Bringing reality into the room - part 3 of avoiding the pitfalls of data projects

Talking Product

In this last episode of our three part series, Collin and I continue to role-play an imaginary data-heavy product development project. In our last episode, Collin was granted some authority to get more involved in the project in an effort to reduce the risk that Collin felt was inherent in the delivery team’s approach. The delivery teams is a consulting firm that has been brought in by another group in the company. In this episode, Collin elaborates on the types of risks he sees, as well as how he would address those risks through an alternative approach to product development.

Collin and I are using this fictitious scenario to explore how ways of working, power dynamics and group-think play out in digital product development. In my opinion, these three forces are always at play in this type of work. Our goal in exploring this is to help listeners become better equipped to work with these forces on their own projects.

In this episode, Collin and I discuss the fact that using an approach that pushes risk out into the open earlier in the product-development lifecycle brings reality into the room very quickly. It forces people to stop imagining “happy-path” outcomes through Power Point and Gantt charts. This can often be experienced as “raining on the parade.”

In this episode, I ask Collin to help a senior manager identify the risks themselves by role playing the person who procured the consulting firm. In this scenario, a senior manager wants to be able to see the types of risks that Collin is seeing. This manager wants to be able to ask the questions that Collin is asking. And, they want to mitigate some of those risks without having to rely on delivery managers like Collin - “What is it that allows Collin to see digital product development in the way he sees it?”

Through the role-play, we discover risks that were hidden in the consulting firm’s Power Point presentation and Gantt charts. Because of the approach the consulting firm was taking, made worse by shrouding it in Agile lingo, these risks would not have revealed themselves until very late in the consulting firm’s engagement. As Collin says, “If the consulting firm had followed that plan they would have delivered late and asking for an extension. That may be good for the bottom-line on the consulting side, but puts the company’s strategic goals at risk.”

Hope you enjoy it. As always we would look forward to hearing from people.

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