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It is really hard. As a matter of fact, "pivoting" is a bit too easy a word to use. Kind of like when "shell shock" was replaced by "battle fatigue". A pivot i

It is really hard. As a matter of fact, "pivoting" is a bit too easy a word to use. Kind of like when "shell shock" was replaced by "battle fatigue". A pivot is typically a center point, such as a pin or pole, on which something anchored to it can rotate. This is pretty easy if you're a pin or a pole, as you were probably constructed with this type of operation in mind beforehand. Teams are not constructed with this capability in mind. We optimize based on current plans, not on potential future plans. As such, the only real pin in a team's pivot capability is their mental capacity to switch off plan A and go to plan B. This is hard to do, consciously or otherwise. Most people need the time to wind down, process their thoughts to understand why the idea they've been working on is no longer feasible. This is a big mental leap, even for the most prepared. Some struggle for a while. Some never get there. One thing's for sure -- it rarely if ever shifts simultaneously for everyone on a team. Pivoting is the other shoe that drops as a result of "failing faster". Indeed, it's a necessary tactic if one wishes to stay in business. But, because of the makeup of teams and original plans, efforts to pivot seems to fail more often than not.

viscanti 15y ago
Teams aren't constructed to pivot, but that's kind of the point of Lean Startup. You should ideally be able to validate an idea with a skeleton crew (or an individual). The bigger the team necessary to validate the issue (some problems are BIG, and require big teams), the more difficult it is to pivot. The primary goal of a startup is to learn, so the team should only be big enough to learn more about the problem area, and learn about the means to an appropriate solution. Teams built to compete will have more trouble than teams built to learn.

viscanti 15y ago

Teams aren't constructed to pivot, but that's kind of the point of Lean Startup. You should ideally be able to validate an idea with a skeleton crew (or an individual). The bigger the team necessary to validate the issue (some problems are BIG, and require big teams), the more difficult it is to pivot. The primary goal of a startup is to learn, so the team should only be big enough to learn more about the problem area, and learn about the means to an appropriate solution. Teams built to compete will have more trouble than teams built to learn.