)
management
is
more
about
people,
personal
rela*onships,
and
corporate
culture
than
it
is
about
the
technology
itself.
Simply
put,
IT
doesn’t
work
if
you
are
surrounded
by
bad
people
and
stupid
processes
in
a
deranged
corporate
culture.
“
IT’s
All
About
People,
Stephen
J.
Andriole
(October
21,
2011)
hMp://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-­‐Produc*ve-­‐Projects-­‐Teams-­‐Second/dp/0932633439/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319495839&sr=1-­‐1#_
hMp://www.amazon.com/Stephen-­‐J.-­‐Andriole/e/B001JP48LW/ref=nM_athr_dp_pel_1
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

48. Lean
Staffing
Believing
Makes
the
Impossible
Possible
How
could
a
team
that’s
never
competed
before
almost
defeat
last
year’s
na*onal
champions?
Blank-­‐slate
new
players
not
burdened
by
conven*onal
thoughts
on
what
could
and
couldn’t
work
allowed
unexpected
offense
and
defense
tac*cs
to
completely
throw
the
experienced
players
off
their
game.
Photo
by
Chris
Dolezalek
from
1989
Ul*mate
World
Championships.
Leuven
Belgium.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

49. Lean
Staffing
A
sustainable
work
pace
gets
you
to
the
top.
Chris
D.
2001
Climb
for
CARE:
hMp://www.flickr.com/photos/8505628@N04/sets/72157611331749165/
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

50. Lean
Staffing
Educa*on
• If
you’re
one
in
a
million
in
China,
there
are
1,300
people
like
you
• India
has
more
honors
students
than
the
US
has
students
• College
students
are
preparing
for
jobs
that
don’t
exist
yet
Did
You
Know:
hMp://scoMmcleod.org/IowaDidYouKnowSlides.pdf
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

51. Lean
Staffing
To
Climb
Trees,
Hire
Monkeys
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

52. Happiness
Inspires
Produc=vity
Shawn
Achor:
The
happy
secret
to
beWer
work
We
believe
that
we
should
work
to
be
happy,
but
could
that
be
backwards?
Psychologist
Shawn
Achor
argues
that
actually
happiness
inspires
produc=vity.
Abraham
Lincoln:
“Most
people
are
about
as
happy
as
they
make
up
their
minds
to
be.”
Eleanor
Roosevelt:
“No
one
can
make
you
feel
inferior
without
your
consent.”
Think
about
what
characteris*c
is
shared
among
the
most
produc*ve
employees
you
have
ever
worked
with…
Could
it
be
that
it
is
that
they
are
happy?
hMp://video.ted.com/talk/podcast/2011X/None/ShawnAchor_2011X.mp4
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

53. Lean
Process
Appendix
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

54. Planning
Poker1
Sizing
Tasks/Stories
with
Cards
• Increased
mee*ng
engagement
• High/Low
outliers
add
insights
• Increased
es*mate
accuracy
• Reduced
ques*ons
during
sprints
1. hMp://planningpoker.com
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

55. Zoom
In
Week
1
S104
Plan
Week
2
BUILD
BUILD
M
T
W
Th
F
Week
3
Week
4
Retro
M
T
W
Th
F
M
T
W
Th
F
M
T
W
Th
F
CPM
Review
…
tweak
S105
Prev
Tech
design
Plan
BUILD
BUILD
Data
Plan
Test
plan
CPM
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

56. Requirement
Opacity
Granularity
versus
deadlines:
It’s
ok
not
to
have
the
nth
degree
of
detail
of
what
you’re
building
in
6
months’
=me.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

57. Con=nuous
Deployment
Flow
Hypothesis
Build
on
VMs
hMp://www.slideshare.net/bgdurreM/con*nuous-­‐deployment-­‐at-­‐lean-­‐la
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

58. Experiments
&
Alterna=ves
• Experiments:
Vo*ng
by
doing,
requires
func*onality
• User
Sessions:
Hard
to
get
good
sample
size
quickly
• Customer
Advocates:
Par*cipates
in
forums,
user
groups,
…
• Anthropologist:
Do
field
research
to
observe
interac*ons
• Surveys:
What
people
say
rather
than
do
• Dog-­‐fooding:
Use
your
product
• Mavens:
Good
insights
into
established
market
hMp://www.gladwell.com/*ppingpoint/index.html
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

