As the business landscape is becoming more and more volatile, many organisations need to undergo a fundamental change of management discipline. Recent failures of large and small organisations have shown that a single focus on optimised exploitation of existing business can turn into a monkey trap that leads to stagnation and vulnerability to market disruption. The new management discipline requires a change from thinking as market leaders to thinking as market disruptors. It requires a change from corporate management to corporate entrepreneurship.
Discovery kanban is a change approach for organisations that need to cultivate this new management discipline. It draws on real options theory, Boyd’s O-O-D-A loops, PDCA, and complexity thinking. Its (practical) roots are in The Kanban Method and Lean startup. Starting where the organisation is today, discovery kanban calls for a visualisation of risks, options, and commitments so that a better balance can be found between optimisation of today’s business, and exploration of future business. It catalyses a collaborative effort to integrate exploitation and exploration in the day-to-day operations.
Video producer: http://www.bcs.org/