Robert Schroeder

…eam-wide customer exposure hours
I learned this term from Jared Spool who did research proving that teams who spend at least 2 hours per person every 6 weeks “exposed” to customers (e.g., taking support calls, talking to users, watching people in a store, etc) developed more successful products.

These outcomes can’t be predicted because human behaviour is difficult to predict. They require team members actively engaged with customers to understand these behaviour changes, the reasons behind them and the possibilities for better meeting customer needs in the future. The good news is that your company likely already employs people who are particularly good at these activities — designers. And while designers are present in nearly every company today, most of them don’t sit in positions …

Kickoffs and discovery often follow the typical “double diamond” structure. They involve divergent exploration, convergent exploration, divergent “exploitation” (solutioning), and then convergent solutioning. There is a tendency to want to “just get started” but if you are framing the problem at the right resolution, you will typically notice some level of divergence. You know you are “doing it right” when there are three (or more) ways you could “solve the problem” (or capture the opportunity). Except, of course, if everything is known, plain-jane/joe, and you “just need to execute.’’ It is important to call this out when this is the case, but keep in mind that believing this to be true is a common intuition trap.