How does Singapore manage to pursue the vision of digital transformation?
Success Factor #2: Singapore provides a lot of infrastructure necessary for innovation to flourish
Singapore is a pro-business environment and supports forward-thinking ideas in various ways
From cash grants and business loans to making it easy for venture capital to flow into the country
Singapore has a co-financing scheme, Startup SG, that provides 70% of funding in an initial investment round of USD 215K
It’s also a host to many innovation and tech events throughout the year, that attracts international participants
Clearly, Singapore understands the importance of technological advancement
And the results show for themselves!
Stripe, the US payment firm, set up their product and engineering hub in Singapore
Grab, the ride-hailing service similar to Uber, relocated its headquarters to Singapore
Singapore has laid the foundations necessary to evolve into an innovation hub it is today
It is becoming the epicenter of the modern global economy
And the best is yet to come
Have you experienced Singapore’s innovation ecosystem?
What’s your take on it?
What makes you choose one brand over the next one?
Is it because of the hype, their glowing reviews, their customer experience, their product features?
There are probably a million more reasons for your choice selection
But inadvertently, you have created your own
And why is that the case?
There are so many things happening in the confines of
Use a product roadmap, to help you plan where you are going, to drive agile
• Have a plan
• Define what success looks like
• What are we focusing on vs not focusing on
• Agile doesn’t mean no planning
• Manage to outcome and not outputs
Shifting from outputs to outcomes
• Test and experiment and try
• Understand the difference b/n output vs an outcome
• What does success look like?
• Focus on the outcome, then design the solution from there
• Iterate until you get to the outcome
How to align the roadmap with agile?
WHY – why are we building the product? Why are you working on this?
WHAT – what outcomes do we hope to drive as a result of the product?
HOW – bridge the gap between high level strategy and what you are building: NOW(2 weeks), NEXT (next 2 months), LATER….Is this really what we should be building?
Disclaimer – this is a strategic communication document, not a commitment…this is a living document
Don’t dictate solutions
How to build a roadmap?
Have some sort of a checkpoint
The team should know the strategy of the product (not the backlog)
Consistently use and reference to keep everyone on the same page
Ideally, everyone can provide inputs, ask questions
o Product manager coordinates with the lead designer, lead developer, executive sponsor and other key stakeholders…essentially everyone who will need to approve it
Common Mistakes to avoid:
Too much detail – 1 to 2 page document. Additional info should go to an appendix
Not clearly defining priorities… Lack of discipline with strategic planning
Focusing on solutions and not on problems…it becomes a project plan
Good Roadmap Qualities:
Having an engaged team…everyone feels like they know what’s going on and what my part is. Even if people are not taking my ideas, I know where it stands
A leadership team that’s focused, know what’s important and know how to feedback that into the documentation
Summary:
Frustration & Friction on teams: sustained friction leads to burnouts
Start to ask questions…why does this product exist? I want to make sure I am aligned…is this right?
Change the mindset