59. The
Pivot
That
Elusive
Hockey
S*ck
BroadVision,
Inc.
pivots
to
become
fastest
growing
somware
company
on
Nasdaq
Somlab,
GmbH
pivots
to
become
Germany’s
2nd
fastest
growing
independent
somware
company
PowerSom
developed
PowerBuilder
in
1991,
went
public
in
1993
and
was
acquired
for
~$900
million
in
1995
hMp://www.sunarsports.com/products/Easton-­‐Stealth-­‐S19-­‐Sr.-­‐Composite-­‐Hockey-­‐S*ck
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

60. Prototype, Test,
Refactor
Defined Milestones
& Iteration
No Meeting
No Meeting
Mondays
Mondays
…
Interrupt Lanes/
Engineers
Risk Buckets vs
Risk factored into
task estimates
"It is one of the happy incidents
of the federal system, that a
single courageous state may,
if its citizens choose, serve
as a laboratory; and try novel
social and economic
experiments without risk to
the rest of the country.”
-­‐ Louis
D.
Brandeis,
1932
Supreme
Court
Jus*ce
Experiment
as
individuals
but
also
as
teams
IMVU
con*nually
runs
process
experiments
as
a
way
to
improve
our
processes
and
to
avoid
falling
into
dysfunc*onal
rou*nes.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

61. Zynga
Numbers
• Zynga’s
daily
highs
of
concurrent
players
is
equivalent
to
everyone
in
the
city
of
Paris
playing
together
at
the
same
*me.
That
happens
every
day.
The
games
are
always
changing
and
the
devices
they’re
played
on
change
constantly.
Zynga
releases
over
100
updates
across
all
its
games
every
day.
The
company
once
released
more
than
1000
updates
in
one
week.
Zynga
players
make
a
million
ac*ons
per
second.
• Zynga
runs
about
130
experiments
in
its
games
every
day.
Amer
releasing
a
new
feature
Zynga
can
find
out
within
minutes
if
players
enjoyed
them.
Beyond
fun
is
social
—
what
maMer
is
that
friends
and
family
con*nue
to
play.
This
is
a
player’s
Ac*ve
Social
Network
(ASN).
It’s
a
true
barometer
of
how
social
a
game
is.
hMp://www.insidesocialgames.com/2012/06/26/live-­‐from-­‐zynga-­‐unleashed
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

62. Flickr’s
Perspec*ve
hWp://www.slideshare.net/jallspaw/10-­‐deploys-­‐per-­‐day-­‐dev-­‐and-­‐ops-­‐coopera=on-­‐at-­‐flickr
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

63. What’s
Under
Your
Hood?
Improving,
replacing
AND
dele*ng
old
code
is
vital
hMp://www.commercialmotor.com/big-­‐lorry-­‐blog/now-­‐thats-­‐more-­‐like-­‐it-­‐for-­‐biglorryblog-­‐one-­‐horsepower-­‐truck-­‐exclusive-­‐picture
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

64. On
Le~ng
Go
Shoo=ng
the
dogs
(leVng
go):
• Loss
aversion
and
the
“sunk
cost
fallacy”
Many
people
have
strong
misgivings
about
"was*ng"
resources
(loss
aversion).
They
may
feel
they've
passed
a
point
of
no
return.
Economists
would
label
this
behavior
"irra*onal":
it
is
inefficient
because
it
misallocates
resources
by
depending
on
informa*on
that
is
irrelevant
to
the
decision
being
made.
Colloquially,
this
is
known
as
"throwing
good
money
amer
bad“.
• Sunk
Cost
Dilemma
The
dilemma
of
having
to
choose
between
con*nuing
a
project
of
uncertain
prospects
already
involving
considerable
sunk
costs,
or
discon*nuing
the
project.
Given
this
choice
between
the
certain
loss
of
the
sunk
costs
when
stopping
the
project
versus
possible
–
even
if
unlikely
–
long-­‐term
profitability
when
going
on,
policy
makers
tend
to
favor
uncertain
success
over
certain
loss.
h@p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_costs#Loss_aversion_and_the_sunk_cost_fallacy
h@p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost_dilemma
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

