“Pivoting is just not a grimy phrase however reasonably a aggressive benefit.”
So says Joseph Hanna, writer of Pivoting as a Means of Life: Cease Chasing Unicorns and Product-Market Match — a game-changing information for entrepreneurs, product managers and innovators who need to thrive in at this time’s fast-paced enterprise surroundings.
Hanna’s e-book challenges the standard knowledge of product-market match as a static, one-time milestone. It introduces a dynamic new framework — the Pivoting Life Working Mannequin (PLOM) — emphasizing steady innovation and adaptableness.
On this latest Q&A, Hanna elaborates on the theories and rules in his e-book.
Q: Why did you write this e-book?
A: I wrote Pivoting as a Means of Life to deal with a vital hole in how companies handle change and innovation. I’ve personally skilled this hole as a founder, product chief, advisor and investor. Most corporations and groups understand the necessity to pivot and innovate however lack a structured methodology to execute this aim, particularly in B2B and tech-enabled providers.
The references and analysis within the area are dominated by Silicon Valley B2C consultants. Though they provide invaluable insights, they are usually too generic to be executable playbooks and they’re much less relevant in different areas. Product administration is in dire want of a structured, repeatable, scalable and measurable methodology just like SCRUM, however tailor-made to product technique.
Q: Your e-book introduces the Pivoting Life Working Mannequin (PLOM) as a dynamic different to conventional product administration frameworks. What impressed you to develop this mannequin, and the way did you establish the shortcomings within the current approaches?
A: The Pivoting Life Working Mannequin (PLOM) was impressed by the necessity for a structured, metrics-driven strategy to product technique and innovation, one which current frameworks lack. Conventional methodologies like Agile and SCRUM give attention to growth and supply however fail to supply steering on navigating market shifts, roadmapping, funding rationalization or supporting your complete lifecycle of strategic pivots. Others, like Lean, are improbable additions to the sphere however keep at a excessive stage and generally are too theoretical and ideological.
I noticed the necessity for a mannequin that integrates dynamic metrics and decision-making frameworks designed explicitly for pivoting and steady innovation — a mannequin that may even be relevant to information and tech-enabled providers merchandise. PLOM fills this hole by providing a repeatable, scalable, data-driven course of that aligns product technique with real-time market enter, making certain product leaders can innovate exactly and confidently.
Q: Within the e-book, you emphasize the significance of steady innovation over discovering the right product-market match. How can entrepreneurs stability the necessity for adaptability with the pressures of assembly investor expectations for quick outcomes?
A: What an awesome query! Within the “Inception” and “Ford vs. Ferrari” chapters, I talk about the everyday product lifecycle trajectory and R&D funding distribution that the majority startups and merchandise observe. The pre-product-market match vs. post-product-market match working fashions are ingrained within the psyche of a technology of buyers, entrepreneurs, and product leaders.
Change is troublesome, however empirical proof has confirmed that these fashions are flawed, resulting in over $30B of public SaaS corporations’ investments going unused by customers and most startups failing to succeed in sequence B.
The funding distribution mannequin and steady innovation frameworks, that are core parts of PLOM, present the muse for balancing short-term positive factors with long-term worth creation.
Q: You introduce new metrics like Lifecycle Velocity and Pivoting Cadence. Might you clarify how these differ from conventional metrics like market share or buyer acquisition and the way they higher mirror an organization’s potential for long-term success?
A: Conventional metrics nonetheless have their place if they’re measured and interpreted accurately. I offered frameworks for assessing their effectiveness and designing dashboards that apply to each the generally identified metrics and the PLOM newly launched ones.
The aim of the brand new metrics, like Lifecycle Velocity, Copycat Metric and Pivoting Cadence, is to supply a extra dynamic view of an organization’s adaptability and resilience. For instance, Lifecycle Velocity measures the velocity at which an organization can iterate on its innovation’s lifecycle — from thought to launch — reflecting its capability to innovate quickly. The Copycat Metric measures our tendencies to put money into recycled commodity options. Pivoting Cadence tracks the frequency and effectiveness of strategic pivots, highlighting an organization’s agility in responding to market shifts.
These metrics predict long-term success by emphasizing adaptability, steady enchancment, and the corporate’s readiness to capitalize on rising alternatives.
Q: Many corporations are more and more integrating AI into their product administration processes. How do you see AI reshaping the panorama for innovation?
A: Product administration is an AI sweet retailer! We are able to fill volumes with this dialogue. AI roadmapping is certainly one of PLOM’s ten core frameworks, and we now have devoted over 20% of the e-book discussions to numerous subjects round AI assist in innovation administration.
