“Chopping up the elephant”
I’ve lost count on the number of times I’ve heard this in different business contexts. Usually it’s said with great confidence when there is a complex and time consuming problem to solve, and everyone agree that this challenge needs to be tackled one step at the time. It’s often followed by Gantt charts and timelines detailing every step, and the people in the room feel that they are finally in control of how to solve it. That soothing, but often false, sense of security and relief that any detailed plan about the future can create.
I don’t believe in this approach. At M, everything is about time to knowledge, so we rather try to build a smaller elephant to validate our assumptions, thus shortening the feedback loops and minimising the overall risk. Instead of having one third of a large elephant, we have one small elephant that can deliver some measurable value to our customers and allow us to learn.
So, the next time you hear someone talking about "chopping up the elephant", try instead to figure out a way to build a smaller elephant that can grow larger while you learn together with your customers.
Strategic Leader I Digital Transformation Expert I Innovator in New Business Models I Advocate for Sustainable Growth
3 年Maybe a bit off topic: "How to eat the elephant", "the elephant in the room". Why are elephants used as a metaphor for a problem, and why should we eat them? Elephants are great to lift obstacles and could obviously easily break down doors and they run fast too... We can agree that we do not need elephants anywhere close to agile development ??. #donoteatelephants
Engineering Manager Sensor Tech @ Scania Autonomous Transport Solutions
3 年Hear hear ??
Hj?lper dig att f? din organisation att accelerera ?? I Digitaliseringschefens b?sta v?n I Organisationsutveckling I Strategi och genomf?rande I Agil Organisation I Digital transformation
3 年Spot on Erik!
Interesting. My belief is that the habit to take the ‘large’ approach is an industrial scale mindset (all parts have to fit and work together) that isn’t really the model for a digital-able audience who can validate a smaller idea and make it stronger or eliminate it.