DEV Community: Aptacore Private Limited

Outcome Driven Innovation

Aptacore Private Limited — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 07:29:04 +0000

Every Innovation is a process. To be great at innovation, you need a great innovation process. Approximately 80% of new products face failure, so, likely, your innovation process frequently needs to catch up to expectations. One of the biggest reasons why innovation fails is that we often need to remember the purpose. The purpose is defined as the process of devising a solution that addresses unmet user needs. A great innovation process enables innovators to conceptualise products and services that they know, with a high degree of confidence, will win the marketplace - before any development begins. If you truly want to be driven by the purpose of innovation, follow the Outcome Driven Innovation (ODI). This strategy and innovation process is conceived through a Jobs-to-be-Done lens. The process employs qualitative, quantitative, and market segmentation methods that reveal hidden opportunities for growth opportunities that often go undetected when using traditional customer research methods. ODI boasts the industry's highest success rate. This success is attributed to its unique approach, allowing you to analyse markets, customer requirements, segments, and competitors with a scientific and predictive perspective, providing a solid foundation for the innovation process.ODI minimises the need for unnecessary pivoting and iteration by uncovering all the unmet customer needs before finalising product concepts. This ensures that you can establish a solid product-market fit right at the outset of the innovation process, well before the development phase commences. Over time, each product eventually becomes a relic of the past. CDs and MP3s replaced vinyl records and cassettes; eventually, these formats will become outdated. However, the obsolescence of a technology or product doesn't signify the disappearance of the market. Instead, it indicates that the market (the individuals who utilised the product to get the job done) transitioned to acquire a different product - one that assisted them in get-the-job done better.

Experiential Learning

Aptacore Private Limited — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 07:04:12 +0000

A learning journey can be linear, where we get information to store or experience that knowledge is continuously gained through both personal and environmental experiences. Experiential Learning is the process of learning new skills, knowledge, behaviours, and attitudes through experience and active reflection. This learning approach emphasises on doing, reflection, and active experimentation by individual learners and groups. Therefore, engaging the participants and transforming them into learners is essential. Do you remember some of our childhoods? The carefree hours of our childhood were spent being unknowingly creative, crafting plans, and overcoming the tricky challenges of our imaginary world. Well, we may have been on to something. Imagine bringing back that playfulness and integrating it into your learning as a full-fledged adult. The energy, curiosity and excitement will cheer us up and get us into a lifelong learning spiral.

Team Members Journey

Aptacore Private Limited — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 06:49:51 +0000

Anyone wishes to be well treated in any circumstances. In some places, you can demand and get extra comfort or extra care, which satisfies your experience. But how do you run an organisation that cares about each team member’s journey? That is something which many organisations work on. Experience can be a mixture of the space you provide, the tools to work on and the culture which you, the organisation, induct and keeps evolving. Over time, the tools and the space will evolve naturally. But the evolution of a Culture is strongly driven by all team members. The first and last days will linger in the memories. We might forget the tools and probably the space we worked on, but the feeling we had with team members or a project phase will linger in our memories for a long while. Every organisation must cherish each team member's journey, even beyond their tenure. No one can predict the course, but every contribution and care enrich it. Regardless of outcomes, this endeavour is the experience an organisation must offer, nurturing every member's ongoing journey. Indeed, a team member's journey is paramount.

The Fogg Behaviour Model

Aptacore Private Limited — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 06:38:20 +0000

Changing our own behaviours starts where? Is it Motivation, is it ability, or is it the trigger? In the book, “Tiny Habits”, written by BJ Fogg, the author addresses this with a mental model. The model breaks down behaviour change into Motivation, Ability and Trigger. Motivation is one’s intention to perform the behaviour. Ability is skills, knowledge, or access to resources needed to complete the behaviour. Triggers are a stimulus or cue that sparks the behaviour. If one of these three factors is missing or not sufficiently strong, the behaviour will not occur. To see it through a different lens is, using the formula B = MAT. Motivation, Ability, and Trigger must all happen simultaneously to push the behaviour change. And the more you can improve MAT, the more you increase the chance of behaviour occurring. Use small celebration modals to acknowledge and celebrate success, such as reaching a milestone or completing a task. Celebration is an empowering motivator that engages. Use this model and identify which behaviour change in you is taking its time to evolve. You will probably find the reason and apply MAT therefore.

