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The Lean Enterprise: How Corporations Can Innovate Like Startups
#1 Best Seller in Lean Management The first and most comprehensive book on bringing the startup mindset into large organizations. Forget vague notions of creating an "innovative culture." This book reveals the methodologies, tools, and incentive structures guiding the world's largest organizations to reclaim their innovation prowess.
Even in a tough economic climate, small startups have found ways to create innovative products in shockingly short timeframes. So why should larger, more established companies take notice? Because they have everything to gain when they examine and adopt the process, strategies, and mentality of high-growth startups. The guidelines in this book will help companies shake the lethargy, bureaucracy, and power struggles that plague large organizations.
Respected thought leaders in lean startup methodologies, Owens and Fernandez cover successful enterprise product development, establishment of innovation labs, and acquisition and integration of startups.
Don't be mystified by the success of startups. Master the methods of this new era and compete on a level playing field.
Even in a tough economic climate, small startups have found ways to create innovative products in shockingly short timeframes. So why should larger, more established companies take notice? Because they have everything to gain when they examine and adopt the process, strategies, and mentality of high-growth startups. The guidelines in this book will help companies shake the lethargy, bureaucracy, and power struggles that plague large organizations.
Respected thought leaders in lean startup methodologies, Owens and Fernandez cover successful enterprise product development, establishment of innovation labs, and acquisition and integration of startups.
Don't be mystified by the success of startups. Master the methods of this new era and compete on a level playing field.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
37 people are currently reading
258 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 4, 2015
The topic of enterprise innovation is getting a lot of attention last few years. And there are not so many books on the matter. So this already is a good reason to read this one. Not the only one, of course ;-)
The biggest value this book will provide to you in my opinion is about understanding the importance of the right approach the innovation practice in terms of becoming a lean enterprise.
Nowadays, when only the lazy ones don’t launch hackathons or startup accelerator programs, it is super easy to get tempted with doing some short-term, ‘fake’ initiatives that will most probably end up with poor results and disappointment for both the organisers and participants. Frameworks are important. If big business want to get the most of those initiatives, the innovation system has to be set up. The innovation process should start from within. Indeed, as a book says, "you’ll need a colony that’s right-sized to manage whatever innovation flow can generate”. The book provides practical advice on who to launch and manage those ‘colonies’.
The authors also present three enterprise innovation strategies (based on the lean startup techniques of experimentation and innovation accounting) —incubating, investing, and acquiring and support those with many details on pros/cons, etc (A Framework for Action should definitely be printed out and used during the planning). Another important point made that I believe should be kept in minds of corporate innovators’ is that all those activities of the ‘innovation colony’ must be driven by a distinctive innovation thesis to be effective. So, the thesis itself should be developed in a first place.
Besides very practical ready-to-apply content from the authors, you will also enjoy the case studies from GE, Intuit, Intel Capital, Nordstrom and Techstars.
The book will serve you well, but also can be a great present for you boss, colleague or a prospect client and a great help to sell-in the belief you want to advocate and push
on your way of establishing yourself as an innovation leader.
The biggest value this book will provide to you in my opinion is about understanding the importance of the right approach the innovation practice in terms of becoming a lean enterprise.
Nowadays, when only the lazy ones don’t launch hackathons or startup accelerator programs, it is super easy to get tempted with doing some short-term, ‘fake’ initiatives that will most probably end up with poor results and disappointment for both the organisers and participants. Frameworks are important. If big business want to get the most of those initiatives, the innovation system has to be set up. The innovation process should start from within. Indeed, as a book says, "you’ll need a colony that’s right-sized to manage whatever innovation flow can generate”. The book provides practical advice on who to launch and manage those ‘colonies’.
The authors also present three enterprise innovation strategies (based on the lean startup techniques of experimentation and innovation accounting) —incubating, investing, and acquiring and support those with many details on pros/cons, etc (A Framework for Action should definitely be printed out and used during the planning). Another important point made that I believe should be kept in minds of corporate innovators’ is that all those activities of the ‘innovation colony’ must be driven by a distinctive innovation thesis to be effective. So, the thesis itself should be developed in a first place.
