The Lean-Agile Dilemma: Product Management Inside a Chunky Corporate

by Katie Tamblin

Overview

Over the last decade, Lean-Agile principles have become the standard methodology by which product and technology teams operate. However, Lean-Agile was written for small companies seeking new markets to buy their innovative software products, not for an average corporation with a catalogue of existing software products that must be maintained and rebuilt. The typical tech-enabled business isn't a lean startup; it's a chunky corporate. This book offers an alternative software development methodology perfectly suited for chunky corporate product management.

You’ll quickly find out how individual players in the corporate organization impact business performance. You’ll follow the story of Blake, a well-meaning but ultimately naive, CEO of a fictional company called Acme Tech. As he and Acme struggle to maintain business performance, it becomes apparent how embedded and complex his challenges are. Lean-Agile principles are regularly misapplied in the corporate environment, causing tension, missed deadlines, and inefficient working practices.

You’ll see that managing software transformation at a large, mature business requires a new set of tools. Popular development methodologies are not well-suited for the replatforming exercises that chunky corporates inevitably face. This book helps product and technology leaders navigate software development projects at organizations grappling with the constraints of investor ownership.  

Chunky corporates have a lot going for them: The Lean-Agile Dilemma reveals that, when managed well, they have the potential to be safe havens in a relentlessly unstable world.

You will:

• Understand how replatforming differs from new product development
• Learn how to manage existing data when updating or building new software
• Gain tools to prioritize items in your overstuffed product roadmap

Who This Book is For

Product managers, product owners, product leadership, tech leadership, and business leaders at mature tech-enabled businesses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798868803208
Publisher:	Apress
Publication date:	07/02/2024
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	251
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Katie Tamblin started her career as an entry-level analyst and made it all the way to the board room, working as Chief Product Officer and now serving as a Non-Executive Director to data and tech businesses and an Advisor to private equity firms. She applies the learnings amassed over a 20+ year career to help readers recognize a chubby corporate for what it is and navigate its unique qualities in order to drive efficiency and success.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. The Luxury of a Lean Startup.- Chapter 2. Execution Not Innovation.- Chapter 3. Putting on Weight.- Chapter 4. Chief Poo-Poo Officer and Saying No.- Chapter 5. Deciding what to Build and How.- Chapter 6. The Challenges of Replatforming.- Chapter 7. Replatforming the Right Way.- Chapter 8. Dealing with Data.- Chapter 9. Managing Customer Demands.- Chapter 10. Products Don't Sell Themselves.- Chapter 11. Good Communication Leads to Good Products.- Chapter 12. Driving Cross-Functional Collaboration.- Chapter 13. Conclusion.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Tamblin proposes a mixture of the disciplined defined waypoints of the wave method and agile execution, which she calls orienteering. Having led several large-scale developments, I can testify that this type of mixed discipline-flexible approach works.” - Nonfiction Authors Association

“The Lean-Agile Dilemma is the Gold Winner for the best Product Innovation Book in the Hustle & Heart Book Awards, beating out serious competition as scored by twelve independent judges.” - Hustle & Heart Book Awards Team

"It’s a fantastic read for any Product Manager navigating a corporate environment (instead of a startup) who still wants to get things done in a meaningful way. It explains why larger companies often struggle to move as fast as startups and, more importantly, what they can do about it – without blindly applying Lean-Agile principles where they don’t fit. Smart, practical, and entertaining!" - Bernhard Hecker, Former Chief Product Officer

"I feel like I am reading my own story in many of these chapters and have the scars to prove it. It is very engaging from both a senior leadership perspective and especially useful to those people directly involved in delivering platform change." - Hugh Cox, Chief Information Officer

"It's brilliant, and I wish I had read it years ago. Software business senior leadership should read this." - Marianne Rabanal, Product Delivery Director