1. Lean Startup Lean Startup Method Divergent & Convergent Thinking
Iterative Approach
“Dance, when you're broken open….
Dance when you're perfectly free.” ~ Rumi
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

2. Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018
Startups = Improvised Dancing
Imagine dancing
Soundtrack
Dance floor
Partners?
Add
Challenges
Competition
Unplanned!
Crooked!
Crazy!
Bring!
Mving!
Set up the visural of a dance floor with music and then bring in the dynamic nature of startups
Unforeseen!
Brutal!
Thrilling!
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

3. Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018
Dance When You're Perfectly Free! ~Rumi
Dance, when you're broken open.
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance when you're perfectly free.
Relate the dynamic nature to dancing for your life and experiencing the freedom
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

4. Scientific Method Question-Focused Ask a Question
Do Background Research
Construct a Hypothesis
Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Report Your Results
The following slides are from Jeremy Petranka (2016)
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

5. Scientific Method  Lean Startup Method
Ask a Question
Do Background Research
Construct a Hypothesis
Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Report Your Results
Identify a Problem
Envision Possible Solutions
Choose a Solution
Test Your Solution by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Iterate
This iteration could be at any number of levels. This is one of the key differences to the straight scientific method.
The whole idea is to learn about this market that doesn’t exist.
Key difference!
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

6. Lean Startup: Key Difference = Iterate
Iteration could be at any number of levels
The essential idea is to learn about this market that doesn’t exist
Identify a Problem
Envision Possible Solutions
Choose a Solution
Test Your Solution by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Iterate
This is the first major difference with the straight scientific method and where we really need to focus. Note this iteration could be at any number of levels.
Key difference!
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

7. Lean Startup: Question (not Problem) Focused
Question-Focused
Ask a Question
Do Background Research
Construct a Hypothesis
Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Report Your Results
Identify a Problem
Envision Possible Solutions
Choose a Solution
Test Your Solution by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Iterate
Wonder?
Solve?
Second, we’re Problem focused, not Question focused. i.e. not what we wonder about, but what we could solve. We’re going to push on the “Problem-Focused” idea over and over.
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

8. Lean Startup: Key Difference = Problem Focused
Identify a Problem
Envision Possible Solutions
Choose a Solution
Test Your Solution by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Iterate
Skills?
Innovation
Learning
Agility
Leadership
Note the skills we identified completely fall into problem focused.
The Keystone will talk a BUNCH about this. We won’t nearly as much.
Skills aligned with problem-focused
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

9. Lean Startup: Skills Alignment
Innovation
Identify a Problem
Envision Possible Solutions
Choose a Solution
Test Your Solution by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Iterate
Skills?
Innovation
Learning
Agility
Leadership
Note the skills we identified completely fall into problem focused.
The Keystone will talk a BUNCH about this. We won’t nearly as much.
Learning
Agility
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

10. Lean Startup: Skills Alignment with Leadership?
Identify a Problem
Envision Possible Solutions
Choose a Solution
Test Your Solution by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Iterate
Skills?
Innovation
Learning Agility
Leadership
This process doesn’t happen on its own. This is especially true once the iteration comes in.
Are we done?
Divergent Thinking
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

11. Lean Startup: Divergent & Convergent Thinking
Identify a Problem
Envision Possible Solutions
Choose a Solution
Test Your Solution by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Iterate
Divergent
Thinking
Create Choices
This module!
Convergent
Thinking
Make Choices
One other thing to note is that this process isn’t a funnel. It actually expands then contracts. You have to use Divergent thinking in the ideation phase, but then go to convergent thinking in the selection phase. Once you iterate, you need to go divergent again, then back to convergent.
We have unfortunately trained them to NOT think divergently. This is a huge part of this class.
Not a Funnel
Expands & Contracts
Most college courses
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

12. Lean Startup: Divergent & Convergent Thinking
Identify a Problem
Envision Possible Solutions
Choose a Solution
Test Your Solution by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Iterate
Divergent
Thinking
Generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions
Convergent Thinking
Deducing the single & certain answer to a problem
Emphasizes speed, accuracy, and logic
Focuses on recognizing
patterns, reapplying
techniques, and leveraging information
This should sound very familiar to them. This is basically what we’ve been hammering into them for the past 18 years. We need to actually develop the other skills to be successful in the entrepreneurship sphere. That’s why their visit to Idea Couture seemed so different & “fun”
Talk about my mechatronics class & how hard it was for me to think of an idea.
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

13. Lean Startup: Divergent & Convergent Thinking
Where do you get the best ideas?
“…focused attention skills are not strongly needed during Divergent Thinking…. defocused attention is essential.”
Because an individual does not need prefrontal regions, …
“We don't need no education” ~ Pink Floyd
Based on work by Yoruk, Runco, Fakhri, Sikaroodi, Maleki, Oghabian, Ghanaati, Klimesch et al.
By © Nevit Dilmen, CC BY-SA 3.0,
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

14. Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018
Lean Startup Iterations
Ideas
Build
Product
Measure
Data
Learn
Repeat the process over and over again!
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15. Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018
Lean Startup Visual (Dynamic)
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018

16. Lean Startup Recap Divergent Thinking Convergent Thinking
Ask a Question
Do Background Research
Construct a Hypothesis
Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Report Your Results
Identify a Problem
Envision Possible Solutions
Choose a Solution
Test Your Solution by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Iterate
Divergent
Thinking
Generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions
Convergent Thinking
Deducing the single & certain answer to a problem
Emphasizes speed, accuracy, and logic
Focuses on recognizing
patterns, reapplying
techniques, and leveraging information
Salman Azhar & Friends in 2018