CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 52

analysis showing that readers increasingly access
our content with smartphones, we have developed
new content repositories tailored to mobile
devices. We decided to host these in the cloud,
and we connected the data to the development of

04

Experiment, experiment,
experiment

new digital products and to decisions on how to
support our new digital capabilities.

Many organizations have this concept of a "hack
day" and they make such a big deal of it. With us,

03

Create cross-functional,
product-aligned teams
Instead of organizing your teams by types of
skills-developers, business analysts, etc.-you
should create cross-functional teams. Instead of
aligning by function, align the teams by product.
This way people's passions are focused not on their
specific work, but on the product. Instead of saying
"I've written my code. My job is done," they are
willing to experiment, to push forward and interact
with other members of the team. They want to see
the product succeed.
When we have aligned cross-functional teams
around specific products at The Economist, I've
found it encouraging that the people who were

every day is a hack day; it's part of our DNA, of our
agile mindset. We constantly change our product,
making small releases to see what happens, and
collecting data to learn from our experiments,
including the ones where we failed to get the
desired outcome. But it isn't experimentation for
its own sake. We expect our teams to experiment
based on the quality and quantity of feedback
from our customers.
When you're working with digital capabilities, you
can't think too long-term. It's Moore's Law-the
rapid advances in computer technology and its
new applications make long-term planning a futile
exercise. You've got to have a mindset of agility
across everything-your customers, your teams,
your internal systems. You've really got to start
thinking about it like Lego. Be comfortable telling
everybody "in a few years' time, we're going to
have to take this apart and rebuild it."

responsible for testing different options online
were looking at the data analysis and asking
questions, as if they were product managers.
A good understanding of the product is key to
having everybody on the team, regardless of
their skills and specific responsibilities, actively

05

Make the customer part of
your development team

participate in ensuring the success of the product.
The customer is an important component of our
digital-development ecosystem at The Economist.
We have 5,000 people who said they'd love to
help us develop our next product. All we did was
ask if anybody was interested in testing a new app.

52



CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8

Contents
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - Cover1
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - Cover2
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 1
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - Contents
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 3
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 4
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 5
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 6
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 7
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 8
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 9
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 10
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 11
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 12
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 13
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 14
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 15
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 16
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 17
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 18
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 19
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 20
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 21
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 22
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 23
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 24
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 25
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 26
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 27
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 28
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 29
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 30
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 31
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 32
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 33
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 34
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 35
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 36
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 37
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 38
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 39
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 40
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 41
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 42
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 43
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 44
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 45
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 46
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 47
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 48
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 49
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 50
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 51
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 52
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 53
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 54
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 55
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 56
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 57
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 58
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 59
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 60
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 61
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 62
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 63
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 64
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 65
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 66
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 67
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 68
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 69
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 70
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 71
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 72
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 73
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 74
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - 75
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - Cover3
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 8 - Cover4
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/hi_tech
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue12
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/assetheavy2020
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/lifesciencesandhealthcare2019
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/womenintech2
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/financialservices2019/
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue11
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue10
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue9
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/womeninit
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/financialservices
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue8
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue7
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue6
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue5
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue4
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue3
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue2
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/issue1
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