65. VALVE
Somware’s
Game
Design
Process
hMp://www.valvesomware.com/publica*ons/2009/GDC2009_ValvesApproachToPlaytes*ng.pdf
hMp://www.geekwire.com/2011/experiments-­‐video-­‐game-­‐economics-­‐valves-­‐gabe-­‐newell
Valve
is
the
company
that
created
the
Steam
Game
Distribu*on
system.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

66. Con*nuous
Improvement
-­‐
Iterate
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Release
Minimal
Viable
Products
(MVPs),
Get
Customer
Feedback
/
Collect
Metrics
(don’t
presume
you
know
what’ll
work),
Analyze
Changes,
Make
Itera*ve
Changes
Go
back
to
Step
2
hMp://buu700.com/steverant
:
Also
note
that
he
men*ons
a
"ship
early
and
iterate"
ethos
at
Amazon,
and
also
how
a
clear
order
from
the
top
was
what
successfully
drove
them
into
building
SOA
pla•orms
despite
the
high
ini*al
cost.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

67. Counter
Innova=on
• How
to
make
your
offering
less
appealing
to…
– Fraudsters
– Scammers
– Spammers
– Cyber-­‐Bullies
Knowing
your
users
may
need
to
go
beyond
knowing
the
ones
you
want
to
keep.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

68. Innova*ng
with
Adver*sers
• Most
ad
clients
tend
to
be
more
conserva*ve
and
old
school
in
their
thinking…
• Skin*mate
Photo
Contest
They
wanted
and
expected
real-­‐world
pictures.
They
were
amazed
at
the
passion
behind
IMVU
photos…
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

69. Lean
Customer
Contribu=ons
Appendix
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

70. Leverage
User
Contribu*on
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

71. Leveraging
Virtual
Goods
Virtual Goods releases
How
many
virtual
goods
can
you
ship?
• CNET:
$7.3
billion
in
Virtual
goods
revenue,
an
increase
of
245
percent
over
20071
1.
hMp://news.cnet.com/8301-­‐13506_3-­‐20022780-­‐17.html
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

72. Leverage
your
users/community
• 50,000+
IMVU
Users/Creators
sold
items
to
other
members
in
the
last
30
days
• The
IMVU
Virtual
Goods
Catalog
grew
by
7,000
items
in
the
last
24
hours
• 6
million+
items
in
the
catalog
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

73. Lean
Staff
Management
Appendix
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

74. Lean
Staffing
Google’s
Rules
for
Managers
To
engineer
beMer
managers,
Google
poured
over
performance
reviews,
feedback
surveys
and
award
nomina*ons,
correla*ng
words
and
phrases
as
only
a
data-­‐
driven
company
like
it
can
do.
Here
is
an
edited
list
of
the
direc*ves
it
produced-­‐
in
order
of
importance-­‐
as
well
as
a
few
management
pi•alls
it
found.
Eight
Good
Behaviors
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Be
a
good
coach.
Empower
your
team
and
don't
micromanage.
Express
interest
in
team
members's
success
and
personal
well-­‐being.
Don't
be
a
sissy:
Be
produc*ve
and
results-­‐oriented.
Be
a
good
communicator
and
listen
to
your
team.
Help
your
employees
with
career
development.
Have
a
clear
vision
and
strategy
for
the
team.
Have
key
technical
skills
so
you
can
help
advise
the
team.
Three
Pi}alls
of
Managers
1. Have
trouble
making
a
transi*on
to
the
team.
2. Lack
a
consistent
approach
to
performance
management
and
career
development.
3. Spend
too
liMle
*me
managing
and
communica*ng.
Dan
Erwin
Career
Development
Blog:
hMp://danerwin.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/03/google-­‐wants-­‐to-­‐build-­‐a-­‐beMer-­‐boss.html
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

