Lean Inception - Paulo Caroli

Do you feel you need to learn new techniques to improve your ideas and put them into action? This summary of the book "Lean Inception" organizes beliefs and resources in a model that seeks to understand the main purpose of the product and unite the team in favor of the common objective of increasing its business.

Here we will talk about the key point, the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which is the simplest version of a product that can be made available to validate a set of hypotheses about the business.

Naturally, you cannot waste time, effort and, especially, money on a product that the end result does not meet expectations.

So, we will understand and validate your business situations. The Minimum Viable Product helps in this validation very quickly.

From the teachings of Paulo Caroli, you will acquire the methods to align a group of people and stimulate the understanding of the objectives of the product and the main users, always seeking to minimize possible errors as much as possible.

About the book "Lean Inception"

"Lean Inception" is a best seller with 159 pages structured in three parts, in which Paulo Caroli exposes the knowledge tested and validated by many people and companies that have effectively adopted Lean Inception.

Like a cookbook, with a sequence of fast and effective activities, the work will allow you to be able to chart the path towards success!

About the author Paulo Caroli

Paulo Caroli is the author of the best-selling book "Lean Inception: How to Align People and Build the Right Product" and a bachelor's degree in computer science and a master's degree in Software Engineering, both from PUC-Rio.

He is also a speaker and facilitator, in addition to having more than twenty years of experience in software development, working in several corporations in several countries such as India, Brazil and the United States.

Passionate about innovations, entrepreneurship, and digital products, Caroli is a principal consultant at Thoughtworks Brasil and co-founder of AgileBrazil.

To whom is this book indicated?

The reading of this book is suitable for entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs, leaders, and those who wish to create a new product, a new brand or service.

It is valid and indispensable both for those who are entering the world of business now, and for those who are "old men of war" in this field.

Main ideas of the book "Lean Inception"

• The first step in any project is Lean Inception;
• Lean Inception is used in the creation process of the MVP (Minimum Viable Product);
• MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is used to find out if a product is worth it or not;
• Delivering the minimum feasible includes taking the product to the market in a much shorter time;
• The Lean Inception workshop consists of dynamic activities to define the objectives and strategies to achieve the expected;
• The collaboration of all is a fundamental factor for teamwork to work;
• "Icebreaker" activities are interesting to start any meeting;
• As much as technology is an ally in many moments, face-to-face interaction cannot be set aside, it must happen;
• The facilitating person should help the team to follow the activities and identify the problems, maintaining a neutral position during the debates;
• The product must have a function that meets the consumer's needs, and that need must be very well known.

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Overview: Building the right product

First, you should start with Lean Inception. Always, in any project, the first step must be to align and define the objectives, strategies, and scope of the product.

Lean Inception is useful in the process of creating an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), which is a simple version of a product delivered to users so that the main premises of the business can be validated.

The main characteristic of an MVP is to find out if it is worthwhile to continue investing in the product. It is necessary to understand who the consumers are, whether the product fits the daily activities of these users and how to measure whether they find it useful or not.

Lean Inception is a specific technique that is part of understanding what it takes to build a successful product. It consists of a series of activities, usually scheduled at one-week intervals.

Minimum Viable Product

Fundamental to the launch of several very famous products on the market (such as the iPhone, Facebook, EasyTaxi, among others). Delivering only the minimum feasible has helped thousands of entrepreneurs achieve success.

The benefits of delivering the minimum feasible include taking the product to the market in a much shorter time, minimizing expenses and enabling its evolution, based on the real needs of users.

Unlike products created in the traditional way, the goal of MVP is to validate the first step, the minimum product, much less elaborate than the final version.

Overview: The Workshop

During the Lean Inception, dynamic activities take place to define the strategies, objectives, and general definition of the product. The main objective of the Lean Inception workshop is to make the team understand what will be developed.

The author Paulo Caroli highlights:

"Like a cookbook, with a sequence of fast and effective activities, Lean Inception will allow the team to deliver the MVP."

Among all the benefits, the workshop will allow from describing the product vision and prioritizing its objectives, to creating a delivery plan for this product, driven by the concept of Minimum Viable Product.

The main characteristic for teamwork to work is the collaboration of all. A creative environment, with knowledge sharing, makes the resolutions of each step towards the MVP less arduous.

For this, "icebreaker" activities are very efficient in promoting collaborative activities.

In order for the path to be followed in a satisfactory manner, the presence of a facilitator is required, who will lead the participants' discussions during the workshop.

Its focus is to help the group to follow the activities, identify the problems, and solve them, in such a way that they can achieve the expected results.

During the discussions that will arise, the facilitator or facilitator should take a neutral position, without intervening in decision making.

Finally, for the workshop to work, there needs to be a control of time and progress. For this, the burn-up agenda serves to organize various topics and activities, which must be visible to everyone.

Overview: Lean Inception activities

The activities proposed in "Lean Inception" primarily cover what each team member must share and what they understand as a business objective. The various points of view must be discussed in order to reach a general consensus.

A Lean Inception activity is the brainstorming of functionalities, which is considered essential by the author. It allows a user to interact with the product, such as printing the invoice, consulting statements, etc.

The description of functionality must be as simple as possible, the product must have a function that meets the specific need of the consumer. This need has to be well known to everyone on the team.

If features are identified that do not meet the needs of any person, they must be rethought or even discarded, as their value is not associated with the consumer/user.

"Is this functionality important?" For Paulo Caroli, it is necessary to organize the features at the priority level. Once these are defined, after you have a mapping of utility for the user and possible product functionalities, there is the condition to elaborate the Minimum Viable Product.

After all these steps are completed, the MVP is put into circulation and is suitable according to its relationship with users.

What do other authors say about it?

In the book "The Lean Startup", the author Eric Ries says that the Lean Startup movement will help you achieve the true productivity of a startup. In the lean startup, every product, every characteristic, and every advertising campaign is understood as an experiment to achieve validated learning.

And if you want to test your product before delivering it to customers, to capture their perceptions for opportunities for improvement, with the book "SPRINT" you will build one in five days learning the techniques proposed by Jake Knapp.

In the book "The $ 100 Startup", author Chris Guillebeau teaches you how to build a successful startup, at a low cost. Want to work without depending on bosses? This summary is for you!

Okay, but how can I apply this to my life?

Now that you're familiar with the concepts of Lean Inception, how about recapping some practical tips?

• Make a description of the product view;
• Prioritize product objectives;
• Describe the main users and their needs;
• Understand the main features of the product;
• Understand the levels of user value and business value by functionality;
• Control the time and progress of your project;
• Create a product delivery plan, driven by the concept of Minimum Viable Product.

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