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In this episode of Serverless Craic, Map the Market and A Cloud Guru Case Study, we dive into Chapters 7 and 8 of the book The Value Flywheel Effect. The discussion focuses on "Mapping the Market" and a fascinating case study on clarity of purpose, featuring the story of A Cloud Guru.

Discover how mapping the value chain helps companies identify their place in the market, understand competitors, and predict strategic moves. Learn about the transformative impact of a laser-focused North Star and how serverless-first approaches powered scalability and success. The episode includes insightful anecdotes, practical mapping techniques, and lessons from real-world examples like Tesla and A Cloud Guru.

🎯 Key Topics Covered:
- Mapping the market and competition.
- Understanding and leveraging the value chain.
- Insights from A Cloud Guru’s journey to a $2 billion acquisition.
- Practical tips for mapping your strategy effectively.

💬 Join the conversation! Share your thoughts and subscribe for more discussions on engineering, strategy, and innovation.

Thanks for tuning in, and see you in the next episode, where we’ll explore "Challenging the Environment" in the Value Flywheel framework! 🚀

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Welcome to the latest episode of Serverless Craic! 🎙️ Today, we're diving back into our series on The Value Flywheel Effect, focusing on Chapter 6: "Obsess Over Time to Value."

Join us as we explore the significance of delivering value quickly and efficiently in tech organisations. We discuss the concept of "Time to Value" over "Time to Market," reflecting on how innovation labs and agile structures can help companies pivot, react, and respond to both threats and opportunities.

In this episode, we touch on key topics like:
- The importance of creating a feedback loop to see real user value
- The challenges of organisational inertia and how it can inhibit innovation
- Real-life examples of experimentation and pivoting, including building "trap doors" to validate product assumptions
- The role of situational awareness in overcoming barriers to change

We also delve into how high-performing teams can increase an organisation’s "rate of turn," making it more adaptable in a rapidly evolving market. Whether you're dealing with big projects or experimenting with new technologies, empowering teams to focus on value, rather than just speed, can transform your business outcomes.

If you enjoyed this discussion, don’t forget to subscribe, like, and share.

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This episode centres on Chapter Five of the book "The Value Flywheel Effect," focusing on the North Star framework.
We explain how this framework helps teams align their work with a clear, meaningful metric (North Star) and its related leading and lagging metrics.

North Star Framework Overview
We explain the North Star framework, emphasising its use in helping teams coalesce behind a mission or purpose with a visual, collaborative tool. And the importance of leading metrics and lagging metrics, explaining how the North Star framework helps teams reverse engineer leading metrics from lagging ones.

Application of North Star Framework
We look at the usefulness of the North Star framework at both the small startup level and the enterprise level, where it helps link lead measures back to overall business impact.
The North Star framework is powerful for team and individual morale by making work meaningful and aligning it with organisational objectives.
We reference Dan Pink's "mastery, autonomy, sense of purpose" to emphasise the importance of knowing what you are doing and why.
The North Star framework is complementary to mapping for strategy, helping to narrow down on value and focus conversations.

Challenges and Benefits of North Star Framework
It is valuable to ask teams about their metrics and how their work influences them, leading to valuable conversations about measurement and alignment.
We look at the importance of measurement, referencing Grace Hopper's quote about the power of accurate measurement.
Having data and clear alignment to organisational strategy helps teams advocate for change more effectively.
The North Star framework can sometimes reveal that teams are not aligned or that the overall strategy is flawed, likening it to the emperor's new clothes.

Connecting North Star to Business Value
A structured North Star often reveals disconnects in the work being done and its impact on business value, serving as a corrective measure.
We compare the North Star framework to impact mapping, both helping to create a compelling narrative and understand the story of what the team is working on.
It is challenging to craft the North Star for behind-the-scenes teams, but the framework helps align value delivery with business goals.
We discuss Amazon's working backwards process and its similarities with the North Star framework, emphasising the importance of understanding the customer's need and working backwards from there.

Critical Thinking and Leadership
These frameworks are enablers of critical thinking, challenging teams and organizations to question their assumptions and goals.
North Star metrics and key input metrics make it easier to write a compelling press release that aligns with the company's strategy.
Clarity of purpose is the foundation of everything, requiring leadership and courage to implement.

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In this insightful discussion, we explore mapping techniques from Chapter 3 of our book The Value Flywheel Effect and their applications in organisations. Key topics include:

• Anatomy of a Worldly Map: Breaking down the components of a map, including visible, aware, and invisible items in the value chain.
• Mapping Teams and Tech Stacks: How mapping helps in identifying team roles and modernising technology stacks.
• Starting with Maps and Collaboration: Tips for overcoming the blank canvas fear and leveraging tools like GitHub's "Awesome Worldly Maps" and VS Code extensions for map annotations.
• Open Space Collaboration: The value of engaging everyone in discussions and validating inputs.
• Mapping the Stack, Organisation, and Market: Using mapping for situational awareness, aligning teams with core domains, and understanding market dynamics to respond effectively to opportunities and threats.

