It's hard to summarize all this in just a few bullet points, but I've found that it's helpful to understand the history of Lean when digging into lean startups. The Lean Startup methodology has its roots in Lean Manufacturing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing#Overview
Basically, both lean startups and lean manufacturing focus on eliminating waste. For lean manufacturing, it's usually assumed that you're making something that people want... so the focus is on making that product with a minimum of waste. For lean startups, it's often much less clear what you're supposed to make. So the lean startup methodology focuses on helping you make software that people actually want. Making software that people don't want = "waste" in the Lean verbiage.
"You make what you measure" is a useful first step towards embracing Lean. But as Eric points out, sometimes metrics go up regardless of what you do. How do you know if you're measuring the right metrics, and making software that people want? That's a core focus of the Lean Startup methodology.
Thanks for the slides, they are a bit more specific. I'm aware of the background philosophy. I'm just looking for specific answers to "How do you know if you're measuring the right metrics, and making software that people want?" spelled out, instead of the same underlying rhetoric again and again.
I know it's not as simple as just listing bullet points, but if we are talking Science, then it would be nice to see for example, how Bayes Theorem is applied, rather than repeating how important statistics are.
To be crude, because of all the constant theoretical chatter, I am skeptical of the Lean methodology, which is irnoic given it's supposed emphasis on experimentation.
I also feel it subtly instills more fear into developers by not letting you try crazy things which have a high risk of breaking stuff but also the biggest payoff.
In short, my hunch is that you can get an IMVU from lean, but you will never get a Facebook.
It's hard to summarize all this in just a few bullet points, but I've found that it's helpful to understand the history of Lean when digging into lean startups. The Lean Startup methodology has its roots in Lean Manufacturing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing#Overview
Basically, both lean startups and lean manufacturing focus on eliminating waste. For lean manufacturing, it's usually assumed that you're making something that people want... so the focus is on making that product with a minimum of waste. For lean startups, it's often much less clear what you're supposed to make. So the lean startup methodology focuses on helping you make software that people actually want. Making software that people don't want = "waste" in the Lean verbiage.
"You make what you measure" is a useful first step towards embracing Lean. But as Eric points out, sometimes metrics go up regardless of what you do. How do you know if you're measuring the right metrics, and making software that people want? That's a core focus of the Lean Startup methodology.