1.6. Lean Startup. HADI Cycles

Knowledge is said to be the key to success. We are told that in order to be successful or achieve something, we need to learn, learn, and never stop learning throughout life. But what if you were told that it is possible to plan your success in advance and become a prosperous entrepreneur by only learning the right methods, following the right processes, and asking the right questions?

What Does Lean Startup Propagate?

Lean Startup is an efficient approach and main principles of starting and operating a business. Eric Ries, the founder of the mentioned methodology, defined Lean Startup as a “method [that] teaches you how to drive a startup — how to steer, when to turn, and when to persevere — and grow a business with maximum acceleration.”

One of the key components of the approach is the Build-Measure-Learn cycle that was created in order to help shorten the time that is used for making a product, to be able to monitor the progress that your specific product makes, and to arrive at a wise and tactical decision that would help to stay in business for a long term. Cutting to the chase — if you Build (create, make) a (potential) product, you should Measure (calculate, evaluate) the metrics, and Learn from (get knowledge about) mistakes that you have done to better respond to the needs of your (potential) clients and be able to improve and develop.

Here Come the HADI Cycles!

Another methodology, similar in its goal, but a little bit different in its form, is the HADI cycles. HADI is formed of the names of key steps that have to be carried out: Hypothesis — Action — Data — Insight. Firstly, it is necessary to create a hypothesis, an idea that one needs to pose and test; secondly, an action must be performed, which means that a person or members of the team need to conduct an experiment to collect data; thirdly, the obtained findings must be studied and analysed in depth to be able to draw a conclusion; and, finally, if you want to achieve the best possible results, it is required to make necessary changes or improvements.

And then repeat. Again and again. Again and again. The advantage of the following methodology is that it can be used not only in development, but also in marketing, in sales, in advertising. The structure and principles of HADI cycles can be applied for all processes. The main idea is that you need to test a lot and very carefully, you also need to test everywhere. Your organism, i.e. your company needs mutation. It is a known fact that organisms in the wild need mutation or they will die, so your company also needs mutations — changes and adjustments — in order to find a better position.

Be Specific in Your Formulations!

When you want to try out an idea or a hypothesis, be sure to correctly formulate it. Do not just beat about the bush and be too abstract — be exact about what you have to do and what you want to achieve. Accordingly, instead of “Let’s create a good product and everybody will buy us” go for “We need to provide different ways of onboarding and choose which one is better” or, for example, “We need to find all errors in onboarding as it will improve our conversion to registration”. Be more specific and do not suggest the obvious.

Hypothesis, Metrics and Planning

What is a hypothesis? It is definitely not a fact. It is definitely not a bug. A hypothesis is only an idea, an assumption, a testable statement that is proposed in order to understand if something is true, to see the outcome of a potential situation and make the right choices.

Metrics are figures that provide important information about the matter under question. Why are they important? Because metrics show the situation from an objective point of view, they help make decisions, and if necessary make improvements. If you are planning to do something, be sure to measure that.

Planning is another key factor that should not be done only on one occasion. Planning the collection and analysis of only one hypothesis will not pretty much change or improve the situation. You do not go to work only once — you do that from day to day, and in the end of the month receive the long-awaited salary. The same is with hypotheses. Once you have generated one, you need to do more, carry out periodic checks, get and analyse results, and start from the very beginning!

I Can (Not) Do Everything Myself!

Starting or running a business is not an easy task and there are a lot of things that need to be done. Entrepreneurs sometimes find it difficult to refer matters to other people, because they feel responsibility and perceive their company as a baby that they are responsible for.

Nevertheless, the do-everything-myself syndrome is not an option. One person cannot carry out all possible and impossible tasks alone. Not only can the following result in high levels of stress, anxiety, burnout, and other various physical health issues, but one will miss the opportunity to communicate and share ideas on why a particular action/decision is a good/bad choice. Distribute tasks! If needed, hire a designer, a developer, a marketing team, a product owner, a growth hacker, or even consultants — many people can work on the same or similar hypothesis and together achieve an even better result!

Summing Up

Regardless of the fact that both methodologies are build on a similar foundation, have the same goal, and are recognised as equally important and effective, the best option is to use the same methodology throughout the whole company, i.e. all team members should rely on the same principles and methods. The following will help people learn fast, make the right decisions and control the processes, thus avoiding full chaos in the area of management.