Trigger Strategy is now Tentacles

“grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” – the Serenity PrayerThe concept of “High Agency” burst into the online leadership conversation in recent years. And it sounds good, doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t want to be high agency? Who wouldn’t want to have high agency employees?As with many such “obviously good” concepts, turns out it’s not that simple.In this episode, Corissa and Tom also look at the other side of hopes for high agency.We talk about how some leaders might wish for high agency employees, but would balk at what a very high agency employee would do in reality.And we talk about what you need to know if you’re an employee being expected to demonstrate more agency.And we signpost a whole load of lovely rabbit holes to go explore.“imagine that I could sell you a magic pill and you could give it to two of your employees and overnight they would suddenly become high agency. What would be the first thing you’d notice was different when you went into work the next day?”Linky GoodnessMushfiqa Monica Jalamuddin - the Estuarine coach you’re looking forEstuarine MappingMultiverse Mapping (free course)Venkatesh Rao’s Gervais PrincipleJeffrey Pfeffer’s Leadership BSBrendan Reid’s Stealing the Corner OfficeLuca Dellanna’s 100 Truths You Will Learn Too LateTimecodes to help you navigate00:00 Introduction00:28 What is High Agency?01:10 The Serenity Prayer02:00 Estuarine Mapping is the Serenity Prayer in map form03:45 High agency as a positive trait … & its permeation into leadership mythology 04:06 “Sound like a challenger, but be an obedient drone”06:20 Perhaps it’s about not waiting for permission, while also not doing silly things08:09 Tools to create higher agency if you want that – including Multiverse Mapping13:01 What if the traits we want in leaders are not the traits that get you promoted?17:31 A magic question for you to use18:34 What would have to be true for that stupid thing to make a lot of sense?19:42 “You can choose the game you play, but not its rules” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Surveys are almost always biased in several ways, notably both the way questions are asked but also sample bias: who in the population even answers surveys?In this episode we discuss: is the SenseMaker collector we shared biased just the same as any other survey? And if so, is that a problem? And if so, what can we do about it?Plus stories about skullduggery in presenting data, hiding gorillas in radiologist scans and the "magic" or standard questions:What's similar, different and surprising?What, so what, now what?Linky goodness:Don't send that survey! Here's what to do instead.Complex facilitation principles and the standard questions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The hosts dive into the complexity of feature development and the pitfalls of relying solely on customer feedback. They explain the difference between what customers say they want and their actual behaviors. Insights on human decision-making reveal emotional drivers behind choices, while practical techniques like the Impact/Effort Matrix are critiqued for their misleading simplicity. The conversation emphasizes storytelling in customer interactions and the importance of minimizing software to maximize valuable behaviors.

The hosts delve into a unique group exercise designed to refresh brand identity, mixing strategy with humor. They tackle the complexities of conveying brand values, revealing the pitfalls of subjective terminology. Flexibility in brand representation is emphasized, urging brands to align visual identity with practices. The conversation also includes a two-by-two matrix for competitor analysis, showcasing innovative branding strategies. They discuss how startups and corporations face distinct challenges during branding transformations.

