Escaping the Build Trap

Chapter 2. Constraints on the Value Exchange System

Customers and users are influenced by the people they hang out with—​their communities, families, and friends. They’re also influenced by other technology—​things available to them and on the market right now. Your customers and users don’t exist in a vacuum, and so their wants and needs change according to what’s around them. Likewise, your opportunities for how to address those wants and needs are constantly evolving. Directly controlling these surroundings is out of the hands of companies, so the only thing we can do is understand them better to know how to act.

Simultaneously, businesses face their own constraints. To realize the maximum value, organizations need to have the right individuals, the right processes, the right policies, the right strategy, and the right culture. Although many of the constraints and influences on the customer side are out of our control, businesses have full control over their own constraints and how they deal with them. When these constraints squeeze too tight, value is sacrificed on both sides of the system.

For example, many companies follow such a rigid development process and cadence that there is no opportunity to experiment. Whenever I start a new training or workshop, I say to product managers, “Raise your hand if you went back and iterated on the last thing you shipped.” Normally, 15–20% of the people raise their hands. My next question is, “How do you know that what you shipped was ...