This conversation provides practical insights into using mapping for better organizational awareness and strategic decision-making.

- Learn more about The ServerlessEdge - see link below
- Explore GitHub's Awesome Worldly Maps for useful mapping tools.

Don't miss this deep dive into mapping strategies to enhance your organisation’s situational awareness and tech evolution!

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Wardley mapping is a strategic tool to visualise the evolution of products or services.
The two axes of a Wardley Map are visibility and evolutionary stage.
Products and technologies evolve through four stages:

1. Genesis,
2. Custom build,
3. Product or rental, and
4. Commodity or utility.

Understanding context and phase of adoption is crucial in the business world, especially with AI and LLMs.
Identifying and moving commodities versus custom-built solutions is important, and optimizing organizational structure for autonomy involves concepts like movement, time planning, and sub-maps. We explain the anatomy of a Wardley map, starting with the anchor (customer) and emphasising the importance of understanding the map's axis and how space and position have meaning.
Evolution of technology from Genesis to Commodity, with stages of Custom Build and Product.
Product evolution from Genesis to Custom, Commodity, and ubiquity, tailored to specific contexts.
We explain the evolution of products through usage and competition and product evolution is context-dependent.

Leveraging AI and LLMs in business contexts.
We highlight the varying perceptions of LLM and Gen AI across different contexts and note that DBT is marketed as a product or consumer depending on the context. We discuss the importance of understanding user needs and dependencies in designing a successful product.

Mapping components to move from custom-built to commodity products.
We look at the importance of mapping components to move a business forward and identify inertia as a challenge in moving components, and discuss ways to overcome it.
The conversation highlights the importance of leveraging commodities and building a database in 2024. We discuss the evolution of AI, from its early stages to its current utility, and the importance of having the right team types, including explorers, settlers, and time planners. We emphasise the need for all three team types, as each one plays a crucial role in the AI development process, and spikes in team performance can be identified and addressed accordingly.

Mapping for autonomous organisations, including optimisation, movement, and sub-maps.
We look at the importance of optimising for movement in engineering teams, with different strategies for 'pioneers', 'settlers', and 'villagers'. And the need for organisation-wide alignment and the use of mixed methods within Wardley Mapping, with a focus on stacking boxes when necessary.
We look at the importance of mapping in software development, highlighting different types of maps and their uses.
And we provide tips for creating effective maps, including using sub-maps for detailed areas and avoiding too many components on the map.

Wardley Mapping Resources: Ben Mosior and https://learnwardleymapping.com/

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We discuss facilitating effective collaborative mapping workshops and creating Wardley maps for strategic planning in businesses. We look at the importance of creating a safe environment, effective facilitation techniques, and involving all stakeholders in the mapping process.
We also highlight the benefits of embracing diversity and respecting different opinions. And we share various approaches to creating and utilising Wardley maps, including Miro and Lucid, and learning more about the technique through Ben Mosior LearnWardleyMapping.com resources.

Wardley Mapping techniques and anti-patterns.
Dave Anderson and Mark McCann discussed anti-patterns in Wardley mapping, including "gaming the system" (Dave Anderson).
The speakers shared their experiences and insights on how to avoid common mistakes in Wardley Mapping (Dave Anderson, Michael O'Reilly).
Collaboration is key in mapping exercises, as it helps to identify blind spots and improve the overall quality of the map.
It's important to strike a balance between mapping by yourself and collaborating with others to ensure a richer feedback loop and improved map quality.
Michael O'Reilly suggests mapping a subject matter to identify blind spots and derive questions to ask (0:05:10)
Dave Anderson advises against re-creating architecture diagrams and instead focuses on higher-level abstraction (0:06:27)

Software development, components, and abstraction.
Dave Anderson and Mark McCann discuss the challenges of defining and understanding components in software development.
Experience and wisdom are key to summarising complex conversations and determining the appropriate level of abstraction for components.
Dave Anderson and Michael O'Reilly discuss the importance of context in understanding a Wardley map, with examples from their own experiences.
They emphasize the need to introduce new people to a shared conversation gradually, rather than expecting them to pick it up quickly.

Facilitating workshops, mapping, and collaboration.
Michael O'Reilly and Dave Anderson discuss the importance of mapping in strategy development, highlighting its ability to shake out key elements and dependencies.
Mark McCann emphasises the value of psychological safety in a top-down environment, where managers must create a safe space for team members to share their thoughts and ideas.
Dave Anderson and Mark McCann emphasise the importance of creating a safe environment where participants feel comfortable sharing their opinions and asking questions.
Facilitators should be open and non-forced in their approach, allowing participants to take the lead and challenge each other's perspectives.

