Comment générer et valider de nouvelles idées avec Agile ?

Understanding a problem is a fundamental step in finding a solution. It involves grasping the essence of the issue, identifying its components, and acknowledging the underlying factors that contribute to it. There is a structured approach to understanding a problem, such as: 1. Defining the Problem, 2. Breaking It Down, 3. Identifying the Root Cause, 4. Gathering Information, 5. Analyzing the Information, 6. Understanding Stakeholders, 7. Assessing Resources and Constraints, 8. Formulating Goals, 9. Considering Possible Solutions, 10. Reflecting and Adapting. In essence, understanding a problem is a critical thinking process that involves investigation, analysis, and synthesis of information.

Nothing beats engaging the end user or customer in conversation about their pains and gains and running an experiment. There may be good ideas that are raised in conversation but nothing will prove or disprove that idea like running an experiment and adapting.

In Agile, generating and validating ideas involves continuous collaboration and feedback loops. Teams employ techniques like brainstorming, user stories, and story mapping to generate ideas. Validation occurs through iterative development and testing, gathering user feedback, and measuring outcomes against predefined metrics. Techniques like MVP (Minimum Viable Product) development help validate ideas quickly and efficiently. Regular retrospectives allow teams to reflect on what worked and what didn't, refining the idea generation and validation process for future iterations.

I generate and validate new ideas with Agile by collaborating with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to identify innovative solutions, and encouraging experimentation and feedback. Through iterative prototyping and testing, I quickly validate and refine ideas, leveraging the insights and knowledge of the team to create innovative products and services. I also use retrospectives and Sprint Reviews to gather feedback and iterate on ideas, ensuring that they meet the needs of our customers and stakeholders.

In an Agile environment, the ability to swiftly generate and validate new ideas is crucial for continuous improvement and innovation. Maintain a dedicated backlog for new ideas and innovation initiatives. This backlog should be regularly reviewed and prioritized based on potential value, feasibility, and alignment with business goals.

Idea generation should always be done in alignment to the larger goal or OKR. Ensuring the goal is well understood, helps prevent waste. Things that can help generate more ideas is visualizing the end state that needs to be achieved or describing the value or sometimes the impact of not achieving the goal. Lastly while ideas can be limitless, time & resources are not, time box your idea generation activity. Though it can be an ongoing activity and teams can regroup on a cadence to prioritize next set of ideas, trying to get ideas for all problems in 1 single session is definitely not a good idea.

One of my favorite methods to generate ideas is the use of Liberating Structures, specifically 1-2-4-All. This gives each person in the room an equal seat at the table and hopefully, the best idea to test will emerge.

Once you understand the problem deeply, generate the ideas with motivated individuals who are passionate about finding a creative solution. Make an environment where each and every idea is valued and encouraged, regardless of how out-of-the-box or unconventional it may be. System thinking and impact mapping can help you achieve a holistic understanding of the issue and determine the most effective strategies for addressing it.

Agile is an empirical model where ideation and experimentation is highly engaged and is couple with design thinking to build solutions and product that solve real customer problems Agile leaders should create safe space for everyone in the team to be in a creative state of mind to have a critical and creative thinking and stay in solution state than in problem state. Conduct brainstorming sessions, create a space for people to generate and share ideas. You can use digital tools to capture ideas. Conduct ideation, hackathons. Celebrate and reward small and big ideas. As a leader, be their thinking partner and facilitate

Brainstorming is one good technique. Agile encourages quick, collaborative brainstorming sessions. This can involve techniques like mind mapping to get a wide range of ideas on the table. Also, focusing on User Needs is also key. A core principle of Agile is understanding what users actually need. User research and feedback sessions are crucial for generating ideas that solve real problems. As per my experience, discovery sessions also would also help in generating new ideas.

In Agile, idea validation isn't a formality; it's a lifeline. We don't just theorize, we test. Early and often. Building minimum viable products and prototypes to gather real-world feedback is crucial. It's like a compass, ensuring our ideas are aligned with user needs and market realities. We actively seek input, whether through surveys, focus groups, or direct user testing. This helps us uncover hidden flaws, validate assumptions, and make data-driven decisions. It's not always easy to hear "no," but it's far better than investing time and resources in an idea that doesn't resonate. Remember, a "failed" idea isn't a failure at all; it's a lesson learned, a stepping stone to something even better.

