Building up on Productivity, Efficiency, Efficacy, Predictability… Adaptability
In my previous post (embedded below), I started to explore all those words and their meanings and possible implications at a conceptual level. And I also spoke about my attempt to visualize it in some useful manner. I might have something that builds on that and is worth sharing – so here I am, getting back to it.
This is still to be perceived mostly as "thinking out loud" of sorts… Although I have put some deeper thought into it and even have shared it for some very early feedback. More importantly, this isn't about trying to prescribe anything; it's about trying to capture some common patterns that might be useful in context, and get people thinking.
After all, that's precisely the role of any kind of framework, artifacts, and whatnot… They are only as good as they expand thinking – and if they are doing the very opposite, automating certain decisions, that should only happen exceptionally for repeatable kinds of tasks, not from where there are nuances, trade-offs, and things like that.
Anyway, enough said as an introduction or context setting. Let's get right into what I came up with, which is an attempt to map common patterns and simple advice on what framing to take for how to focus execution (using those different concepts explored earlier) and how adaptability permeates but might have different angles, all of that combined with the famous technology adoption cycle (and the product life cycle that typically follows from that as well).
I am guessing you could largely grasp where I am coming from if I just left at that – and perhaps that could even be a good idea from a "getting-you-thinking" point of view. But if I may slightly expand on that, with a short narrative, this is what that could look like…
At the earliest stage, delivery should equal "get sh$t done", so being PRODUCTIVE, getting output out, even because you are not quite sure what will "stick", or what is our market-fit (adapting from that angle is thus paramount) – which is what matters at the end, and that is why it has to be balanced with a relentless pursuit for finding the right problem to solve, which is what EFFICACY is about. As things progress, and you enter a growth stage, then the name of the game, so to speak, transitions into continuing to double down on what works, optimizing for EFFICACY – but as growth has limits, you are better off not forgetting to pay attention to keeping costs at bay, and working towards making things with more EFFICIENCY (which would typically require experimentation and adapting largely from a ways of working angle). That becomes the goal for optimization as you move into a maturity phase, so to allow for "milking that cow" for as long as possible (while in parallel preparing and executing on exploring new opportunities, adapting with a focus on that angle) - and doing that in a way that builds trust with customers and users, i.e., with PREDICTABILITY is an important element. Finally, as you prepare to sunset the current product (or technology), it is crucial to continue setting and delivering on expectations, optimizing for PREDICTABILITY, while keep doing things optimally, with EFFICIENCY, setting the stage, and being ready to pivot into the discovered new opportunities to which you eventually adapted towards.
Again, I hope that is perceived with the right angle of common patterns and simple useful framing of advice – but not a prescription. As things might be practically slightly different and nuanced in the real context and moment. In any case, hoping that is insightful and gets you to think – even if you fundamentally disagree with something (in which case, I would love to hear about it so that we can have a discussion). If I've accomplished that, I am more than happy – it is literally what I am hoping and trying to optimize for myself when it comes to this thing over here.
By Rodrigo Sperb, feel free to connect (I only refuse invites from people clearly with an agenda to ‘coldly’ sell something to me), happy to engage and interact