Bonkers Beans and Magic Numbers: Innovation in a Changing World (keynote)

bonkers beans and magic numbers innovation in a changing world Holly Cummins Senior Technical Staff Member IBM @holly_cummins

a senior principal author ex-consultant in IBM Garage led development methodology for IBM Garage ex-delivery lead for WebSphere Liberty #IBM @holly_cummins

used Watson to count pet fish (for a pet retailer) #IBM @holly_cummins

there’s an application server running in my hat #IBM @holly_cummins

world’s rst cuddly throwable application server #IBM fi @holly_cummins

a senior principal author ex-consultant in IBM Garage led development methodology for IBM Garage ex-delivery lead for WebSphere Liberty now: innovation leader #IBM @holly_cummins

why aren’t we all innovating more? #IBM @holly_cummins

barriers to innovation #IBM @holly_cummins

ideas time money

a time machine

a money tree

how to make time to innovate (without a money tree) (or a time machine) #IBM @holly_cummins

dedicated department x% time allocation hackathons off-plan post-release weeks slack in the system #IBM @holly_cummins

centrally planned dedicated department x% time allocation hackathons off-plan post-release weeks slack in the system grassroots #IBM @holly_cummins

innovation team #IBM @holly_cummins

george washington carver #IBM @holly_cummins

“Everything looked hungry: the land, the cotton, the cattle, and the people.” george washington carver #IBM @holly_cummins

#IBM @holly_cummins

peas soy beans peanuts (a peanut is a bean, not a nut) #IBM @holly_cummins

cotton #IBM peanuts @holly_cummins

peanuts #IBM cotton @holly_cummins

cotton #IBM peanuts @holly_cummins

peanuts are nutritious! cotton #IBM peanuts @holly_cummins

peanuts are nutritious! salted peanuts cotton #IBM peanuts @holly_cummins

peanuts are nutritious! salted peanuts chocolate covered peanuts cotton #IBM peanuts @holly_cummins

peanuts are nutritious! salted peanuts chocolate covered peanuts … cotton #IBM peanuts @holly_cummins

cotton #IBM peas @holly_cummins

year 1 cotton #IBM peas @holly_cummins

year 2 cotton #IBM peas @holly_cummins

year 3 cotton #IBM peas @holly_cummins

year 4 cotton #IBM peas @holly_cummins

innovation garden #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” innovation garden #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” innovation garden innovation program #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” ££/time innovation garden innovation program #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” recognition ££/time /incentives innovation garden innovation program #IBM @holly_cummins

rest of team #IBM innovation team @holly_cummins

year 1 rest of team #IBM innovation team @holly_cummins

year 2 rest of team #IBM innovation team @holly_cummins

year 3 rest of team #IBM innovation team @holly_cummins

year 4 rest of team #IBM innovation team @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” recognition ££/time /incentives innovation garden innovation program #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” recognition ££/time /incentives innovation garden innovation program bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” recognition ££/time /incentives innovation garden innovation program ideas bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” recognition ££/time /incentives innovation garden innovation program ideas problems bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” recognition ££/time /incentives innovation garden innovation program ideas problems implementation bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” recognition ££/time /incentives innovation garden innovation program ideas problems implementation energy bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

a change is as good as a rest (not quite a time machine, but close) #IBM @holly_cummins

10%/once a quarter/etc #IBM @holly_cummins

downside: really? #IBM @holly_cummins

downside: low take-up #IBM @holly_cummins

downside: low take-up our time #IBM @holly_cummins

downside: low take-up day to day work our time #IBM @holly_cummins

downside: low take-up the dream innovation day to day work our time #IBM @holly_cummins

downside: low take-up the reality innovation day to day work our time #IBM @holly_cummins

hackathon #IBM @holly_cummins

good news, staff - you now have the opportunity to innovate in the evenings and weekends! #IBM @holly_cummins

downside: taking time from employees #IBM good news, staff - you now have the opportunity to innovate in the evenings and weekends! @holly_cummins

