In Torontoâs tech and business scene, âlean innovationâ is more than just a trending topic. Itâs a central tenet of doing business at scale.
When we launched Endy in 2015, âthinking like a startupâ was not a conscious choice – it was a reality of finite resources and fierce competition. Two years later, as the leading company of our kind in Canada, itâs more important now than ever to stay nimble as we grow. Weâve had to learn what countless other startups in growth mode know: itâs not easy being lean.
At Elevate Torontoâs inaugural tech festival, I joined more than 20 tech and business leaders to speak on the topic of lean innovation. From hiring quickly to adopting agile processes at every level of the organization, itâs never too early – or too late – to start thinking lean. Here are my top five takeaways from the day.
Test every assumption
My session at Elevate centred on the importance of using the scientific method as a framework for innovation. Before founding Endy, I worked as an engineer. The scientific method was an essential part of my job â and now, itâs even more so. If you havenât heard the phrase since high school, itâs really quite simple. First, ask a question. Then hypothesize, test, observe, and analyze.
"Get out of the idea phase (what could I do) and more into action (what can I test)" – Mike Gettis, @EndySleep CEO #elevatetoronto pic.twitter.com/ZPvdJQJYLQ
— Rangle.io Inc. (@rangleio) September 13, 2017
Early entrepreneurs often get stuck on stage one. If thereâs one piece of advice I can give, itâs to move out of the âideaâ phase and into the âactionâ phase as quickly as possible. Donât stew over finding the perfect product/market fit. Instead, do some research and develop a working theory. Then, define your variables and get to work, testing individual variables as cheaply as you can. Donât get buried under the weight of âwhat ifsâ – test until youâre confident in your business model. Then scale it.
Keep moving, and keep talking
While continually testing your assumptions is crucial, itâs even more important to analyze the results as a team to make meaningful improvements. Communication is central to lean innovation. The more siloed a team becomes, the less impact its tests will have on the whole.
"Context can kill even a great product … and sometimes companies ignore it completely!" @aprildunford #leaninnovation #elevatetoronto pic.twitter.com/yKid5kLuzy
— Rangle.io Inc. (@rangleio) September 13, 2017
This thought was shared by numerous speakers throughout the track, including Shawn Mandel, VP at TELUS Digital; and Todd Copeland, SVP of digital channels at TD, during their talk on Moving Fast in a Large Company. To encourage the free flow of information throughout an organization, divide larger teams into smaller groups with key stakeholders represented. Constant communication in small groups allows companies of all sizes to pivot and adapt to changing market needs, while minimizing spin.
Break up workflows, even at scale
Lean methodology is about more than maximizing value for customers while minimizing waste. Creating effective processes is easier in smaller teams, when there are fewer variables and less strain on the system. As your business grows, adding more people while keeping the same processes isnât going to cut it. Avoid growing pains by continuously revisiting workflows: identify bottlenecks, split larger roles into smaller tasks, and ensure goals are measurable and clearly defined.
Paul Crowe, CEO of Symbility Intersect, made this point well in his talk on The People. The Process. The Tools. He conveyed the importance of using the right tools to get things done, and streamlining workflows with modularity and task management.
At its core, scaling your startup means you will have to learn to delegate. Entrepreneurs often take on the responsibility of managing several roles, acting as the âcatch-allâ for tasks that need to get done. Throughout the conference, numerous speakers made it clear that leaders need to get comfortable trusting others with important tasks – even if that means doing things differently.
Let the people you hire move you forward
As a company scales, itâs the CEOâs job to get out of the way. Mathili Mavinkurke, co-founder and COO of Sightline Innovation, put it best: âAdopting lean innovation at the corporate level means creating a sandbox for startups to collaborate.â To do this, itâs essential to have trust in your team â which means hiring the right people.
Thatâs where Farhan Thawar, co-founder and CTO of Helpful, took it away. If youâre curious about how to hire faster than a startup, here the core of Thawarâs talk: Hire for potential and evaluate based on performance, rather than experience. âThe only way to evaluate a race car driver is to put them in the car. Itâs the same with any talent.â Empower employees to make decisions and build as diverse a team as possible – ânot to fill quotas,â but to win, said Thawar.
Empower employees to make decisions + avoid bias by evaluating performance, not resumes. #ElevateToronto @fnthawar pic.twitter.com/Cy1As4TsFl
— Delia (@delialoveless) September 13, 2017
Innovation is a culture, not a job title
During an afternoon panel, Mathili Mavinkurke, co-founder and COO of Sightline Innovation, made a point about innovation that is often overlooked: âInnovation has to be infiltrated into the organization at every level. You canât just hire a âhead of innovationâ or hold an innovation meeting,â and expect it to stick.
Innovation begins when employees at every level of the organization are rewarded for adopting agile workflows and taking creative, calculated risks, with measurable outputs. The larger an organization gets, the more difficult this becomes to implement. But as Ben Yoskovitz, founding partner of Highline BETA explained, âlarge companies are around because they âwonâ at some point.â The challenge, he continued, is to continually innovate, and keep winning at scale – a chief innovation officer canât do this alone.
Photo via Twitter