Product & Engineering's Ability: Sense and Respond

Sense and Respond, the ability, is greatly inspired by the book of the same name. The ability that we will value here at Lessonly consists of four main parts:

• The power of observation; to sense an opportunity
• The power of prioritization; knowing when is the right time to make a change
• The power of bringing people along; ushering in the change you’re trying to make
• The power of action; not be something we just talk about, but something we do

This ability is in many ways codependent on a trio of abilities, referred to as the exponential trio (Goal Setting, Systems Management, and Sense-&-Respond). So named because when applied together they are intended to have not just an additive or multiplicative impact on the success of a team… but an exponential impact.

1. Sense there is an unmet or under-served need (with process or Product)
2. Turn this sense into a hypothesis (an impact or outcome goal) while bringing others along
3. Identify the second and third order impacts of this hypothesis (how this will impact the systems in place)
4. Set a clear, impactful, S.M.A.R.T. goal that L.I.F.T.s us all up and has a two-way conversation designed in
5. Measure if the hypothesis was correct
6. Engage in the built-in two-way conversation and respond to the system impact of the action

7. Iterate... forever 😁 and Win... together 🎉

   That outline cannot be done by someone with only one of these three abilities... but it takes all three to be wielded in sync to have a scalable and lasting impact.

Sense and Respond is all about the action.

See a need, Fill a need.

The milestones of this are all about how far your reach is when you sense and respond, and how clear is the feedback loop.

I have observed this person showing a consistent, comfortable, continuous, and clear positive impact to a squad when wielding this ability, and therefore I would put them in situations where they can employ this ability with only a small amount of guidance

Impact Radius: Self, Squad

• Observation
  • When you notice ways the team or product could be better, you say something.
• Prioritize
  • You are aware of and take into account your squad, when making the decision on if some action should be taken now.
• Bringing people along
  • You use pre-defined constructs such as DBWGs to inform others of what you are doing. You also are aware when it is time to just do it.
  • Your communication on these sense-and-respond initiatives may not have the full context, but they communicate the base needs you were trying to meet.
• Act
  • You may not yet be known for taking the appropriate action quite yet.

You identify opportunities for organizational change or product improvements. When you notice ways the team or product could be better, you say something.

For example:

• Reflects often in #product-team-huddles about improvement opportunities on the team.
• Raises questions that are on others’ minds, such as "Why do we do this?" when that isn’t clear.
• If it's a bug, report it. If it's an enhancement, you talk to someone about it (PM, Designer, engineering manager, a principal, etc)

I have observed this person showing a consistent, comfortable, continuous, and clear positive impact to a squad when wielding this ability, and therefore I would put them in situations where they can employ this ability, with no assistance as well as being a trusted active or passive mentor to others

Impact Radius: Self, Squad, and/or Guild

• Observation
  • When you notice ways the team or product could be better, you say something.
  • You’ve begun thinking about how you can observe faster or more efficiently
• Prioritize
  • You are aware of and take into account your squad and/or guild, when making the decision on if some action should be taken now.
• Bringing people along
  • You use pre-defined constructs such as DBWGs to inform others of what you are doing. You also are aware when it is time to just do it.
  • Your communication on these sense-and-respond initiatives may not have the full context, but they communicate the base needs you were trying to meet.
• Act
  • You are known for taking the appropriate action to meet/exceed the need you observed.

You cause change to positively impact a few individuals or minor improvement to an existing product, process, or service. When you notice ways the team or product could be better, you try to do something about it.

For example:

• Joins Do Better Work Committees to bring others together to make a positive change.
• For issues unable to fix on one’s own, identifies who should be responsible and sees that they address it.
• Identifies practices that have outlived their usefulness and phases them out responsibly.

I have observed this person showing a consistent, comfortable, continuous, and clear positive impact to multiple squads when wielding this ability, and therefore I would put them in situations where they can employ this ability as well as being considered an expert within this discipline

Impact Radius: Department

• Observation
  • When you notice ways the team or product could be better, you say something.
  • For the initiatives that you help usher to action, when appropriate, you will create a way to sense that type of issue in the future (way to gather data)
• Prioritize
  • You are aware of and take into account multiple squads and/or domains, when making the decision on if some action should be taken now.
• Bringing people along
  • You use pre-defined constructs such as DBWGs to inform others of what you are doing. You also are aware when it is time to just do it.
  • Your communication on these sense-and-respond initiatives, regardless of if you use constructs like DBWGs or not, have clear context, clear goals/hypotheses, a ways for folks to follow what options there were (diverge) and why you chose the option you chose (converge)
• Act
  • You are known for taking the appropriate action to meet/exceed the need you observed.

When you notice ways the team or product could be better, you make it better in impactful, measurable ways.

For example:

• On Do Better Work Committees, sets milestones and metrics tracking positive impact to the team and delivers on them.
• Takes responsibility for neglected systems and processes (e.g. anything from "Ebert is broken." to "The recycling is piling up.") by creating structures to see they've taken care of on an ongoing basis (e.g. maybe an #ebert-caretakers Slack channel or a recycling rotation.)

I have observed this person showing a consistent, comfortable, continuous, and clear positive impact to a squad when wielding this ability, and therefore I would put them in situations where they can not only employ this ability but where they set the tone for this at the company level

Impact Radius: Multiple Departments

• The power of observation, prioritization, bringing people along, and action all adhere to the examples given in Milestone 3.
  • The sensing mechanism you devise is used over a multi-quarter period (if applicable) to make continuous improvement (this is an outcome of good systems management)

Rethinks fundamental aspects of how our team or product work, and leads steady, measurable progress to their realization.

For example:

• Leads the transition from project-based waterfall teams to continuously•delivering agile squads.
• Identifies the need for a brand new role on the team and owns the process of hiring to fill it.

I have observed this person showing a consistent, comfortable, continuous, and clear positive impact to not just internal teams but the community/industry in general when wielding this ability, and they are recognized by the community/industry as an expert

Impact Radius: Sets the stage for how Lessonly is viewed by other organizations

• The power of observation, prioritization, bringing people along, and action all adhere to the examples given in Milestone 4.

Effects change that has a substantial positive impact on the whole company

For example:

• Rethinks the department’s responsibilities to better achieve our company vision.
• Identifies the need for a new product strategy and coordinates implementing it across all affected departments.
• Changes complex organizational processes for the better.