“employee passion” … can be a excuse to extract extra work for the same pay #IBM @holly_cummins

off-plan post-release weeks #IBM @holly_cummins

since you’ve been working your socks off on this release, we will give you time off! … you still come to work, but you can work on anything you like #IBM @holly_cummins

advantage: everyone is ‘off’ at the same time #IBM @holly_cummins

slack in the system … so that employees can play #IBM @holly_cummins

downside: only works in some environments day-to-day pressure bogs us down #IBM @holly_cummins

downside: needs strong management commitment to low productivity #IBM @holly_cummins

downside: needs strong management commitment to ‘low’ productivity #IBM @holly_cummins

metrics may need adjustment to allow for fun #IBM @holly_cummins

the importance of bonkers #IBM @holly_cummins

“recklessly lateral thinking” – Kathy Sullivan (my boss)

top down “fertilisation” recognition ££/time /incentives innovation garden innovation program ideas problems implementation energy bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” recognition ££/time /incentives lateral “fresh air” innovation garden innovation program ideas problems implementation energy bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” recognition ££/time /incentives lateral “fresh air” innovation garden external ideas innovation program learning ideas problems implementation energy bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

the best ideas are on the edge of ‘impossible’ and ‘stupid’ #IBM @holly_cummins

the best ideas are on the edge of ‘impossible’ and ‘stupid’ … but now seem kind of normal #IBM @holly_cummins

pet rocks #IBM @holly_cummins

bicycles “the popularity of the wheel is doomed.” Washington Post, 1906 #IBM @holly_cummins

laptops “People don’t want to lug a computer with them to the beach or on a train to while away hours they would rather spend reading the newspaper. Somehow, the microcomputer industry has assumed that everyone would love to have a keyboard grafted on as an extension of their ngers. It just is not so.” New York Times, 1985 @holly_cummins fi #IBM

putting cheese on burgers “the combination of beef with cheese may seem bizarre.” New York Times, 1947 #IBM @holly_cummins

plant pitch meeting rules are there to be broken (even in nature) #IBM plant VC@holly_cummins

so it’s a plant, but it hunts and eats animals plant pitch meeting rules are there to be broken (even in nature) #IBM plant VC@holly_cummins

so it’s a plant, but it hunts and eats animals plant pitch meeting get out. rules are there to be broken (even in nature) #IBM plant VC@holly_cummins

how do we tell the difference between ‘almost impossible and stupid’ and ‘actually impossible and stupid’? #IBM @holly_cummins

how do we tell the difference between ‘almost impossible and stupid’ and ‘actually impossible and stupid’? mvp #IBM @holly_cummins

minimum viable plant #IBM @holly_cummins

minimum viable product #IBM @holly_cummins

designing an mvp #IBM @holly_cummins

#IBM @holly_cummins

mvp #IBM mvp mvp @holly_cummins

mvp mvp mvp are we communicating? #IBM @holly_cummins

mvp mvp mvp are we communicating? (no) #IBM @holly_cummins

#IBM @holly_cummins

our MVP has been through five architecture review boards, so we will start coding soon #IBM @holly_cummins

our MVP has been through five architecture review boards, so we will start coding soon can you make it bigger? I want a £12M MVP #IBM @holly_cummins

mvp #IBM mvp mvp @holly_cummins

first release experiment first release but quality is so boring be explicit about what we are trying to accomplish #IBM @holly_cummins

high uncertainty #IBM moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) @holly_cummins

high uncertainty moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) experiment #IBM @holly_cummins

high uncertainty hypothesis #IBM moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) experiment @holly_cummins

high uncertainty hypothesis moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) experiment able to fail #IBM @holly_cummins

high uncertainty hypothesis moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) experiment designed to fail #IBM @holly_cummins

high uncertainty hypothesis moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) experiment designed to fail strong metrics #IBM @holly_cummins

