Pascal Dennis, co-author of Harnessing Digital Disruption
The future belongs to the ambidextrous – those who can both protect the core business with OpEx/Lean AND ignite new growth using the magic of Silicon Valley & Singapore. Our biggest challenge is understanding the very different mindset behind OpEx/Lean & Innovation. Our biggest challenge: OpEx/Lean and Innovation live in very different worlds first articulated by Aristotle 2,500 years ago.
This is the world of things that cannot be other than they are. Think Physics, Chemistry and Math; think PDCA, process management, and the Theory of Constraints. The Pareto principle – 80% of the problem is caused by 20% of the causes – is a cornerstone of this world. I absorbed this iron principle as a young Toyota manager. Up until then, like all young managers, I was prone to ‘blah blah blah’. Today I’m lucky enough to advise Boards & C-suites and guess what? The Pareto principle remains fundamental in Board decision-making.
This is the world of things than can be other than they are. Think fashion, taste, public opinion and culture. Igniting new Growth entails answering questions like:
After a few Innovation sprints I realized I was ‘no longer in Kansas’. The principles of OpEx/Lean I’d worked so hard to internalize could be helpful, but were not sufficient, by a long shot! Sometimes they applied – and sometimes not! For example, customers would confidently tell us what they valued – and then ignore it when presented with our offering. And then they’d change their mind again.
Standards & analysis were helpful, for example, in the clever crafting of Discovery interview scripts (‘What hypothesis are we testing?’), and astute qualitative & quantitative analysis. But intuition and gut feel played a far bigger role than in the world of Necessity.
Pareto charts often went out the door. We would identify what we believed were the key Satisfiers and build a kick-ass offering. And then realize our approach was a dead-end because our competitors had done exactly the same as we had done.
Igniting new Growth means finding the proverbial ‘Blue Ocean’ – the place where nobody else if fishing. My Innovation mentor & co-author, Laurent Simon, taught me the magic of Discovery & Validation Interviews through which, with practice, I learned to uncover the hidden pains & needs that might truly delight the customer. These are often so obscure that not even the customer knows them!
For example, one of our projects entailed creating value in the Wealth Management division of a major bank in east Asia. Our Discovery & Validation interviews uncovered a profound, yet unspoken need of customers – anxiety about their elderly parents. We turned it into a kick-ass offering that opened up our ‘Blue Ocean’.
And this is why ambidexterity is such a challenge: Board & C-suite members have to recognize Aristotle’s two worlds and apply the methods & mental models that suit the situation. It took me a decade to understand how to protect the core business with OpEx/Lean. It has taken me another decade to understand the topsy-turvy world of Contingency and Innovation.
It’s worth it for the organization and the individual. In the age of AI, leadership, flexibility and creativity will be the key to sustained prosperity. Understanding how to navigate the worlds of Necessity and Contingency, and how to engage a high performing team (of both human & AI agents) will be a superpower.
OpEx/Lean Lives in the World of Necessity
This is the world of things that cannot be other than they are. Think Physics, Chemistry and Math; think PDCA, process management, and the Theory of Constraints. The Pareto principle – 80% of the problem is caused by 20% of the causes – is a cornerstone of this world. I absorbed this iron principle as a young Toyota manager. Up until then, like all young managers, I was prone to ‘blah blah blah’. Today I’m lucky enough to advise Boards & C-suites and guess what? The Pareto principle remains fundamental in Board decision-making.
Innovation Lives in the World of Contingency
This is the world of things than can be other than they are. Think fashion, taste, public opinion and culture. Igniting new Growth entails answering questions like:
- Who is the customer?
- What does the customer value?
- Why do they buy, or not buy, from us?
After a few Innovation sprints I realized I was ‘no longer in Kansas’. The principles of OpEx/Lean I’d worked so hard to internalize could be helpful, but were not sufficient, by a long shot! Sometimes they applied – and sometimes not! For example, customers would confidently tell us what they valued – and then ignore it when presented with our offering. And then they’d change their mind again.
Standards & analysis were helpful, for example, in the clever crafting of Discovery interview scripts (‘What hypothesis are we testing?’), and astute qualitative & quantitative analysis. But intuition and gut feel played a far bigger role than in the world of Necessity.
Pareto charts often went out the door. We would identify what we believed were the key Satisfiers and build a kick-ass offering. And then realize our approach was a dead-end because our competitors had done exactly the same as we had done.
Igniting new Growth means finding the proverbial ‘Blue Ocean’ – the place where nobody else if fishing. My Innovation mentor & co-author, Laurent Simon, taught me the magic of Discovery & Validation Interviews through which, with practice, I learned to uncover the hidden pains & needs that might truly delight the customer. These are often so obscure that not even the customer knows them!
For example, one of our projects entailed creating value in the Wealth Management division of a major bank in east Asia. Our Discovery & Validation interviews uncovered a profound, yet unspoken need of customers – anxiety about their elderly parents. We turned it into a kick-ass offering that opened up our ‘Blue Ocean’.
And this is why ambidexterity is such a challenge: Board & C-suite members have to recognize Aristotle’s two worlds and apply the methods & mental models that suit the situation. It took me a decade to understand how to protect the core business with OpEx/Lean. It has taken me another decade to understand the topsy-turvy world of Contingency and Innovation.
It’s worth it for the organization and the individual. In the age of AI, leadership, flexibility and creativity will be the key to sustained prosperity. Understanding how to navigate the worlds of Necessity and Contingency, and how to engage a high performing team (of both human & AI agents) will be a superpower.
Best wishes,
Pascal Dennis
E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org
In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look….
The Control Tower – Learning to See What Is
The Hardest Thing - Seeing What Is
Fundamentals of OpEx/Lean, Part 2
Fundamentals of OpEx/Lean, Part 1
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