75. Lean
Staffing
-­‐
Manage
managing Your Most Valuable Resource
What
makes
for
the
most
produc*ve
and
innova*ve
employee?
Happiness,
Passion,
Engagement
• Support
your
team
Perspec=ve:
Managers
work
for
the
engineers
to
enable
them
to
be
produc=ve
• Sell
vs
Tell
=
No
show,
No
go
Winning
the
hearts
and
minds
bring
engagement
as
opposed
to
bodies
in
seats.
5-­‐Whys:
Company
Direc=ves
Alignment
=
What
are
you
working
on
and
Why
is
it
important?
• Be
Transparent
&
Invite
Challenges
Share
business
objec=ves
and
reward
those
who
ques=ons
them
• Let
them
pick
their
team
&
project
LiMle
startups/laboratories
• Let
them
Hack
Hack
weeks
once
a
quarter
• Let
them
experiment
• Let
them
choose
their
tools
• Let
them
determine
when
done
is
Story
Point
Sizing
• Keep
teams
small,
agile
and
fun
(BVSN
5
man
teams
vs
whole
companies)
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

76. Lean
Staffing
-­‐
Manage
managing Your Most Valuable Resource
What
makes
for
the
most
produc*ve
employee?
• Support
your
team
Happiness
/
Passion
Perspec=ve:
Managers
work
for
the
engineers
to
enable
them
to
be
produc=ve
• Sell
vs
Tell
=
No
show,
No
go
• Be
Transparent
&
Invite
Challenges
• Let
them
pick
their
team
&
project
LiMle
startups/laboratories
• Let
them
Hack
Hack
weeks
once
a
quarter
• Let
them
experiment
• Let
them
choose
their
tools
• Let
them
determine
when
done
is
Story
Point
Sizing
• Keep
teams
small,
agile
and
fun
(BVSN
5
man
teams
vs
whole
companies)
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

77. Lean
Staffing
Suppor*ng
Your
Most
Valuable
Resources
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

78. Lean
Staffing
–
Manage
Sell vs tell – get buy-in and win engagement
Sell
verses
Tell
If
you
tell
employees
what
to
do,
you’ll
rarely
get
more
than
what
you
ask
for.
If
you
help
them
understand
why
what
they
are
about
to
do
can
make
a
difference
and
let
them
par*cipate
in
determining
and
arriving
at
the
ul*mate
objec*ves,
you
may
well
discover
that
greater
engagement
can
result
in
outcomes
that
exceed
your
ini*al
expecta*ons…
a.k.a.
No
Show,
No
Go
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

79. Be
Transparent
Be
Transparent
&
Invite
Challenges
Share
business
objec=ves
Share
business
and
board
mee=ng
notes
as
well
as
financials
and
how
we’re
doing
against
goals.
Reward
those
who
ques=ons
them
Recognize
and
praise
those
that
challenge.
5
Whys
in
one-­‐on-­‐ones
Ask
individuals
to
get
to
root
cause
of
why
and
how
what
they
are
working
on
relates
to
company
objec=ves.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

80. Lean
Staffing
-­‐
Manage
managing Your Most Valuable Resource
What
makes
for
the
most
produc*ve
employee?
Happiness
/
Passion
Support
your
team
Sell
vs
Tell
=
No
show,
No
go
Be
Transparent
&
Invite
Challenges
Let
them
pick
their
team
&
project
LiMle
startups/laboratories
• Let
them
Hack
•
•
•
•
Hack
weeks
once
a
quarter
• Let
them
experiment
• Let
them
choose
their
tools
• Let
them
determine
when
done
is
Story
Point
Sizing
• Keep
teams
small,
agile
and
fun
(BVSN
5
man
teams
vs
whole
companies)
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

81. Hack
Weeks
@IMVU
&
@Yahoo
Cross
Func*onal
Teams
Hack
Weeks
vs
Hack
Days
Inspires
Innova*on
and
Collabora*on
Sell
to
Business
at
End
for
Further
Funding
Reinforce
Mindset
of
Thinking
About
Business
Objec*ves
Creates
BeMer
Awareness
of
Life
Cycle
and
Process
for
a
Project
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

82. Lean
Staffing
-­‐
Manage
managing Your Most Valuable Resource
What
makes
for
the
most
produc*ve
employee?
Happiness
/
Passion
•
•
•
•
Support
your
team
Sell
vs
Tell
=
No
show,
No
go
Be
Transparent
&
Invite
Challenges
Let
them
pick
their
team
&
project
LiMle
startups/laboratories
• Let
them
Hack
Hack
weeks
once
a
quarter
• Let
them
experiment
More
on
experimen=ng
to
follow,
but
let
engineers
push
1%
experiments
• Let
them
choose
their
tools
• Let
them
determine
when
done
is
Story
Point
Sizing
• Keep
teams
small,
agile
and
fun
(BVSN
5
man
teams
vs
whole
companies)
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

