The photos below show the practical application of iterative development and rapid prototyping.
📉 Problem – The flashcard box was degrading due to repeated use
💡 Solution – Prototype a new box using a 3D printer, then improve the design
⏱ Lead time to value – Approximately 5 days
📅 Total time invested – 8 hours or less
🗣 Conversations – 2 or 3
Improving, we practice what we help other organizations adopt. We eat our own dog food.
I wasn’t good at using tact when I was a younger man. Even today, I have my moments where I’ll just put someone on blast.
I’m not proud of it, but I’m better at holding my tongue when I disagree with another person.
I like what Sir Isaac Newton expressed here:
Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy. – Sir Isaac Newton
We can have differing opinions. Even better, we can agree to disagree and yet still make the relationship work.
On teams, learning and applying tact is essential. How we handle disagreements is an indicator of how well we work together.
Product development is a stressful process. We’re making low cost, risky bets to test whether an approach will work or not with our clients and customers.
Some folks on the team may not be risk-takers. As well, the organization may be willing to make large bets that the team isn’t comfortable committing to.
This is where tact becomes vital. Reframing a situation with words like “may” or “might” can allow for civil disagreement while maintaining respect.
Coaches and facilitators learn and apply these terms to discussions to allow divergent opinions to be expressed. Respectfully, expressed.
I’m not always perfect in my own expression, but I do try to be tactful in my disagreement.
When I retired from the Navy Reserve on January 1, 2016, I had to adjust my expectations about how team leaders worked.
It was shocking to me that corporate “leaders” (aka associate managers to associate directors) would fight via email escalations.
For me, as a Navy Chief Petty Officer, that just wasn’t how we handled disagreements.
We would fight behind closed doors in the Chief’s Mess. It could get REALLY ugly, but once we hammered out our difference, we left the Mess focused on our purpose and goals.
We didn’t have to agree, but we could make our disagreement known with facts and valid information to support our objections.
As teams work, leaders emerge. Allowing teams the space to privately disagree is important to building solid products.
As well, being mindful of shared humanity helps ground disagreements. Seeking to avoid personal attacks is a key to keeping creative friction moving in a positive direction.
Have you been successful in your teams with allowing disagreement while still aligning on purpose and goals?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
