Discontinuous Optimizations
If you’re leading a product or growth team, you’re likely familiar with continuous improvement programs.
While the continuous improvement cycle is often praised for its efficiency and incremental progress, it can paradoxically stifle true innovation.
This approach, focused on making minor, steady enhancements, can create a tunnel vision effect. Teams may become so fixated on perfecting existing processes that they overlook opportunities to explore entirely new solutions.
This is where discontinuous improvement comes into play…
Why discontinuous improvement matters
- Breaks through limits: Unlike continuous improvements that optimize within a limited range, discontinuous strategies redefine possibilities, propelling us beyond incremental change.
- Enhances adaptability: Rapid pivots in response to market shifts require us to rethink assumptions, fostering resilience.
- Fosters innovation: True innovation stems not from routine optimization, but from challenging the status quo.
- Cultivates agility: Discontinuous changes prevent the comfort of routine from diluting our potential.
How to effectively implement it
Pauses are a great opportunity to evaluate different aspects of your program. Use these moments to reassess what’s fundamentally important. Consider how your discoveries reshape problem-solving approaches. Determine if it’s time to scale or pivot. Evaluate team collaboration dynamics and reimagine your experimentation setup.
Consider brainstorming these questions during your pause period:
- What fundamental learnings have we discovered? How do they change our perspective on problems?
- Should we scale our efforts or streamline them? Is it time to broaden our focus or laser-focus on specific areas?
- How effective was our team collaboration? How well did we perform in quantitative/qualitative assessments of our experimentation program?
- What’s the next big thing we can test in light of current market dynamics?
- If we were starting the experimentation program today, how would we set it up?
These questions set the stage for strategic pauses in your experimentation program. They enable you to assess progress, make necessary adjustments, pivot when needed, and plan strategically.