Using Wardley mapping to understand user needs and dependencies.
Dave Anderson and Mark McCann discuss the importance of identifying the user and their needs in the mapping process.
They use specific examples and exercises to help the group understand and clarify their thinking.
Dave Anderson and Mark McCann discuss the importance of collaboration in product development, using sticky notes and online tools like Miro and Lucid to facilitate brainstorming sessions.
They emphasise the need to keep the collaboration process simple and focused, with clear goals and a structured approach to e

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Dave, Michael, and Mark discussed the application of Wardley Mapping in understanding movement and making strategic decisions. They share their experiences with the method, emphasising its ability to visualise and track changes in tech stacks and capabilities.
They also discussed the importance of context, user needs, and facilitating meaningful conversations through mapping.
Additionally, they highlighted the benefits of mapping for challenging each other's thinking and fostering creative dialogue.
Later, they discussed the importance of understanding user needs during agile transformations, including the value of having a shared representation of collective experiences and strategies for removing barriers to change in an organization.

Outline
Using Wardley mapping to improve understanding of complex systems and software development.
Dave Anderson and Mark McCann discuss the history of Wardley mapping, including when they first learned about it and how it has evolved over time.
The hosts emphasise the importance of mapping movement and tracking progress in the context of technology and capability, citing examples from their own experiences.
Mark McCann: Focusing on user needs in Agile transformations helped teams understand why they were delivering code.
Michael O'Reilly: Participating in mapping sessions helped him understand technical nuances and communicate with non-technical stakeholders.
Mark McCann: Identified value chain visibility as key to success
Dave Anderson: Custom skill sets and implementations were hindering progress

Challenging inertia points in team decision-making.
Dave Anderson and Mark McCann discussed the importance of mapping out problems and inviting team members to contribute their perspectives.
The team used a structured approach to thinking deeply about problems and coming up with solutions, which helped to challenge assumptions and identify areas for improvement.
Identifying and addressing inertia points is crucial for strategic maneuvering.

Leadership principles, including courage, collaboration, empathy, and narrative.
Dave Anderson and Michael O'Reilly discussed the importance of courage and collaboration in tackling complex problems.
They emphasised the need for shared understanding and mapping with other teams to make better decisions.
The importance of context in mapping: Understanding the user's needs and perspective is crucial for effective mapping.
Empathy and narrative: Mapping can facilitate empathy and storytelling, but it's important to show the map to the right audience.

Principles of Wardley mapping for strategic planning.
Michael O'Reilly and Mark McCann discuss the importance of simplifying complex systems through Wardley mapping, focusing on the principles of abstraction and dialogue.
Dave Anderson emphasises the importance of not overcomplicating the model, and using it as a facilitation for meaningful conversations.
Dave Anderson and Michael O'Reilly discuss the importance of mapping in facilitating creative conversations.
They outline the eight principles of Wardley mapping and its benefits in understanding a company's value chain.

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The Value Flywheel Effect is a pattern seen in organisations where business strategy and technology strategy align, leading to more sales and growth.
The hosts discuss the concept of the value flywheel effect, its origins, and how it applies to creating software for customers.

Dave Anderson and Mark McCann discuss the four phases of the value flywheel process, with three principles for each phase, aimed at building momentum and sustainability in organizations and teams.
Clarity of purpose is the first principle, visualised as a data-informed Northstar, helping teams understand their core user needs and improve situational awareness.
Software development principles, including focus, clarity, and understanding the market.
Michael O'Reilly and Dave Anderson discuss the importance of aligning individual and team goals with the overall organisational Northstar.
They emphasise the need for a clear problem statement and direction to focus attention and achieve success.
Michael O'Reilly and Dave Anderson discuss the importance of focusing on time to value in product discovery, rather than just time to market.
They emphasise the need to map the market and clarify the business's purpose, rather than just focusing on individual silos or software pieces.
Dave Anderson looks at the importance of understanding a company's strategy and market position, even for software engineering teams.
Mark McCann suggests that junior engineers can gain valuable insights by analysing a company's website, LinkedIn, job postings, and press releases to understand their competitors and industry landscape.

Engineering team structure, process, and enablement.
Michael O'Reilly: Embrace diverse teams for success, learn from failures.
Mark McCann: Socio-technical systems crucial for successful teams.
Michael O'Reilly and Dave Anderson discuss the importance of enabling and empowering engineers in High Performance Engineering, including creating a generative environment and mapping the organisation for enablement.
Mark McCann adds that removing friction points and impediments is crucial, including developer enablement, handoffs, and carving off certain things to encourage smaller approaches.

Prioritising tech stack, offloading non-differentiating tasks, and mapping solutions to customer needs.
Focus on delivering value, not just building code.
Dave Anderson emphasises the importance of prioritizing tech stack and deciding what to move to the right, while Michael O'Reilly and Mark McCann discuss the benefits of mapping out the tech stack and identifying key differentiators for the business.
Modernising software development and delivery using AWS Well-Architected Framework.
Dave Anderson looks at the importance of preventing problems before they occur in software development.
Mark McCann highlights the need to understand the ecosystem and constraints when implementing continuous delivery.
Mark McCann: Celebrate successes in fraud prevention, reward employees for going above and beyond.
Dave Anderson: Keep a low carbon footprint, measure efficiency and sustainability in cloud workloads.
Mark McCann and Dave Anderson discuss the importance of well-architected frameworks for cloud migration and sustainability.
They highlight the 12 p

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