Coin and Coiled Feedback

Aptacore Private Limited — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 06:27:18 +0000

Giving feedback can be easy - and challenging. Maybe you find yourself in a situation where you must address a team member's performance or behaviour with a "quiet word." However, what begins as an informal conversation can quickly escalate. The entire message could go wrong if we don’t hit it correctly. Strong words are exchanged, accusations are made, and there's a risk of significantly straining the relationship. To overcome this, there are many ways. Executive coach and author Anna Carroll developed the COIN Conversation Model, which can also be used with the COILED Model. It is a simple framework that you can use to plan and structure feedback in a non-confrontational way. COIN stands for Connect, Observation, Impact, and Next Steps. Give feedback from your point of view - speaking from the I. Use "I" statements, such as, "I heard that”, "I understand that”, or "I noticed that “, etc. This way, you emphasise your view of the issue and avoid making snap judgments or accusations. For example, you could say, "I don't understand what you've done here," rather than, "You've done this wrong”. By taking the person along with your feedback, ensure they remain connected. If that’s not the case, open up and combine it with the COILED model by Listening, establishing and defining. Any Feedback frameworks are for the sake of better understanding. As you emphasise your way of giving it, don’t forget the heart and the mind of the person listening. The change might only come from the listener, but how you present it will accelerate or slow down the change.

Agile Metrics

Aptacore Private Limited — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 12:56:03 +0000

Appropriate agile metrics indicate a team’s progress in adopting agile practices or advancing your organisation towards becoming a learning entity. Qualitative agile metrics tend to be more effective for teams than quantitative ones. Conversely, at the organisational level, quantitative agile metrics offer more valuable insights than qualitative measures. In broad terms, metrics enhance our understanding of the current situation and enable us to glean insights about changes over time. Devoid of metrics, evaluating progress or development would be susceptible to subjective feelings and interpretations influenced by bias. Therefore, a metric should indicate a pattern shift early, allowing timely causal analysis. Three fundamental principles for agile metrics have demonstrated their effectiveness. The primary principle of meaningful metrics is to focus solely on those relevant to the team, disregarding metrics centred on individual performance. The second principle of meaningful metrics cautions against measuring parameters solely because they are convenient to track. This tendency often arises from using various agile project management tools that offer pre-configured reports. The third principle of meaningful metrics emphasises the importance of capturing context. Data devoid of context, such as the count of available team members or the frequency of incidents during a Sprint, may ultimately amount to only background noise. While applying all these analytics, it becomes more evident for an organisation to differ between the Lead time and cycle time. The ultimate goal would be to keep the cycle time as small as possible. With that, the lead time will be more predictably planned. And as Albert Einstein would say, "Plans are nothing; planning is everything."

Data Lakehouse

Aptacore Private Limited — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 12:49:02 +0000

Data never sleeps. According to a combination of many statistics, forecast experts predict that around 7 million Terabytes of data will be produced by online users in 2023 alone. Any online actions are used for analytics, statistics, tracking, reporting, machine learning, etc. Data is a pivotal production factor, holding significant importance in developing products and services across all contemporary enterprises. However, it is essential to note that data alone cannot create value for companies. Companies are expanding by collecting, storing, processing and analysing data to effectively use data as a production factor to gain insights and knowledge that help improve business processes. As Data availability, quality and transparency increase business valuation. One of the ways to become smarter with data handling comes with Data Lakehouse. Implementing a Data Lakehouse empowers companies to attain superior data accessibility, streamline data infrastructure, and trim expenses. This is achieved by eliminating the need to oversee various distinct data storage, integration, and analysis systems. The concept of a Data Lakehouse combines data warehousing and data lakes, offering a unified platform that harmonises these functionalities within a singular system. A Data Warehouse is a central database designed specifically for analysis and reporting. A data lake is a scalable data platform on which structured and unstructured data can be stored, managed and analysed. Unlike traditional databases, which are usually limited to a specific schema, a data lake is more flexible and can store large amounts of data of different types and sources. As data usage is evolving, so will its need for new tech standards.

Rebranding

Aptacore Private Limited — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 12:41:56 +0000

Time flies. Web and App Studio will soon be rebranded. It has taken its space on the market and is yet ready to adapt and match the new, upcoming market changes. As we all grow and change over time, a brand should also transform - or, more apt, adapt. Whether selling new products or simply updating a logo, a rebrand keeps a company modern and reminds customers that they are still in business. But rebranding shouldn’t be taken lightly. It takes your company’s reputation at stake if you miss the mark. Rebranding is when a company redoes or improves branding elements: Name, Logo, colour palette, typography, etc. The idea is that if a company is changing, they want people to know about it. On a deeper level, you revisit your strategy, target audience, guidelines, collateral and everything that deserves an opportunity to get revised. Unless the core of the business hasn’t changed, you won’t need to make an extra effort to announce the change times ahead. When it’s time for the public launch, frame your rebranding as a story. Share some behind-the-scenes details about your rebranding, such as what you like about why you’ve changed your values and mission statement. This makes your brand more personable and relatable, plus you come across as more confident about your new look. Now’s not the time to be humble - you put all this effort into redoing your brand, don’t be afraid to show it off! And very soon, we will have our time to show it off.

