How can you create a culture of experimentation during the engagement lifecycle?

Be prepared to tolerate failures and rejections. Experimentation will lead to success - but after many many trials. There may be a failure in the beginning. Have patience, maintain perseverance and stay afloat. Learn from failures and keep trying. Ultimately your urge to innovate should prevail and help you in bringing some more smiles to our society and our universe.

The crystal clear definition of the problem key to its solution. It is in this way alone that all the parties involved can see the same problem. Otherwise, they run the risk of solving the wrong problem correctly or of solving the right problem wrongly. To avoid any costly misunderatandings during the implementation of the solution, one needs to address and define all the whys and the why nots, all the whats and the what nots, all the how and the how nots and all the whos and the who nots as well as all the whens right from the beginning. Simply put, most of the times, the problem is not actually the problem itself. Instead the problem is to get all the involved parties to agree on what the problem actually is!

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To cultivate a culture of experimentation: 1. Foster curiosity and willingness to take risks among teams. 2. Set clear goals and metrics for experiments, prioritising learning and adaptation. 3. Provide adequate resources and support for testing and feedback throughout the engagement process.

Para criar uma cultura de experimentação durante o ciclo de vida do engajamento, é essencial promover uma mentalidade de aprendizado contínuo e abertura à inovação. Isso pode ser alcançado incentivando os membros da equipe a experimentarem novas ideias e abordagens, estabelecendo um ambiente de confiança para compartilhar ideias e fornecendo recursos e suporte adequados. Definir objetivos claros, implementar um processo estruturado, celebrar o aprendizado e fomentar a colaboração são passos importantes para promover uma cultura de experimentação na organização.

There is change and therefore, most of the times, when planning a solution, there will inevitably be a lot of uncertainty. On order to arrive at a specific course of action one has to base it on certain assumptions and hypotheses. It is important that those assumptions and hypotheses be defined clearly for later on they will need to be revisited and tested. The degree to which they remain relevant should be enough to trigger any alternative, ideally predefined, plans.

Uma vez que o problema está definido, a próxima etapa é planejar como testar as hipóteses relacionadas a esse problema. Por exemplo, a empresa pode planejar um experimento onde eles oferecem um programa de fidelidade para um grupo de clientes e comparam os resultados de retenção com um grupo controle que não recebe o programa. Teste A/B sempre é um santo remédio.

It is very important in this step that you design an experiment that leads to your expected hypotheses that you are trying to prove to the client. Make sure that you think about all the possibilities that could lead to unsuccessful experiment and eliminate or neutralize them. Ensure as well that the team on the client side believes in the experiment. Their contributions are probably detrimental in supporting the experiment.

Algumas vezes, não vai fazer sentido ou não vai ser possível adotar nenhuma dessas ferramentas apontadas acima, e será preciso já ir para a solução prática. Mesmo assim, é fundamental coletar feedback para retroalimentar o processo de construção da solução. Ou seja, seria uma abordagem muito mais próxima a de um MVP, com ciclos intensos de aprendizado e reavaliação.

A execução requer a implementação do plano de forma controlada e mensurável. Por exemplo, a empresa lança o programa de fidelidade para um segmento selecionado de clientes e monitora cuidadosamente a execução para garantir que os dados coletados serão válidos.

In this stage, make sure that the whole team on the customer side are having the major part of the execution. You are looking to make the team look great by executing the experiment and proving the hypothesis behind. Put your ego on the side and focus on the customer to benefit of the experiment process and results.

Após a execução do experimento, é hora de coletar e analisar os dados para ver o que funcionou e o que não funcionou. Por exemplo, a empresa pode descobrir que o programa de fidelidade aumentou a retenção em 10% entre o grupo de clientes que o recebeu.

The fifth step in our process emphasizes iterative improvement of solutions, closely tied to experimental learnings. By integrating insights and refining our approach, we elevate the solution's impact for our clients. Leveraging feedback loops, pivots, and MVPs, our aim is to maintain responsiveness and agility, ensuring our developments are customer-centric and aligned with our clients' strategic visions. This adaptive approach underscores our commitment to driving forward meaningful solutions that resonate with client objectives.

Com base na análise dos resultados, a empresa pode decidir fazer ajustes no programa de fidelidade antes de implementá-lo em uma escala maior. Por exemplo, eles podem adicionar mais benefícios ao programa para tentar aumentar ainda mais a taxa de retenção.

Para que a experimentação seja bem-sucedida, é importante envolver todas as partes interessadas no processo. Por exemplo, a empresa pode realizar workshops com a equipe de atendimento ao cliente, vendas e marketing para discutir os resultados dos experimentos e coletar feedback para melhorias.

Uma avaliação muito importante no momento de acionar e engajar os stakeholders é o entendimento do seu ponto de vista. Quem ganha e o que essas pessoas ganham com esse processo? Quem pode perder algo e como pode perder? Essa solução vai exigir algum trabalho indesejado ou alguma situação de desconforto? Essas perguntas não visam fazer uma aliança incondicional com os potenciais ganhadores e tentar superar os isolar os potenciais perdedores. O objetivo é ajudar a entender como essas pessoas podem se posicionar sobre essa solução, entendendo que nem sempre será um posicionamento racional e objetivo. A perspectiva pessoal pode estar sendo projetada nessa análise e isso pode gerar novos insights (+) ou distorções na análise (-)!

Engaging and collaborating with key stakeholders can be challenging. Not all stakeholders are created equal. You may want to engage with various individuals throughout the process of identifying, collaborating, and executing new solutions to ensure collaborative buy-in. Seek out the stakeholders who share a passion for change, collaboration, and understand the importance of driving culture and mission ahead. Finding established advocates who value constructive growth, yet respectively challenge the status quo is key to effective teaming and successfully engagements.

Building an experimental culture in engagement is like setting off on an innovative journey. Encourage transparent communication, define goals clearly, and promote calculated risk-taking. Provide resources, establish structured frameworks, and celebrate achievements. Foster cross-functional collaboration and rely on data-driven insights. With bravery and curiosity, cultivate an environment where experimentation thrives and sparks innovation.

Very simply, the answer is in the question itself. Lifecycle of engagement means that all stages of exploration expire, when they fail to be replaced by a phenomenon we commonly call: Discovery. Nobody in his right mind, will agree to keep investing in a search that does not produce any acceptable findings, and in order to do that, one must not only have proper tools & resources, but also proper milestones & guidelines, capable of satisfying their requirements, answering their questions, and fulfilling their objectives

Be observante, be thoughtful...be very observante and very thoughtful. Consider the true strengths of those you lead, follow, collaborate with. Then consider the chess board, what are the best placed pieces given your understanding of the game and the pieces abilities, always remember the game is fluid and, unlike chess, the pieces will evolve.

To create a culture of experimentation during the engagement lifecycle, encourage trying out new ideas and learning from the process. Emphasize that mistakes are opportunities for growth. Clearly set goals and performance indicators for each stage of engagement to provide a structure for experimentation. Foster open communication and collaboration among team members to share and test ideas. Provide the necessary resources and support for effective experimentation. Encourage continuous improvement by refining experiments based on feedback. Recognize and celebrate both successful and unsuccessful experiments to reinforce the importance of learning and innovation. #ahmedalaali11

Being experimental during an engagement lifecycle is a skill set a mgt consultant can practice. While disciplined in planning, work scoping , time mgt, etc. the consultant can input say change in techniques /approach ( which could be untried ) but with confidence brings out better and /or equal expected outcome or results. This reflects how seasoned the mgt. consultant is.