Insights & Blog

Why do organizations tend to pull back budgets for exploration and opportunity discovery when they fail to meet their revenue goals, despite having aggressive revenue targets moving forward?

When uncertainty creeps into the core business, the natural reaction is to stay away from it. But this is actually 'risk-taking'. Isn’t continuing to execute the way 'it’s always been done' in the face of uncertainty a path to failure?

 It does not have to be a resource intensive endeavor. The goal is to bust assumptions and cut through biases to gain new knowledge, mitigating risk and improving efficiency in delivering the desired outcome. The likelihood is that teams will also discover insights that point to new growth opportunities.

In today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape, the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in software development is no longer just a topic of interest; it’s a transformative force reshaping industry practices. Companies that adopt agile frameworks are leveraging AI tools to shorten development cycles, reduce costs, and deliver market-ready products at unprecedented speeds. This blog explores how AI tools empower agile teams to ideate, prototype, code, and debug more efficiently and how consulting services like Moves the Needle can catalyze this progress.

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AI-powered market research tools are transforming how businesses understand their markets and customers. By leveraging these innovative solutions, companies can make more informed decisions, stay ahead of competitors, and better serve their customers. As AI technology continues to evolve, we can expect these tools to become even more sophisticated and indispensable for business success.

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Brant Cooper was a vanguard. As one of the originators of the Lean Startup movement, more than 15 years ago, he had a vision he boldly pursued through thought leadership, community engagement, and entrepreneurship. His body of work serves as an atlas for exploring bold ideas. Starting with “ The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development,”  then the NYT bestseller "The Lean Entrepreneur," and most recently, the thought-provoking “Disruption Proof,” his writing is permeated with his values of integrity, candor, and illustrates his belief in the individual.

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In the complexity of the globally-connected digital world, uncertainties and the assumptions on how to overcome them, hinder organizations from achieving their objectives. Enter rapid experimentation – a dynamic process that allows businesses to test ideas, challenge assumptions, and reduce the risk of failing. Rapid experimentation holds immense value in generating evidence to support decision-making, inform strategies, and propel businesses toward success.

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The debate that has raged on since the pandemic; personal productivity. Brant would argue that being in the office does not make someone more productive than working from home. In this podcast from a recent LinkedIn Audio event, Brant Cooper will go over how to maximize personal productivity by the use of a KANBAN board.

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The hype around AI is mind-boggling—more than the standard tech hype, which is saying something. Leadership is demanding to know what it means for their organizations. So what does it mean? Is this just the latest iteration of FOMO? How do you get answers?

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Surviving and thriving in the digital world does not mean merely implementing technology. It also requires instilling new mindsets at all levels in the organization. The way people work needs to align with the speed, complexity, and uncertainty of today’s economic activity while solving real-world problems that benefit customers. The path forward is to create RAD organizations: resilient to endless disruptions, aware of changing market conditions, and dynamically adapting to create real value.

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AI and Digital technologies are creating a seismic shift that has reshaped industries, disrupted traditional business models, and left no corner of the world untouched. At its core, effective AI adoption and digital transformation requires a human-centric approach. Enter Growth Innovation — a blend of methodologies that acknowledges and navigates uncertainty and complexity effectively, enabling businesses to adapt to ongoing disruptions quickly.

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The transformation of support functions from mere cost centers to strategic partners requires a fundamental shift in perspective. Moving beyond a myopic focus on cost efficiency, these functions need to adopt a forward-looking stance. Embracing a customer-centric approach is paramount — support functions must treat internal colleagues as customers. In this way, they foster innovation, facilitate timely resource allocation, and collaborate with revenue-generating units to optimize desired business outcomes. By embracing innovation, nurturing collaboration, and aligning with strategic objectives, support functions can shed the cloak of the traditional “cost center” image and emerge as essential catalysts for organizational success in the digital era.

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One of the most powerful aspects of delegating outcomes is that it creates accountability. By entrusting team members with achieving objectives that impact the greater organization, leaders create a sense of ownership. Teams and their leaders should collaborate to define their missions, outcomes, and metrics that measure progress toward the desired result. In order to establish sustained growth check out our 3 principles and proven coaching behaviors to delegate work effectively.

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Brant Cooper discusses what it takes to complete rapid experiments and how it can be the fast track to overcoming uncertainty.

The goal is to separate what customers will do vs. what they say they’ll do. Too many entrepreneurs and corporate product people rely on “positive feedback” to make decisions. Countless hours and dollars are wasted assuming they know what their customers want based on little to no evidence. With rapid experimentation, customer behavior is a key part of the process.

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Innovation is a powerful force that can drive organizations forward and make a meaningful impact in the world. But it is not a one-size-fits-all concept. Every organization must define innovation within its unique context and aspirations. Understanding the multi-faceted nature of innovation can provide a framework for organizations to define and pursue innovation in a purposeful and strategic manner. By defining innovation beyond mere technology and patents, and embracing an innovation mindset everywhere, organizations can embrace a broader perspective that encompasses problem-solving and value creation.

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