For many organizations, Product is a logical place to begin for AI transformation. We mentioned intimately how AI brokers can already carry out a 3rd of the normal product administration features. We additionally launched the idea of Giant Product Fashions, an in depth sibling to LLMs. By the point these brokers mature into what we described as our “AI Colleagues,” we will probably be working with a hybrid group of people and AI.
The sky is the restrict, and the way forward for this space will probably be fascinating.
Q: Are you able to share a real-world instance from the e-book the place PLOM led to a big enterprise pivot and the way that reworked the group’s trajectory?
A: The e-book references many case research the place PLOM was efficiently carried out partly or in its entirety and led to main enterprise wins.
These examples embrace startups figuring out the necessity for and efficiently executing main pivots, mature organizations remodeling their product administration processes to speed up innovation and competitiveness, PEs assessing the potential of an funding and its worth creation thesis, product acquisitions being built-in objectively, and roadmap choices being aligned with real-time market insights and strategic aims.
By making use of PLOM, these corporations had been in a position to make data-driven choices, prioritize successfully and navigate uncertainty with increased confidence, finally resulting in measurable enterprise outcomes.
Q: The Concept-to-Money Wheel is without doubt one of the frameworks you plan. How does this idea handle the frequent problem of remodeling nice concepts into marketable merchandise sooner than the competitors?
A: The Concept-to-Money Wheel is a sensible and execution-ready enlargement of the lean startup’s ‘build-measure-learn’ iterative loop. The framework is designed to streamline the journey from idea to market, accelerating the time it takes corporations to remodel concepts into revenue-generating merchandise.
When the wheel is coupled with its two associated metrics, which I launched, Lifecycle Velocity and Lifecycle Conversion Ratio, you may have a structured methodology for implementing and measuring the Good to Nice flywheel idea — one thing we lacked in product administration.
The wheel can be designed to interrupt down silos and foster cross-functional collaboration by integrating all key stakeholders right into a steady product cycle. Every section of the wheel, from ideation to launch, requires enter and coordination throughout groups, making a shared possession tradition.
Q: For company executives who may be proof against fixed pivoting, how can they foster a tradition of agility inside established organizations with out disrupting current operations too drastically?
A: The secret’s to view agility not as a sequence of drastic modifications however as a structured strategy to steady enchancment. Pivoting is just not a “soiled phrase” however reasonably a aggressive benefit! I advocate for integrating PLOM progressively, beginning with small, managed initiatives to display success. On the finish of each chapter, I provide three actions that may be taken at this time as an alternative of ready for an in depth, costly transformation effort.
It’s simply as vital to make use of metrics to showcase the profitable influence. Utilizing metrics like Lifecycle Velocity, Worth vs. Differentiation Matrix, Funding Distribution, and Pivoting Cadence, leaders can monitor these efforts in real-time, making certain they align with enterprise objectives with out disrupting core operations.
The final word aim is to embed the PLOM tradition contract within the group’s DNA — a tradition that’s team-based, disciplined, metric-driven, and all the time hungry for change.
Q: What do you hope readers will take away from this e-book?
A: I hope readers will see Pivoting as a Means of Life not solely as a playbook however as the beginning of a motion towards redefining how companies strategy change. Within the epilogue, I spotlight that pivoting is just not merely a response to failure or disruption; it’s a proactive technique and self-discipline for steady development and innovation.
My aim is for product leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives to undertake the mindset that agility, adaptability, and strategic pivots are important parts of long-term success. I need to encourage a group of change-makers who see pivoting as a core competency and aggressive benefit, remodeling their organizations into dynamic, resilient entities able to thriving in any market situation.
Pivoting as a Means of Life is accessible for buy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.
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About Joseph Hanna:
Joseph Hanna is a distinguished govt, innovator and product chief in SaaS, information, and AI/ML. He’s the creator of the Pivoting Life Working Mannequin (PLOM®) and has a robust monitor document in rising PE/VC-backed corporations. Joe was an early pioneer in making use of AI/ML in a number of industries, together with credit score, gross sales, HR, provide chain, and procurement. He holds a number of patents in varied purposes of AI applied sciences.
Over his 30+ years within the know-how area, Joe held govt positions with corporations starting from massive enterprises to startups. He has been identified to parachute to assist groups of all sizes clear up product and technique challenges. Joe was the founder and CEO of ENGAGE, the award-winning AI expertise intelligence platform that was acquired by Carlyle/Workforce Logiq.