Knowledge | The Lean-Agile Dilemma

Chunky Corporate vs Lean Startup

What's the difference?

Investor-backed

Chunky Corporate

This business is large and mature. It's been building software for a number of years and has an existing set of platforms that must be maintained.

Bootstrap funded

Lean Startup

This business is young and immature. It is building software products in an effort to define and capture new markets.

Orienteering

- Lean-Agile principles were designed for small organizations building new products.

- Orienteering is designed for large, mature organizations rebuilding or updating existing products.

-Orienteering offers a credible alternative to AINO (Agile in Name Only) projects, delivering clarity and credibility.

The Chunky Corporate Maxim

Predictable performance beats innovation

If your organization is a bit older than a startup, and a bit bigger than lean, constant innovation will be at odds with your business toolkit. Your investor owners want predictable business performance. Constant innovation is risky. Lean startups take risks. They have little choice. Chunky corporates, on the other hand, are allergic to risk.

Our biggest strength is our workforce

When our team is collaborating cross-functionally, we can achieve. We foster transparent, honest, assertive and respectful collaboration amongst team members at all levels of the organization. We respect expertise and role differentiation. We value psychological safety and autonomy. We pursue excellence.

Risk is margin diluting

Launching any new product is risky. It diverts attention from the existing product stack and requires up front investment with unproven returns. External investors from the private equity, financial, or public realm typically have a much lower tolerance for this sort of margin-diluting risk than venture capitalists.

We are complex systems

We recognize that we are not machines with defined inputs and outputs but complex systems that rely heavily on human interactions. Getting 10 employees at a Lean Startup aligned is much easier than getting 1,000 employees at a Chubby Corporate aligned. It requires a different toolkit. We embrace our complexity and leverage scale to our advantage.

When we work to our strengths, we maximize efficiency.

Get in Touch

The Lean-Agile Dilemma: Product Management Inside a Chunky Corporate is available from major booksellers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Waterstones.

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