Real-time knowledge capture is an essential element of the Rapid Learning Cycles framework. If a team does everything else — identifies Key Decisions and Knowledge Gaps, closes Knowledge Gaps systematically, and makes Key Decisions with confidence, the quality of their decision-making will improve and their program’s risks will burn down. That’s true even if a […]
Why You Need a Pilot Program for Your First Steps with Rapid Learning Cycles
Himalayan blackberries spread rapidly in the Pacific Northwest. They love the cloudy, drizzly weather we get most of the year and the birds that spread their seeds. Once one has taken root, they are nearly impossible to kill without poison, because any bit of root in the soil can resprout an entire blackberry bramble in […]
Simple, Flexible and Forgiving: Why the Rapid Learning Cycles Framework Has Staying Power
About ten years ago, I started using the Body by You workouts developed by Mark Lauren as my primary form of strength training. It’s the only strength training exercise I’ve ever stuck with for this long, and the only one where I’ve managed anything like consistency after the initial excitement wears off. I’ve come to […]
To Get There Faster, Push Decisions Later
To accelerate innovation, we have to push decisions later.
This is the most challenging idea within the Rapid Learning Cycles framework — the one that generates the most raised eyebrows — and the most essential concept to embrace if you want to accelerate innovation.
It seems to go against everything we think we know about how to get things done fast…
Faster Innovation — Fewer Failures
The Promise of Rapid Learning Cycles
My controller, Shivaun is on a quest this month to find a new accounting system for us. We need to change systems because our current provider experienced a major product failure. They needed to replace some obsolete technology in their software to make them compatible with the latest Mac operating system — and they worked on that project for years. But ultimately, they were forced to admit that they simply could not get the new version out the door.
Sometimes people come to Rapid Learning Cycles because they have either experienced such a catastrophic failure or they see that they are at risk of one. Yet some innovation thought leaders think we should embrace failure to achieve speed. Why can Rapid Learning Cycles promise faster innovation — and fewer failures?