Don’t Ask for Permission, Ask for Forgiveness (Thomas Schoerner Product Stream)

© 2016 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 1Internal© 2016 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

Don’t ask for permission,

ask for forgivenessThomas Schörner, SAP

October 02, 2016

© 2016 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

Come to work

everyday willing

to be fired

Circumvent any

orders aimed at

stopping your

dream

Do any job

needed

regardless of

your job

description

Find people

to help you

Work

underground as

long as you can

Follow your

intuition about

the people you

chose

Never bet on a

race unless you

are running in it

Don’t ask for

permission, ask

for forgiveness

Be true to your

goals but be

realistic about

the ways to

achieve them

Honor your

sponsors

Intrapreneur’s ten

commandments:

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[Gifford Pinchot]


To

mm

y B

oy M

ovie

Tommy BoyHaving fun at work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7sEIz4lazI&feature=youtu.be&t=8m54s





Thomas SchörnerSenior User Experience Designer

https://linkedin.com/in/schoerner

http://www.sap.com/

http://www.sap.com/

https://de.linkedin.com/in/schoerner


https://twitter.com/simatao



Do what you want nowIt is impossible to predict what skills will be needed in the future, so better become good in what you enjoy the most.

When I started studying, the iPhone was not invented, yet

and my later job did not exist.


Find the red thread in your CV

For me, that is…


DESIGNAs the creative act of doing something that helps the world run better.


Psychologist

UX-Designer

Adventurer Problem SolverFounder

Personality vs. Job Role

Don’t let your job description restrict your personality. Be open to talk about your motivation and interests with your manager and colleagues. You will do a better job.


As a UX-Designer

Inte

rnet

I turn screens like this…

https://www.sapfioritrial.com/



As a UX-Designer

Inte

rnet

sourc

e

… into responsive mobile apps like this




Overcoming cultural gaps

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Cultural differences can be a big barrier for successful projects.



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Try to understand how others see you and what behaviors lead to that perception. Does it affect your job?



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Be aware that you might have prejudices as well.


Be empathetic with each other

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Only then your work will be valued and eventually become a success.


Chapter 2


How would you sell a piano?

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In 1928 Edvward Bernays wrote a PR-book called ‘Propaganda’.

He found that setting circumstances in which ideas sell themselves is more effective then advertising ideas or products directly.

So instead of putting up piano ads, he made journalists write about a new trend, that sophisticated people have music rooms in their homes. Since many people want to think of themselves as being sophisticated, they started following the trend –and bought pianos for their homes.


Setting the stage to ‘sell design’

During my first 3.5 years at SAP I co-founded three cultural change initiatives together with colleagues who want to drive internal change:

Design Whizzes UX Marketeers ICD Experience


2013 2014 2015 2016

Design Whizzes

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Goal: Increase general design awareness

e.g. by inviting famous designers from non-IT companies to talk about their roles in designing products which our employees value.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OQLpO_IJzw&list=PLRgxiZBuQ4PYmuYtsgOXvA7J6zHPEu7RZ





Design Whizzes

A couple of learnings during my time as a Design Whizz at SAP:

1. Find high-level sponsors who believe in your idea

2. Empower colleagues to feel responsible for their work

3. Build a community of supporters

4. And….


Honor

your

sponsors

§


2013 2014 2015 2016

UX Marketeers

Goal: Help employees to have more fun with User Experience

e.g. by placing UX-principles in unexpected places like inside desert bowls in the canteen or rebuilding solutions with ginger-bread before Christmas.


2013 2014 2015 2016

ICD Experience

Goal: Make SAP solutions more tangible for our customers

e.g. by building interactive models that help to explain the features of our software solutions hands-on.

https://youtu.be/7NKeiSBIRJo

https://youtu.be/7NKeiSBIRJo


ICD Experience

You don’t need many people to start a revolution, but they have to be the right ones.

Tao

Designer

Oleksiy

DeveloperThomas

Product Manager


Follow your intuition

about the people to

work with and work

only with the best

§


Chapter 3


Design Thinking

Follow a process to not waste your energy and grow in iterations.

TESTPROTOTYPEIDEATE

POINT

OF

VIEW

OBSERVEUNDERSTAND


TESTPROTOTYPEIDEATEPOINT OF VIEWOBSERVEUNDERSTAND

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How can we claim to be good in connecting IoT devices, if we have nothing else to show than PowerPoint slides?