83. Lean
Staffing
-­‐
Manage
managing Your Most Valuable Resource
What
makes
for
the
most
produc*ve
employee?
Happiness
/
Passion
•
•
•
•
Support
your
team
Sell
vs
Tell
=
No
show,
No
go
Be
Transparent
&
Invite
Challenges
Let
them
pick
their
team
&
project
LiMle
startups/laboratories
• Let
them
Hack
Hack
weeks
once
a
quarter
• Let
them
experiment
• Let
them
choose
their
processes
and
tools
Whether
for
how
to
develop
code,
track
sprints,
or
whatever
• Let
them
determine
when
done
is
Story
Point
Sizing
• Keep
teams
small,
agile
and
fun
(BVSN
5
man
teams
vs
whole
companies)
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

84. Lean
Staffing
-­‐
Manage
managing Your Most Valuable Resource
What
makes
for
the
most
produc*ve
employee?
Happiness
/
Passion
•
•
•
•
Support
your
team
Sell
vs
Tell
=
No
show,
No
go
Be
Transparent
&
Invite
Challenges
Let
them
pick
their
team
&
project
LiMle
startups/laboratories
• Let
them
Hack
Hack
weeks
once
a
quarter
• Let
them
experiment
• Let
them
choose
their
tools
• Let
them
determine
when
done
is
Story
Point
Sizing
• Keep
teams
small,
agile
and
fun
(BVSN
5
man
teams
vs
whole
companies)
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

85. A
“Scien=fic”
Approach
to
understanding
a
complex
world
My
physics
professor
once
declared:
“Engineering
is
to
physics
as
masturba*on
is
to
sex.”
If
you
want
the
real
thing
(understanding
how
the
real
world
works)
you
must
understand
it
is
not
a
closed
system.
The
vectors
of
influence
are
many
and
constantly
varying.
Each
new
view
of
the
world,
is
simply
a
beMer,
more
recent
approxima*on
of
the
truth
than
the
last.
Con*nuously
Innovate
or
become
a
part
of
history.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

86. On
the
Spot
Innova=on
In
the
late
90s,
on
the
day
the
site
we
build
for
American
Airlines
online
reserva*ons
went
live,
they
warned
us
to
expect
1
million
hits.
They
wanted
to
be
sure
we
could
handle
the
load.
Much
to
everyone’s
surprise,
they
had
10
million
hits
on
day
one
and
the
systems
were
dangerously
into
the
red
near
capacity.
At
the
end
of
the
day,
in
a
very
heated
call,
the
ques*on
came
up
as
to
how
our
systems
would
scale
to
those
numbers.
We
were
confident
that
our
systems
would
scale
if
they
added
more
hardware.
The
problem
was,
AA
is
in
Texas
and
they
were
running
on
hardware
from
Sun
in
California.
UPS,
DHL
and
FedEx
were
closed
for
the
day
…
A
junior
exec
from
AA
piped
up
“ahem,
aren’t
we
an
airline?”
Someone
from
Sun
had
the
iron
driven
to
San
Jose
airport
were
an
AA
fight
brought
it
to
Texas.
Systems
we
running
a
good
levels
the
next
day.
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

87. Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012

88. Misc
to
add?
•
•
•
•
•
BVSN
and
AA
Coopsol
60>16
Kentucky
Fried
Chicken
FedEx?
Risk
Buckets
vs
Risks
in
Tasks
Psychological
benefit
of
ge~ng
work
done
within
task
size
• Stretch
Goals
Challenge
to
step
up
to,
buffer
for
change
requests
(you
know
they
will
come),
buffer
for
unknowns,
Early
warning/indicator/
• Interrupt
Lane
&
Engineer
• Adversity
Advantage
trigger
@
pulse
check
for
poten*al
concerns.
”Show
me
someone
who
has
done
something
worthwhile,
and
I'll
show
you
someone
who
has
overcome
adversity.”
-­‐
Lou
Holtz
• Pygmalion
Affect
"Thinking
too
well
of
people
oben
allows
them
to
be
be@er
than
they
otherwise
would."
-­‐
Nelson
Mandela
Chris
Dolezalek
–
October,
2012