We talk about alignment. Especially, we talk about relaxing our beef with the word alignment, and embracing the reasonable desire for alignment.00:00 Welcome!00:28 Alignment in companies00:49 Challenges and misconceptions about alignment04:07 Coherence vs. alignment; JP Castlin's ABCDE framework, and one line in the sand vs two lines in the sand08:27 A real-world example of a misaligned project10:38 Strategies for effective alignment, including "via negativa" alignment12:52 Aligning teams with reality as well as intent13:25 The role of the "strategy whisperer"13:47 Empowering teams to find alignment13:58 Back briefing for effective communication16:13 Understanding the need for leadership governance vs the needs of teams17:30 Challenges with leadership expectations19:49 Navigating company growth realities20:37 Dropping our beef with alignment and going vegetarian23:34 Are you clearly a berry? Clear communication taps the forager's gathering instinct24:41 Exploring alignment beyond the team25:42 Final thoughts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world of digital/tech is going through "a moment" just now at the end of 2024.And we've launched a project to share and explore diverse perspectives from across the tech world, using a particular tool and methodology called SenseMaker. The goal is to showcase the diverse range of perspectives and stories of the moment in a way that's normally impossible.Some topics:Why is Tom so excited about SenseMaker?Who sees the gorilla?Contrasting Likert scales versus triads and dyadsHow standard "feedback surveys" are ruined by averaging and dominated by recency bias and the Halo Effect.Cynicism about the annual 360 feedback gameWhat if feedback could be descriptive instead of evaluative? And real-time instead of averaged over 6 months?Beef with the "product trio" conceptA few nuggets we've picked up in the early data.Our plans for open sense-making workshopsPatterns of care and rule-following in healthcareVector change using "more stories like these, fewer like those"Want to see the responses we've collected? Take 10 minutes to share your experience, and you'll be able to opt in to access all the responses at the end.👉 https://bit.ly/stories-from-techThank you for contributing ❤️Linky goodness:How to use a new generation data collection and analysis tool? https://thecynefin.co/how-to-use-data-collection-analysis-tool/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk about a question posed in Innovation Tactics Slack - about a stakeholder who’s skeptical that design research can help with genuine innovation, and wants to create speculative use cases instead.Topics we touch on:Are speculative use cases a "thing"? Is it helpful to imagine people doing something that's just not happening today? Like, 500 years ago, nobody got their shoelace trapped in an escalator. In 2003, nobody was planning out how they'd price their product on the App Store.Is it reasonable to be skeptical about design research?What do you do when you're working with someone who's already decided what they want and isn't interested in evidence?Radical repurposing as an alternative – follow the pathfindersSnowmobiling as a possible approach – remix the adjacent possibleJamming with your stakeholder to understand and clarify (with the side effect that you might expose gaps or incoherence)Bias in researchSome quotes:"Getting a shoelace trapped in an escalator - that's not a thing that happened 500 years ago.""Just doing something because you think it's cool is totally valid as a way of operating a business""Everyone who has a brilliant idea thinks that their idea is the next big thing. And everyone but one in a million is wrong about that. And even the one in a million tends to be wrong about exactly how it's going to work.""Play Doh was invented, not as a toy for kids, but as a putty for removing coal soot from walls. It was repurposed into the kids' toy after people stopped having coal fires""You're very unlikely to invent something novel that works. You're very likely to find somebody doing something novel that you can scale.""You can absolutely go and do the best interviewing in the world and not come back with anything that's going to be a breakthrough innovation for your company. It may be that your company is not positioned to make a breakthrough innovation.""this is the trap that so many people fall into and I've heard it more times than I can count. It's that need to educate the market. Do not, do not try, red flag, back away slowly or run, run speedily off into the distance." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob Snyder, a thought leader in product development and case study methodologies, tackles the criticisms of selling before building. He argues against traditional views on research processes, emphasizing that quality isn't always feasible from the start. The fear of selling 'vapourware,' reminiscent of Theranos, is addressed but clarified as not what is being promoted. The discussion introduces 'Bounded Applicability,' stressing that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution in product development, highlighting the significance of context and genuine market understanding.

Rob Snyder, a thought leader renowned for his insights on product market fit, shares valuable wisdom for founders. He discusses the elusive 'Pain Cave'—the inevitable discomfort of innovation. Snyder emphasizes shipping case studies rather than code to genuinely understand customer needs. He introduces the 'time machine exercise' to reframe challenges and explore future possibilities. The conversation also touches on shifting mindsets and the need for adaptability in saturated markets, leaving listeners with actionable strategies to enhance their entrepreneurial journeys.

Explore the hidden pitfalls of survivorship bias and how it skews our perception of success. Discover the importance of examining failures and cautionary tales in decision-making. The conversation dives into the complexities of theory-driven practices and the need for adaptability in productizing consulting services. Learn about innovative methodologies like estuarine mapping and the challenges of aligning organizational goals. Ultimately, it’s an exploration of how we can navigate biases and improve our strategies.