"From Setbacks to Success: Embracing Lean Thinking and Adaptability"

Reflecting on a fateful day in June 2007, as I arrived in S?o Paulo, a mixture of anticipation and confidence filled my mind. Little did I know that this day would test my resilience and introduce me to invaluable lessons in the world of project management. Join me as I recount the challenges, setbacks, and eventual triumph that shaped my professional journey and ignited a passion for Lean thinking.

The Initial Setback

As I eagerly waited for my meeting with the LA General Manager, the sunny winter day belied the storm that awaited me.

Armed with a strong cloud product transformation business case, I expected a fast, straightforward approval for the project plan, including a finance go ahead to start my project right away. The project would allow the company to generate more sales by enabling different payment method and would be fully deployed in 4 months (which it was a record compared to other strategic projects). It was a done deal!

However, to my surprise, the project was met with resistance. The General Manager expressed concerns about enduring additional months of constraint and rejected the proposal. His exact word: “We are already in pain. Are you telling me I will still need to wait another 4-5 months to have a solution and continue losing important market opportunity? where is AGILE? No way Jose!” and continued: “go rework your plan...and if you realize it can be delivered within 1 month, you come back and I will give you the money!”

Oh sh**t! =(

A Moment of Clarity

Frustration consumed me, and I found myself lost in thoughts as I searched for my car in the parking lot. That beautiful winter day suddenly turned into a VERY ugly one. I called my boss to share the meeting outcome, but he simply said, "Ok, drop it and focus on another project." I said: “What? No!! Our company needs this project."

I couldn't accept that. I knew the project was vital, preventing us from achieving significant sales according to the marketing and brand team studies. We had to find a way forward.

I left earlier that day and I did what I always do when I am upset or angry (in this case both), I laced up my sneakers and embarked on a run to clear my mind.

During my introspective run, a breakthrough struck me like lightning. What if I focused on addressing our company's most pressing pain point first—enabling sales—and postponed the backend automation for later phases? Frontend development (payment page) would be concluded within one month, solving the customer purchase issue. The remaining development would be completed within the following months. The new approach was brilliant but risky, which forced me to create a very detailed risk plan aligned with many different areas.

We are back on the game! =)

The Turning Point

Encouraged by my revised plan, I called the LA general manager office requesting for a comeback meeting with him. As a marvelous coincidence, an unexpected time slot became available on the same day. With a sense of pride, I presented my updated implementation plan: a three-phase approach. The first phase would solve our immediate pain within a month, while the subsequent phases would focus on backend automation. To my surprise again he said: “I am so frustrated...I thought you were going to present me a 15-day plan!” I just smiled and assured him that the project was on track. He continued: “At least we won't need to live with this problem for another 30 days...go, I will give you the money!” I thanked him and left. 

Now, you think the story has ended, right? No! The best is yet to come!

Triumphs and Learnings

So, he was kind of right. We were ahead of our original plan. Initial 30-day deadline transformed into a 20-day feat, celebrated with a grand go-live event. Risk mitigation strategy was meticulously being executed by all areas. Everything was good!

As we progressed with the second phase development, we encountered a new challenge - sluggish adoption rates from our customers. The brand and marketing teams approached me, suggesting a pause in phase three and monitor adoption and potentially restart development in case volumes increased. Agreeing to their proposition, I paused phase 3. Little did they know that pausing phase three would result in significant cost avoidance for the project, as it constituted 80% of the total development cost.

Not surprisingly, the project was never restarted. It turns out the Brand and the Marketing team made an incorrect assessment on our customer needs. The volume of sales received only corresponded to 10% of what was originally forecasted. At least we were fast to identify this scenario and avoid 80% of unneeded development effort/cost.

Fail fast, fail cheap. You probably have already heard this somewhere, right?

The Power of Lean

While this project may not be hailed as an outstanding success story, it provided me with indispensable lessons that have guided my professional journey ever since. The experience instilled in me a deep appreciation for Lean thinking—a mindset that emphasizes focus on customer/business value first, do more with less attitude, adaptability and continuously monitoring to readjust strategies.

Now, going back to the previous story, imagine If the LA General Manager had not challenged me with a one month constrain? I would have moved forward with my “perfect” original plan (4 months). The results would still be the same, however the cost would have been much higher. By putting a time constrain on me was the element that forced me to rethink my strategy and still deliver customer value with the least amount of money possible (time).

Conclusion

During my career, I have used this Lean mindset in many other projects and the results have been amazing. In some projects, we have been able to reduce our projects delivery timeline from 8-12 months to 1-2 months. It is no miracle, just adopting high customer impact delivery perspective!

So, how often do you challenge your ideas, your projects, your team? Are you ready to be lean?

Don’t know where to start? Start here. This video will bring some light into your Lean journey.