The Build-Measure-Learn loop is a vital component of lean startup methodology. In fact, it’s the core principle behind the methodology. No organisation can truly claim to be lean if it fails to adopt Build-Measure-Learn.
While it’s relatively simple for startups to adapt to the methodology — it was designed for them after all — the same isn’t always true of corporates.
As veteran entrepreneur Steve Blank told innova8rs:
“The first time a few brave corporate innovators tried to overlay the Lean tools and techniques that work in early-stage startups in an existing corporation or government agency, the result was chaos, confusion, frustration and ultimately, failure.
They ended up with “Innovation Theater” – great projects, wonderful press releases about how innovative the company is – but no real substantive change in product trajectory.”
So, knowing how things can go wrong, how can corporates ensure that they actually apply Build-Measure-Learn?
Forget about building an individual product
Far too many corporates see the Build-Measure-Learn loop (and the Lean Startup Method as a whole) as a shortcut to building great new products.
In this instance, digital learning expert Mary Louise Kok tells Innov8rs, “management mistakenly thinks the Lean Startup methodology helps you to build a new money-making product really fast – in three months max”.
But Build-Measure-Learn was never meant to be a one-off process.
Instead, it’s meant to be an ongoing shift in mindset that informs everything the organisation does.
If corporates are truly to make the most of the Build-Measure-Learn loop, they need to adapt this mind-shift.
Changing management expectations
In order for that to happen, management has to change its expectations. Those at the top have to embrace the idea that Build-Measure-Learn won’t produce their next world-beating product first time around.
In fact, it would be a massive fluke if it did so.
Remember, the process is all about experimentation. That means that things won’t always work out as intended. Sometimes that means tweaking processes slightly and sometimes it means a hard pivot.
If management isn’t conscious of this, they can easily end up reducing Build-Measure-Learn to something along the lines of: “We built this thing, it didn’t measure up to our expectations, we learned that this whole exercise was a waste of time”.
Of course, getting management to adopt a more holistic understanding of Build-Measure-Learn isn’t always easy.
They’re under constant pressure to deliver on KPIs, targets, and the expectation of the board.
But if you can get them adapting Build-Measure-Learn into their own daily operations, they’re much more likely to see its value and spread it across the organisation.
Not everyone can adopt it
It’s important, however, to remember that not every organisation will be able to adapt to Build-Measure-Learn.
Some companies believe that what they’ve been building all along will continue to serve them well into the future. Others may make decisions based on management’s instinct rather than evidence (measure). Still others may lack the analytical ability to understand what they’ve learned from their experiments.
Ultimately, applying Build-Measure-Learn in a corporate setting requires total buy-in from everyone, starting at the top.
It’s the rewarding of entrepreneurial behaviour, something that corporates are more well-versed in squashing, and the encouraging of experimentation, knowing that it won’t always work out.
That said, it’s always worth trying. Because even if the only thing you learn is that Build-Measure-Learn will be a hard sell in your organisation, that’s a worthwhile lesson.
If you’d like to find out how innoway can help your organisation apply Build-Measure-Learn, contact us here.
