Ricardo Ribeiro, innovation leader at Rapp Brazil, gives tips on how the application of agile methodologies can contribute to a startup.
The so-called agile methodologies are here to help companies become innovative or navigate more easily in a constantly changing world. They can also be applied in the conception of a company or project. For digital entrepreneurs, applying them early in the journey can be a significant contribution.
“If you are considering entrepreneurship, taking that idea out of your head and turning it into your own business, you need to prepare to meet your expectations. Using a methodology like Design Thinking to make the process feasible means experiencing important stages that make sense to people’s lives,” says Ricardo Ribeiro, innovation leader at Rapp Brazil.
He provides five tips on how Design Thinking can help in the dynamics of an entrepreneur:
Define the journey Understand in which market segment you want to enter, conduct research, and seek knowledge about the problem you want to solve with innovation. Stay tuned to market opportunities, technologies, and potential competitors. This way, you won’t waste time working on a journey already structured or navigated by others. Define the solution with a clear purpose.
Take more risks and be open to failures Have a strategy that considers risk as part of the process. You will make mistakes, and the faster, the better. This way, you can correct and learn until you reach the ideal model.
Test and experiment Don’t spend too much time working to make your idea perfect. You can spend a lot of time developing it and maybe never achieve what you wanted. So, test your idea, create a minimum viable product (MVP), a prototype, and experiment. Allow yourself to receive and analyze criticism to find out if the solution you thought of really makes a difference in people’s lives. It’s not enough to have all the equipment, technologies, and professionals. It is necessary to use the methodology as a culture to recognize what enters and exits the idea and test. There’s a quote from Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, that sums up the issue: ‘If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.’
Work with partnerships Create a network of partnerships with your stakeholders (employees, customers, and suppliers) to work in the process. They will contribute with feedback that is crucial for the entrepreneur. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so we need to receive consistent guidance to keep evolving.
Revisit the strategy Have the culture of revisiting your strategy to know if it is solving problems. Don’t just think about how you can make money. Design Thinking should be understood as the learning process when you are entrepreneuring. It is a tool that will masterfully guide the path of innovation.
Source: Meio&Mensagem
