Odd that Kaizen doesn't get a mention here. The article draws battle lines between the two ends of the spectrum but there could be a middle way. In Kaizen, "Fa

Odd that Kaizen doesn't get a mention here. The article draws battle lines between the two ends of the spectrum but there could be a middle way. In Kaizen, "Fail Fast, Fail Early" would never get ouf of the gate. The game here is all about making other, smaller bets which gradually ratchet the company to a better place without ever having to come off the rope. Perhaps this organisational conflict is rooted in the realities of burning through capital whilst still searching for a sustainable revenue model. In many ways the idea of Scrum is very Kaizen-like. It mandates the idea of experimentation and measurement. With trying stuff even when what you have appears to be working. And with documenting failed experiments and moving on. Nothing risky about any of it but you wouldn't know it when you see the typical reaction to "how about we move the standups to the afternoon instead of first thing in the morning?" The innovation pipeline described is encouraging but it's already too dogmatic in its proposed implementation. Kaizen is much more organic and, dare I say it, cultural. One of the key principles of Kaizen is empowerment and the innovation pipeline doesn't offer that at all.