Pulling The Plug Early: The Case for Early Termination in Product Development
Rethinking Risk in Development Projects
In my experience with numerous projects, success hinges on early validation of hypotheses concerning user desires, resource availability, and profitability. However, the complexity of the product, market, or regulatory demands often delays the termination of non-viable projects.
Established industries with mature products, especially within companies that were once pioneers, are particularly prone to this issue. A history of success can breed complacency and resistance to change in product management practices. Correct me if you have a more accurate analysis, but these companies struggle to modernize at a pace that matches their competitors. Innovative startups and international competitors with lower labor costs yet high education levels threaten the foundation of these established entities.
The Need for an Earlier "Go/No Go"
Rather than advocating for Agile, Lean, or Design Thinking in an elaborate pitch, the focus here is on the imperative for companies to advance their decision-making checkpoints. I worked with a division of a telecommunications company running for over a decade with expenses surpassing 300 million Euros and making a loss the whole time, serves as a cautionary tale of prolonging the inevitable.
Waterfall processes are still prevalent, with teams working in SAFe structures merely dipping their toes in agile methodologies. I find the SAFe framework misleads teams into thinking that they are working with the best tools available. The absence of genuine iteration, prototyping, and early validation is alarming. Strategic decisions are made from the top down, with even features seemingly bestowed upon the team by an untouchable "Feature Fairy" - often a senior executive whose directives go unquestioned due to tenure.
The belief that complex projects require extensive groundwork before these principles can be addressed leads to substantial financial losses in the long run. With the potential for customer needs to evolve over years, every assumption should be rigorously challenged.
Principles for Dynamic Decision Making:
Empower teams with decision-making authority.
Establish a rigorous user validation process from the outset.
Assess resource availability rapidly and accurately.
Determine the non-negotiables for project profitability.
Empowering Teams
Encourage teams to take ownership of their decisions. Question the problem statement of updates and consider external changes that may warrant a reframing of the problem. Validate as many hypotheses as early as possible. If critical assumptions prove false, the course of action is clear: terminate the project.
Moreover, be open to pivots. Insights gained early that highlight issues could signal the need to explore unanticipated options. Nintendo, founded in 1889, exemplifies this adaptability. From manufacturing playing cards to creating toys in the '60s, transitioning to video games in the '70s, and then launching their platform with the NES in the '80s, Nintendo has consistently adapted to market velocities.