Validating ideas with real users and data is crucial for Agile leaders. 🧠 Techniques like user testing, feedback loops, and metrics help ensure your ideas are feasible, desirable, and viable. By leveraging tools such as surveys, interviews, analytics, and experiments, you can gather actionable insights to iterate and improve your solutions. Remember, the goal is to learn continuously and measure your impact effectively. 📊 This iterative approach not only refines your ideas but also aligns them closely with user needs and market demands, driving sustainable success. 🚀

One of the best ways to validate Ideas is to use Design Thinking techniques and more importantly empathy map. An empathy map helps us understand the mapping of the Idea with the problem it is trying to solve. Also its important to involve the real users in the Idea Validation exercise.

Validating ideas is about learning, and not earning. So whatever we build to validate may even be discarded. MVPs like prototypes, fake door, landing page, wizard of Oz, concierge, and many more. A good book to read on this - "Lean UX by Jeff Gothelf.

MVPs are one of the best ways to validate an idea. Build a small MVP (it doesn't have to be a software) and analyze the demand.

Agile Methoden betonen oft Geschwindigkeit, doch langfristiger Wert entsteht durch gezielte Reflexion. Führungskräfte sollten Ideen nicht nur nach Aufwand und Nutzen priorisieren, sondern auch nach ihrem Beitrag zu langfristigen Zielen. Regelmässige Feedback-Schleifen helfen, blinde Flecken im Innovationsprozess zu erkennen. Zusätzlich können ökologische und soziale Auswirkungen in die Entscheidungsfindung einbezogen werden, um wirklich zukunftsfähige Lösungen zu schaffen.

I recently attended a great Agile workshop at Miami University. It was a lot of fun meeting professors and other smart people. One of the things I learned was about a new prioritization method called MSCW. It's basically a modern version of the old Moscow method. Apparently, the Agile community started using MSCW after the Russia-Ukraine war. To generate and validate new ideas in Agile, we should foster a culture of creativity and experimentation. Brainstorming and design thinking are great for this. To ensure our ideas are practical, we can use user research, prototyping, and testing. And to prioritize them, we can use methods like MoSCW and value stream mapping to align with our goals.

eam. Focus on ideas that offer significant customer benefits while requiring minimal resources. This approach ensures optimal allocation of your team's efforts and maximizes the impact of your ideas.

Una vez que hemos validado las ideas, es hora de priorizarlas. Me enfoco en seleccionar aquellas que aportan mayor valor con el menor esfuerzo, utilizando técnicas como el mapeo de impacto o el método MoSCoW. Esta priorización es vital para alinear las ideas con la visión y los objetivos estratégicos del equipo. Para ayudar a visualizarlas, utilizamos herramientas como hojas de ruta o backlog, lo que facilita la planificación y ejecución. Al final del día, el objetivo es implementar soluciones que realmente marquen la diferencia y estén alineadas con lo que el usuario necesita.

Prioritization is very crucial when it comes the issue of project implementation.Mostly, business owners came with lots of requirements and some failed to prioritize which has to come first.All are treated as important which resulted to not timely delivery of the solution(s).

Remember, agile isn't a methodology. Methodologies or methods are prescriptive ways of doing something. Agile is a set of values and principles which allows you to determine which methods might be more useful

When implementing ideas, effective communication with stakeholders is key. Ensure that everyone understands what is being built, the reasons behind it, and how it will impact the team, product, and customers. Open and transparent communication fosters alignment, collaboration, and a shared understanding of the goals and expectations throughout the implementation process.

Once you've identified the specific value you want to deliver to customers, take small steps to achieve it by building minimal versions of your product and releasing them to customers. Gather feedback, refine your product, and repeat this process. Rapid feedback is crucial for success.

Always keep the user's needs and experiences at the forefront when implementing ideas. Every technical decision should reflect the benefits to the end-user. Be prepared to pivot or iterate on your product's features as you gather more information during development. The ability to adapt is a strength, not an indication of failure! And don’t forget to celebrate wins! 🎉 Building products is hard, and acknowledging milestones keeps the team motivated and focused.