Besides very practical ready-to-apply content from the authors, you will also enjoy the case studies from GE, Intuit, Intel Capital, Nordstrom and Techstars.
The book will serve you well, but also can be a great present for you boss, colleague or a prospect client and a great help to sell-in the belief you want to advocate and push
on your way of establishing yourself as an innovation leader.
January 26, 2016
I hate to say it, but I think I actually liked this book better than Eric Reis' Lean Startup.
The case studies are well researched and coincide with the topics the authors are writing about very appropriately. I enjoyed the final chapter where the authors discuss the "excuses" for not using lean Startup techniques.
Even though I am NOT a startup, I now see the opportunity for practical application of Lean Startup methodologies within a traditional lean improvement system. Things like pivot or persevere are tactics that lend themselves to try storming.
As far as an audiobook goes, the book was well narrated and kept my interest fully engaged.
The case studies are well researched and coincide with the topics the authors are writing about very appropriately. I enjoyed the final chapter where the authors discuss the "excuses" for not using lean Startup techniques.
Even though I am NOT a startup, I now see the opportunity for practical application of Lean Startup methodologies within a traditional lean improvement system. Things like pivot or persevere are tactics that lend themselves to try storming.
As far as an audiobook goes, the book was well narrated and kept my interest fully engaged.
March 22, 2017
This book has a clear market for a specific kind of reader: a high level executive at a large firm that wants to behave a bit more like a startup. If you fit that mold, don't go any further. Go give it a read.
If you're like me, and coming from the entrepreneurship world into big business, most of this book will be a review. The topics covered here are pretty much the same things that are discussed on This Week in Startups, and not much, if anything, will be new.
That said, while the information might be known, the perspective given to that information might be unique. The needs of a large business are not the same as a startup, and knowing how to explain startup ideas in their terms can be some pretty valuable soft skills, so I still consider this book to be a worthwhile read.
If you're like me, and coming from the entrepreneurship world into big business, most of this book will be a review. The topics covered here are pretty much the same things that are discussed on This Week in Startups, and not much, if anything, will be new.
That said, while the information might be known, the perspective given to that information might be unique. The needs of a large business are not the same as a startup, and knowing how to explain startup ideas in their terms can be some pretty valuable soft skills, so I still consider this book to be a worthwhile read.
September 11, 2017
A great book by a great entrepreneurial mind. Trevor Owens will no doubt grow in reputation as a natural entrepreneur who has made it his goal to understand the best way to get established corporations to embrace technological change.
November 25, 2017
Good book. Another one translating innovation dilemma into enterprise reality.
November 6, 2016
The Lean Enterprise is a book written for a very specific audience, namely, executives looking for a way to kickstart innovation inside their organizations. It also delivers on its original promise, providing the readers with a corporate innovation playbook and a glimpse into how other enterprises companies think about the problem.
The book draws its inspiration from the Lean Startup methodology, originally articulated by Eric Ries. Under the traditional approach, the product takes many months to build, and the learning begins only when it is officially launched. By contrast, the Lean Startup movement puts learning at the heart of the process by generating a business hypothesis, conducting in-depth customer research, releasing features in an iterative manner, and testing user preferences through controlled experiments.
Having trained 25,000+ students in the lean startup principles, Trevor Owens and Obie Fernandez are well-placed to talk about how to apply them within the enterprise environment. And this is where lies the true value of the Lean Enterprise lies. The authors cover everything from what type of a corporate structure helps to incubate new ideas to how to track team's progress without suffocating it with EBIT metrics. And they are not afraid to challenge conventional corporate wisdom or suggest ballpark figures for a struggling startup.
If you are not an enterprise executive, all these discussions of innovation accounting and the innovation thesis formulation might seem dull and irrelevant. But understanding how big companies tick can strengthen your hand in potential negotiations. This is why I want to urge you to read Chapters 10 and 11, where the authors cover the do's and don't's of startup acquisition and corporate investment. Perhaps after seeing how profoundly product/market fit affects a startup's valuation, you will give this concept the attention it deserves.
