Legions of product teams are mislead by the simple build – measure – learn framework. Lean startup claims that everything starts with ideas. People are then advised to build something small to test their ideas, i.e. measure and generate data. Once done, you can learn from the data and start the next cycle.

This approach is driven by an action-oriented mindset: build something that you can get in front of a user. Nothing wrong with that, except: it misses half of what brings innovation to life. That is thinking!

Thinking is the most cost-effective way to gain insights fast. It is what you should do before you start and test anything. In fact, you always have to decide (i.e. think through) what to test first or next. Unfortunately, many teams rush through this thinking phase, sometimes not even clear about which problem they want to solve in the first place.

… I will stop here being provocative. Of course, thinking is included in the build – measure – learn framework as a part of learning. Learning, if done right, includes thinking and reflecting.

So why did I write this article?

First, I want to test the effect of a click bait headline in a lean startup style. I have written an article about the topic of innovation frameworks with a less dramatic headline. I want to see if the new headline from this article leads to more clicks. Thanks for participating in the experiment.

In addition, since you made it to this point, you seem to be interested in thinking about innovation. My other article might provide you with some additional food for thought. I have created a framework that describes the four elements of an innovation loop, namely: Goal – think – solutions – act. I do believe that teams put too little emphasis on thinking and understanding the problem which too often leads to testing the wrong things.

Read more about the framework here.