Once an idea is validated and prioritized, we break it down into manageable tasks and incorporate it into our sprint planning. I encourage the team to deliver in increments, with regular check-ins to adapt based on ongoing feedback. By rolling out solutions iteratively, we can make adjustments early and often, which minimizes risks and maximizes value.

The Agile leader should emphasize incorporating retrospective findings into upcoming sprints and fostering a blame-free environment. It's crucial to ensure the entire team understands the collaborative nature of their work.

To learn and improve, encourage feedback from customers, team members, and stakeholders. Analyze successes and failures, identify areas for improvement, and iterate on your ideas and processes. Embrace a growth mindset, foster a learning environment, and use insights gained to drive future improvements.

Agile is empirical in nature. Experimenting with ideas, learning from the implementations and deciding to either pivot or persevere is an integral part of agile transformation. Agile transformation always starts with lot of unanswered questions and the answers evolve over a period. Unless the management and leadership has appetite for some risks taking, perseverance to navigate uncertainty, transformations usually doesn't take off beyond certain levels. Focus on building a culture of relentless learning and improvement through growth mindset

"At regular times, the team reflects on how become more effective, after which they adjust and adapt their behaviour accordingly." Agile principle No. 12 is the fundamental one without which the other 11 do not hold, and to do this you need to Inspect results and Collect data/feedback from outside (stakeholders and users) at short and regular intervals too. Without these preliminary actions and without 'the customer in the room', we cannot be aware of the value we are bringing nor know whether we are on the right track. Above all, you cannot continuously learn and improve along the way. Retrospective is the most effective and useful way to achieve this.

Encourage a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Collect feedback throughout the implementation process and after each iteration. Analyze data, metrics, and user feedback to understand the impact of implemented ideas. Iterate on the solutions based on lessons learned. Example: Conduct regular retrospectives to reflect on the successes and challenges of the implementation. Use this feedback to refine processes, improve collaboration, and enhance the effectiveness of future ideation and implementation.

This question has a problem. "How do you generate and validate new ideas with Agile?" Why do you need to say "with Agile?" The goal is to generate ideas, and it doesn't matter how you work. Here's a few possibilities: . Observe how customers use your products in their reality . Talk to angry customers . Talk to customers who cancelled contracts . Understand what customers love and do more of that . Stop speculating, start experimenting It's about being humble and exposing ourselves to scenarios that reveal our blindspots.

One valuable insight from my role as an Agility Discipline Lead is the importance of open communication within Agile teams. Just as a kitchen relies on clear communication for a smooth operation, our energy teams depend on it, too. It's like sharing a recipe so everyone knows their roles. Creating a culture where team members feel safe to share ideas, ask questions, and voice concerns is essential. This kind of teamwork, like a well-coordinated kitchen, leads to better collaboration and faster problem-solving, ensuring the success of projects in the energy sector. Open communication is the secret ingredient that enhances Agile practices and ensures all team members work toward a common goal.

Every idea is amazing, let's always thrive the culture to get all the ideas recognised. Look clearly what organization vision is all about. Validate how the idea could benefit the organization milestones. Have a clear filter and validation criteria of ideas. Look at how could we begin with and showcase early success. Adopt strategy of Lean start-up and pivot if possible. Look at if we can organize Ideathon or set a innovation platform for new ideas to be brought in and implemented.

•Conducting brainstorming sessions and backlog refinement. •Creating prototypes or MVPs to test concepts quickly. •Gathering feedback through iterative sprints. •Using customer and stakeholder feedback to refine ideas. •Continuously reviewing and adapting based on real-world data and results. •Holding regular ideation workshops. •Prioritizing ideas in the product backlog. •Adjusting or pivoting based on insights gained.

In the quest for fresh ideas, I do think that empiricism is more important than frameworks. Imagine a gardener tending various plants, some thrive under his careful watch, others wilt. He learns from the vibrant and the withered alike, adjusting his care without clinging to a single method. Like this gardener, observe your creations in the wild, listen to the winds of discontent from those who've walked away, and cherish the blossoms of satisfaction from those who stay. Venture beyond the safety of speculation, planting seeds of experimentation. It's a journey of humility, venturing into the garden of feedback to uncover the hidden treasures beneath the soil of our assumptions.