I would also like to commend the publisher for sweating the small details. The book's language is clear and concise, if somewhat dry. The authors make a genuine effort to find appropriate examples and back their statements up with relevant numbers. Informative section titles and a proper index at the end of the book make it an easy to use reference. One minor point of irritation was the editors' decision to capitalize questions in the interview section, but that's no biggie.
One final piece of advice, if you are interested in the topic of innovation, don't skimp on Eric Ries' "The Lean Startup." The Lean Enterprise does an excellent job of summarizing the key ideas of this book, but it is not a substitute for learning them firsthand and exploring how other teams have applied them in a variety of contexts.
The book draws its inspiration from the Lean Startup methodology, originally articulated by Eric Ries. Under the traditional approach, the product takes many months to build, and the learning begins only when it is officially launched. By contrast, the Lean Startup movement puts learning at the heart of the process by generating a business hypothesis, conducting in-depth customer research, releasing features in an iterative manner, and testing user preferences through controlled experiments.
Having trained 25,000+ students in the lean startup principles, Trevor Owens and Obie Fernandez are well-placed to talk about how to apply them within the enterprise environment. And this is where lies the true value of the Lean Enterprise lies. The authors cover everything from what type of a corporate structure helps to incubate new ideas to how to track team's progress without suffocating it with EBIT metrics. And they are not afraid to challenge conventional corporate wisdom or suggest ballpark figures for a struggling startup.
If you are not an enterprise executive, all these discussions of innovation accounting and the innovation thesis formulation might seem dull and irrelevant. But understanding how big companies tick can strengthen your hand in potential negotiations. This is why I want to urge you to read Chapters 10 and 11, where the authors cover the do's and don't's of startup acquisition and corporate investment. Perhaps after seeing how profoundly product/market fit affects a startup's valuation, you will give this concept the attention it deserves.
I would also like to commend the publisher for sweating the small details. The book's language is clear and concise, if somewhat dry. The authors make a genuine effort to find appropriate examples and back their statements up with relevant numbers. Informative section titles and a proper index at the end of the book make it an easy to use reference. One minor point of irritation was the editors' decision to capitalize questions in the interview section, but that's no biggie.
One final piece of advice, if you are interested in the topic of innovation, don't skimp on Eric Ries' "The Lean Startup." The Lean Enterprise does an excellent job of summarizing the key ideas of this book, but it is not a substitute for learning them firsthand and exploring how other teams have applied them in a variety of contexts.
May 2, 2014
Great book about how large corporation can innovate like startups. The author states three main strategies for that: incubate internally, early acquisition and investment. All of these strategies are explained with more details along the reading. In a nutshell:
- Incubate internally: the author suggests not use the same structure of the existing company, but instead use innovation colonies, where people are disconnected from the organizational red tape.
- Early acquisition: when the corporation doesn’t have the capacity or speed to develop itself, this is a strategy to be taken in consideration.
- Investment: This strategy keeps the entrepreneurs with the control of the startup but give to investors the opportunity to entry in new markets.
I like as well the interviews with some innovators who work in the companies cited in the book. At the end, you can see answers for the main objections against the use of lean startup techniques for innovation.
- Incubate internally: the author suggests not use the same structure of the existing company, but instead use innovation colonies, where people are disconnected from the organizational red tape.
- Early acquisition: when the corporation doesn’t have the capacity or speed to develop itself, this is a strategy to be taken in consideration.
- Investment: This strategy keeps the entrepreneurs with the control of the startup but give to investors the opportunity to entry in new markets.
I like as well the interviews with some innovators who work in the companies cited in the book. At the end, you can see answers for the main objections against the use of lean startup techniques for innovation.
October 4, 2016
It is an excellent book, but not for everyone wanting to learn about lean. This is really about innovation within an enterprise, building on Eric Reis' book The Lean Startup, and applying the concepts within a framework for enterprises. It was well laid out and gave great methods for doing that. Do not expect lean management principles, or specific application to a smaller organization. If you want concepts as applied to smaller organizations, turn to The Lean Startup instead. You will still learn excellent concepts from this book, but it won't be as specific to your goals.