SaaS Growth

Aptacore Private Limited — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 12:36:01 +0000

The SaaS industry is constantly evolving and changing. As a B2B SaaS provider, you will fall behind if you don’t find ways to improve and innovate your product. SaaS customers have high expectations and are always looking for solutions offering more value. Scaling B2B SaaS revenue successfully involves a comprehensive approach that combines multiple phases, such as Idea market fit, product-market fit, and go-to-market fit, before scaling happens. All phases involve planning, customer-focused initiatives, operational efficiency, and continuous improvement. Successfully navigating the Idea-Market Fit phase sets the foundation for your SaaS growth journey. It's about going from ideation to MVP and setting the stage for product market fit. Once that’s done, you need to press out the value. Everyone needs to realise the value and be confident to enter phase three. Can the magic be repeated in phase three once it’s on the market? If it does sustain while you have everything under control, get ready with scaling, the final phase. Investment should flow realistically, and your business is ready to conquer the Market with all the basements set.

Brand Relationship

Aptacore Private Limited — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 11:13:39 +0000

Branding doesn’t happen from one day to another. A brand has to prove that it is providing value to the user and impacting the market. Once this top is achieved, the market, driven by users and customers, will ride with the brand. They either become fans, loyal or, in some cases, protect your brand, while others try to reach that space. But it’s a long trek to the top. Awareness building is the first step. Users don’t just buy a brand at first. They need to get familiarity. Once they like your service or product, they might like it. Liking relates to sharing and spreading your excellent work. Driven by community and social status, likes will transform into loving it. And once they love it, and it solves their problem day in, and day out, the brand becomes part of their journey. This trek can be achieved with constant care towards focusing on the user and their needs. If the quality standards are set, the pricing becomes secondary. Even availability becomes secondary. Because your work, packed and wrapped with your brand, fulfils the customer’s expectations. Expectations, the work behind it and the brand will grow together and set a standard for itself. And this is the brand you want to relate to and be proud of.

Effective Teams

Aptacore Private Limited — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 10:59:51 +0000

A highly effective team with the best people, creating the best outcome, is an ideal place to be. All gel well, the processes are super clear, and all are aligned - is that possible? Yes, why not? We must set the foundations right so the organisation and its members grow together as a Tree. A tree has many branches, but some must be strong and remain up to the deepest roots. These branches will foster the tree and streamline the effectiveness of the roots. Openness and Trust amongst everyone in the organisation will lead to clarity. Keep everyone motivated - a key that keeps us going. Don’t run away from conflicts - embrace them with all the soft skills. Ownership isn’t only given - it’s taken and belongs to all in the team. See feedback as a contribution that makes you better and gives value to you. With such strong branches, the organisation’s Tree will grow, and its success can’t be stopped. And success has to be celebrated. As an entire organisation, celebrate successes together: A team that celebrates its successes together can inspire motivation in its members. Recognising members for individual and collective successes can help keep teams engaged. And all the engagements will lead back to an effective Team.

The Art of explanation

Aptacore Private Limited — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 10:50:32 +0000

Can you please explain it to me again? A sentence that we often hear in conversations. Explaining something isn’t easy - it’s an Art. Usually, the assumption goes that however, I explain something, the opposite has to get it. But that isn’t the reality. Mastering the art of explanation is a valuable skill that can significantly impact your success. As the Author Lee Lefever shares, When you can clarify complex information and make it easily understandable, you gain the power to influence and persuade others effectively. Enhancing your explanation skills will propel you towards your goals, whether in your career or personal endeavours. Imagine being able to articulate ideas in a way that resonates with others, guiding them towards the direction you envision. As you become a proficient communicator, people will be more inclined to support your ideas and join you on your journey. We all have stories to tell. With the right plan, package, and presentation, your story can be understood and let the listener hook up and demand more. Transform your explanation skills and watch how it transforms your interactions, connections, and overall progress. With clarity and persuasion on your side, there's no limit to the impact you can make.