The Lean Startupby Parker on Twos“There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.” - Peter DruckerIf we just slowed everything down and used a more careful process, we could reduce the failure rate by doing fewer projects of higher qualityIt is insufficient to exhort workers to try harder. Our current problems are caused by trying too hard—at the wrong things. By focusing on functional efficiency, we lose sight of the real goal of innovation: to learn that which is currently unknown. As Deming taught, what matters is not setting quantitative goals but fixing the method by which those goals are attainedWe routinely green-light new projects more on the basis of intuition than factsInsist that assumptions be stated explicitly and tested rigorously not as a stalling tactic or a form of make-work but out of a genuine desire to discover the truth that underlies every project’s visionRecognize that speed and quality are allies in the pursuit of the customer’s long-term benefitRespond to failures and setbacks with honesty and learning, not with recriminations and blameAchieve speed by bypassing the excess work that does not lead to learningStop wasting people’s time