For those who really do want to apply these concepts to an enterprise, I highly recommend studying Clayton Christensen's book Innovators Dilemma (maybe even read it before The Lean Enterprise) and The Lean Startup. After that, The Lean Enterprise really ties those two other books together well. Thanks to Trevor Owens and Obie Fernandez for a great book
For those who really do want to apply these concepts to an enterprise, I highly recommend studying Clayton Christensen's book Innovators Dilemma (maybe even read it before The Lean Enterprise) and The Lean Startup. After that, The Lean Enterprise really ties those two other books together well. Thanks to Trevor Owens and Obie Fernandez for a great book
July 15, 2014
I really enjoyed chapters 6 to 8 covering the Lean Process, the Experimental Method and Innovation Accounting that for me were worth the whole book.
The remaining chapters describe a path for enterprises to innovate according to the Lean approach with the related pitfalls. Some case studies are slightly in contradiction with the theory exposed but at the same time show real life scenarios and turn out to be quite useful to read.
I didn't give the book a higher rating because it sometimes sounds too much of an ad for the authors' own business but the central chapters mentioned above would have deserved a fiver!
The remaining chapters describe a path for enterprises to innovate according to the Lean approach with the related pitfalls. Some case studies are slightly in contradiction with the theory exposed but at the same time show real life scenarios and turn out to be quite useful to read.
I didn't give the book a higher rating because it sometimes sounds too much of an ad for the authors' own business but the central chapters mentioned above would have deserved a fiver!
October 22, 2014
A decent book that puts some practical structure around instituting an innovation group within an organization ("within", but really as a separate entity). We read this as a group at work and used it to develop a proposal. Not a ton of the specifics on the lean principles, which was great - those can be found elsewhere. What was left out was whether there are ways to 'ease' into it without a pretty significant commitment of time and resources.
Also - the book mentioned differing compensation models as a recommended best practice, yet it seemed that the case studies never really implemented it that way. That was a little disjointed.
Also - the book mentioned differing compensation models as a recommended best practice, yet it seemed that the case studies never really implemented it that way. That was a little disjointed.
March 27, 2016
Is funny becouse I read this book becouse a confusion... I wan to read http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Enterprise... but I just buy the wrong one, so for sure is not the content I was looking for ;)
Anyway is an interesting book very focused on how structure different organizations to innovate even in a context that make ir very difficult. The content does indeep overlap with The Innovator's dilemma so it give me some perspective but no new points of view.
Anyway is an interesting book very focused on how structure different organizations to innovate even in a context that make ir very difficult. The content does indeep overlap with The Innovator's dilemma so it give me some perspective but no new points of view.
September 21, 2014
Describes ways in which big companies can develop intrapreneurship / acquire startups / invest in startups. Introduces concepts like 'innovation colony', 'innovation accounting', puts emphasis on concierging before prototyping (compared to other innovation books), inspires people to organize Lean Startup Machine events and not just hackatons.
Overall a good read!
Overall a good read!
July 30, 2014
Positioned as the way to do lean startup within the large enterprise. I didn't like the notion that there was only one way to approach innovation in that space. The author does not address companies in the medical space or regulated industries. There are still some good advice and ideas. I just think that there's more than one way to get the desired results.
December 3, 2014
I found interesting how big enterprises can perceive startups and at the same time how a startup can operate either alone or included to the wider context of a lean enterprise. I can't judge how all the described works in practice. But it was quite persuasive.
January 28, 2016
A good guide to start figuring out how to launch 'Lean Startup' initiatives within corporations. Quite a lot of the stuff will be old news to you if you come from the startup world, but I reckon it must be an excellent introduction for those with a different background.
July 6, 2016
A fairly straightforward guide to setting up enterprise innovation. Good content but quite dependent on Eric Ries' work with The Lean Startup. This book walks through the application of that to corporate.
October 13, 2016
If you are thinking about bringing innovation and rapid product development to your company; don't read this. Hire me instead!
A thorough book with plenty of real life examples from a veteran in the field.
A thorough book with plenty of real life examples from a veteran in the field.
January 29, 2014
A very nice book about how to apply lean startup techniques and methods in Enterprises and Big Corporations. Must read if your company wants to innovate better
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews