When Inertia is not your friend, Time is your enemy
Geoffrey Moore
Author, speaker, advisor, best known for Crossing the Chasm, Zone to Win and The Infinite Staircase. Board Member of nLight, WorkFusion, and Phaidra. Chairman Emeritus Chasm Group & Chasm Institute.
As managers, because we are always in the middle of something, we can easily forget how much our operating model depends on inertia for its success.? We count on our supply chain to deliver more or less as promised, we expect our quarterly bookings to be pretty much as forecasted, and we count on our customer churn to be within its normal range.? This is the world of the Performance Zone and the Productivity Zone, one we measure largely based on its financial performance, something that is made possible by inertia, the tendency of objects in motion to continue in motion, albeit with well-timed well-directed boosts from ourselves and our partners.
Disruptive innovation breaks this pattern.? When successful, it can generate spectacular momentum with early adopters, but that fizzles out when things hit the chasm.? The whole point of crossing the chasm is to restart the engine of inertia, first around a single compelling use case in a single beachhead target market, then building out to adjacent use cases and segments.? Wherever inertia can get established, reliable supply chains, forecastable bookings, and manageable churn will follow.
But here is the thing to keep in mind while this effort is underway: the clock is ticking!? That’s why we say, when inertia is not your friend, time is your enemy.? As a consequence, whenever you are managing anything disruptive, be that an external offering to customers or an internal revamping of your business model, operating model, or infrastructure model, you must prioritize time to tipping point over all other variables.
The single most valuable tactic for staying on top of your time budget is establishing a cadence of weekly commits.? Each commit is tied to a change in state that will be brought about within the next seven days, each change in state representing a meaningful step towards the tipping point.? You can’t afford to ignore your finances, but do not let financial metrics distract you from prioritizing time to tipping point.? Until you have established inertial momentum, financial performance is ephemeral, and not a good predictor of business health.?
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Finally, because weekly commits is a challenging discipline, it is critical to enlist your team in the higher cause that warrants extraordinary efforts on their behalf.? It does no good to shame people who have missed a commit.? Rather the motto is win or learn.? Either make the commit and take the next step, or understand the root cause of why you missed the commit and adjust accordingly.? Do not get discouraged.? Be resilient.?
That’s what I think.? What do you think?
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C-Suite Leader | Board Director driving Digital Innovation & Value Creation | Portfolio Management & Business Transformation | Growth Strategy Advisor | 20+ Years Enterprise Leadership
3 个月Thank you, Geoffrey, for this insightful article. The emphasis on inertia and the critical role of time in managing disruptive innovation resonates deeply with me. As someone who has experienced the challenges of maintaining momentum in the face of disruption, I appreciate your practical advice on establishing a cadence of weekly commits. This approach not only keeps the team focused but also ensures that we are continually making progress towards our tipping points. I also agree that financial metrics, while important, should not distract us from the primary goal of re-establishing inertia. The concept of "win or learn" is particularly powerful, fostering a culture of resilience and continuous improvement within the team. Looking forward to applying these principles in my own work and seeing the positive impact they can bring. Thank you for sharing your wisdom! Best regards, Sandeep Kumar
The Product Guy ? Championing "Purpose Driven Innovation" ? 3X Top LinkedIn Voice ? Founding Partner @ Venturis Inc with the stated mission of "Bridging The Valleys" ? Global Citizen
10 个月Really liked the way you framed " The whole point of crossing the chasm is to restart the engine of inertia". Time/weekly commits/milestones are absolutely the way to measure progress while inertia is not your friend. Great point on Resilience and willlingness to learn being the key in moving forward.
Financial | ERP | Technology
11 个月"The single most valuable tactic for staying on top of your time budget is establishing a cadence of weekly commits." Absolutely. Weekly cadence meetings with report outs on week's accomplishments, deliverables status, with time schedule context are required to drive pace, whether Agile, waterfall, or combination efforts.
Digital Transformation and Beyond. (DTB)
11 个月Most manufacturing firms cannot adopt the Agile way of working due to their tight shop floor production schedules. I used to suggest having Cross Functional Teams who can also do "war room" management during month end along with implementing "innovation".