(2018-06-12) Cutler The Random Ticket Game

John Cutler: The Random Ticket Game. Pick a random in-progress (WIP) “ticket”.

Make sure it has no parent…it isn’t an “epic” for example. Now, attempt to connect that ticket to a big company goal (OKR).

Keep going until you hit some meaningful 12–18 month company mission.

Write out your response and hand it to someone. Does it make sense to them? Pay close attention to the number of “hops”. If you had <=3 hops, are you skipping intermediary steps in the chain of impact (e.g. going from a 1–3 day task, to a 6 month goal horizon, to an 18 month goal horizon)?

Above all — being honest with yourself — does it all hold water? Are there huge leap-of-faith assumptions? Would you bet your own money on these impacts working out?

The “messy middle” is where things fall apart. The high level company goal is bold and coherent. The near-term goal makes sense. The ticket makes sense. But shared understanding of the middle — the 3–9 month “why” and the impacts both up and down the chain — are often lacking. (Product Strategy)

Once you get 3+ steps “up” the chain, it is very, very rare to find a single team that has full autonomy over that impact.

Once you get 2+ steps “up”, you are in the realm of being able to solve the problem in multiple ways. (Opportunity Solution Tree)

the whole impact chain is absolutely filled with assumptions, even as you get up into the 3+ range. In my mind, this is what is missing from common goal setting frameworks. There’s no honest treatment of uncertainty. So the “nice roll up” falls apart with any scrutiny.