high uncertainty hypothesis moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) experiment designed to fail strong metrics learning #IBM @holly_cummins

high uncertainty hypothesis moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) experiment designed to fail strong metrics learning follow-on experiment #IBM @holly_cummins

high uncertainty hypothesis experiment designed to fail moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) radical descoping strong metrics learning follow-on experiment #IBM @holly_cummins

high uncertainty hypothesis experiment designed to fail moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) radical descoping really hope to succeed strong metrics learning follow-on experiment #IBM @holly_cummins

high uncertainty hypothesis experiment designed to fail moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) radical descoping really hope to succeed user value strong metrics learning follow-on experiment #IBM @holly_cummins

high uncertainty hypothesis experiment designed to fail moderate uncertainty (remember ‘changing world’?) radical descoping user value strong metrics learning follow-on experiment #IBM really hope to succeed iterative continuous expansion of scope @holly_cummins

vanity metrics “magic numbers” #IBM @holly_cummins

vanity metrics we have data! but the numbers can’t tell us what actions to take “magic numbers” #IBM @holly_cummins

client story: mueller #IBM @holly_cummins

client story: mueller visual designs #IBM @holly_cummins

client story: mueller visual designs #IBM user research @holly_cummins

client story: mueller visual designs #IBM user research devops @holly_cummins

client story: mueller responsive web app visual designs #IBM user research devops @holly_cummins

client story: mueller responsive web app visual designs #IBM user research devops TDD @holly_cummins

client story: mueller responsive web app visual designs #IBM user research deployed to prod devops TDD @holly_cummins

client story: mueller responsive web app visual designs #IBM user research deployed to prod devops TDD order processing system @holly_cummins

wizard of Oz mvp #IBM @holly_cummins

innovation funnels #IBM @holly_cummins

#IBM @holly_cummins

prune out the bad ideas early #IBM @holly_cummins

#IBM @holly_cummins

innovation funnel #IBM @holly_cummins

idea #IBM innovation funnel @holly_cummins

idea innovation funnel production #IBM @holly_cummins

idea innovation railroad innovation funnel production #IBM @holly_cummins

idea innovation railroad innovation funnel organisational incentive to plough on; failure is punished production #IBM @holly_cummins

innovation railroad idea innovation funnel innovation zzle organisational incentive to plough on; failure is punished production @holly_cummins fi #IBM

innovation railroad idea organisational incentive to plough on; failure is punished innovation funnel innovation zzle most projects the same length few get to production incentive for ‘innovation activity’ production @holly_cummins fi #IBM

organisational incentive to plough on; failure is punished innovation funnel ltering for ‘sure thing’ focus on risk reduction bureaucracy paperwork innovation zzle most projects the same length few get to production incentive for ‘innovation activity’ production #IBM @holly_cummins fi fi innovation railroad idea

we may not truly understand the problem we are trying to solve until after our first attempt #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” ££/time recognition /incentives lateral “fresh air” innovation garden external ideas innovation program learning ideas problems implementation energy bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” ££/time recognition /incentives lateral “fresh air” innovation garden external ideas feedback innovation program learning ideas problems implementation energy bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

risk

if you’re on the edge of impossible and stupid, some things won’t work #IBM @holly_cummins

is your org supportive of this?

is your org supportive of this? it means you are asking questions you didn’t already know the answer to

peanut bread peanut sausage peanut coffee peanut paint peanut nitroglycerine

top down “fertilisation” ££/time recognition /incentives lateral “fresh air” innovation garden external ideas feedback innovation program learning ideas problems implementation energy bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

top down “fertilisation” psychological ££/time safety recognition /incentives lateral “fresh air” innovation garden external ideas feedback innovation program learning ideas problems implementation energy bottom up “grassroots” #IBM @holly_cummins

“I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.” – Thomas Edison #IBM @holly_cummins

innovation is everywhere; we just need to let it grow #IBM @holly_cummins

® @holly_cummins