SA

P H

ybris

How do other teams or companies actually present abstract ideas like ‘The Cloud’ or the ‘Internet of Things’?



What do our colleagues from pre-sales and marketing need and care for,when interacting with customers?



experience.sap.com/

designservices/

scenes

What are the key users and features of the solution that we want to present according to it’s product team?

https://experience.sap.com/designservices/scenes





Is it technically possible and do customers understand if we do it like this? Or like this? Or like this?



How do customers and users react to the model? Is it easy to use, set-up & understand?


Rachel Romanowski, Presales Solution Engineer

“Everyone in my office was very excited about it and already jumping at opportunities on how best get it in front of their customers. It tells a great story. Good Job!”


Circumvent any

orders aimed at

stopping your

dream

§


TESTPROTOTYPEIDEATEPOVOBSERVEUNDERSTAND

Jan Feb Mar Apr May AugJun Jul Sep

Official kick-off

OBSERVE PROTOTYPE TEST PROTOTYPEIDEATE TEST

PROTOTYPEIDEATEPOVOBSERVEUNDERSTAND

0

Version 1.0

1

AIN Lego Modell

Next Use Case

Version 2.0

4

Version 3.0

10+


Work

underground as

long as possible

§


A good idea in your head might look like this:

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5th


But can be easily misunderstood and rejected:

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Design Thinking

Promotes testing small aspects of the idea early and frequently to avoid bad surprises.


Design Thinking

TESTPROTOTYPEIDEATE

POINT

OF

VIEW

OBSERVEUNDERSTAND

Promotes testing small aspects of the idea early and frequently to avoid bad surprises


More than meets the eye

As with every product, you have to think of much more than just the core idea to make it successful:


Design Thinking 3D Models

Video Editing

Code

Patience

Marketing

Photoshop Hardware

Business Cases


Do any job needed,

regardless of your

job description

§


Nay-SayersRe-organizations

Shifted prioritiesLosing connection to product team

Success

If they are important for your

project, understand their goals

and KPIs and try to match them

with your idea.

For demos, stay on an abstract

“general vision”-level to be less

vulnerable for changes of

features and product details.

Especially in big companies you can

quickly find yourself and your

colleagues in different departments

after a vacation. Bridge the silos!

In large and distributed teams, working on something that is

not directly required for the product might easily lose focus.

Update the product manager regularly about your activities

to stay in the loop.

Early success will bind your

resources to logistical and

representative tasks and hinder you

in progressing your product. Find

people to assist you!

Biggest threats for innovative products


Slack Time

Re-organizations

Important eventsGood network

Trustful relationship to manager

Need for innovation

If your company offers a program

for investing working time in own

projects, that’s the perfect

opportunity to start with!

Find the fields in which your company is

pushing innovation. It will give you more

freedom to experiment.

Build a network of people that

support your idea and can help

you out with skills, insights &

resources.

Do your job well! The better you are in your day job,

the more trust and freedom will be granted.

During re-orgs there is often a short

time-frame of chaos and unclear

responsibilities. Use it to sprint

ahead with your own ideas! Keep a calendar of important fairs &

events. It’s easier to fund your ideas

with event budget than taking money

from your direct colleagues.

Supporting factors for innovative products


Bet only on a

race you are

running in

§

Don’t waste your energy, if you are not ready yet.


Does it pay off?

In the last years, many colleagues have started initiatives that help SAP become a design-focused company, win design awards and increased our overall revenue.

The Design Whizzes, UX Marketeers and ICDx are just some contributors.

2013 2014 2015 2016


Yes.

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SAP is experiencing a cultural change that lead to smarter communication, motivated employees, satisfied end-users and higher revenues.


There is no ‘company’, there are only people.

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So find those with whom you interact with best.

Form a team like you would form a band or join an extraordinary colleague with your skills to make the change you want to see become reality.

It won’t ‘just happen’!


Power to the users!

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Empower employees on all levels to fulfill the company’s vision with their entire personality, skills and interests.

Empower users to make the best out of your products.


Find people

to help you

§


It’s always easierto ask for forgivenessthan for permission.

© 2016 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 53Internal

Thank youContact information:

Thomas Schörner

Senior User Experience

Designer

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]





Don’t Ask for Permission, Ask for Forgiveness (Thomas Schoerner Product Stream)

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Transcript of Don’t Ask for Permission, Ask for Forgiveness (Thomas Schoerner Product Stream)