The Physics of Managing Research & Development (R&D)
In R&D management, physical mechanics would be the way we manage resources and the results.
This piece was inspired by a friend of mine, a successful entrepreneur. We discussed various entrepreneur challenges, and he mentioned that the hardest thing he encounters daily as a co-founder and CTO is understanding the organization’s physical mechanics. This piece is about my take on the physical mechanic’s manifestation in R&D management.
Physics and Physical Mechanics
First, let’s define physics — a science that deals with the structure of matter and the interactions between the fundamental constituents of the observable universe.
Physical Mechanics is a concept concerned with the motion of bodies under the action of forces, meaning how would several bodies interact and affect each other.
In the context of R&D management, physical mechanics would be the way we manage our resources and the result we get (how the bodies’ movements affect each other). I argue that there are concepts that help us predict the outcome (based on the decisions and the expected movement, what would happen).
Theory of Constraints
Many years ago, I read “The goal,” a management-oriented novel by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, a business consultant known for his theory of constraints, and Jeff Cox. This book inspired me to choose industrial engineering studies. One of the main takeaways of this book is the physics of factory management, explained by the theory of constraints.
The physical mechanics here is how the motion on the bottleneck station affects the whole process. Goldratt explains the process of finding the constraints in your system (the bottlenecks), creating practical solutions for easing the load on those constraints, and then building a secure and consistent environment where you can continually improve without jeopardizing the flow. The factory (system) is the sum of the stations (bodies), and all affect each other.
Later, I read “The Phoenix Project,” which reminded me of “the goal” only for R&D teams. (Both books are highly recommended). In the phoenix project, the writer explains how an R&D department should be treated as a factory (materials go in — requirements, they move to different stations — UX/UI/Development/Deploy), and using physical mechanics would be beneficial in this environment as well.
Identify limiting factors and bottlenecks
I L-O-V-E the theory of constraints. The underlying premise of the theory of constraints is that organizations can be measured and controlled by variations on three measures: throughput, operational expense, and inventory. So measuring is a significant concept (measure what matters).
Inventory is all the money the system has invested in purchasing things it intends to sell. Operational expense is all the money the system spends to turn inventory into throughput. Throughput is the rate at which the system generates money through sales.
The Theory of Constraints is a methodology for identifying the most important limiting factor (i.e., constraint) that stands in the way of achieving a goal and then systematically improving that constraint until it is no longer the limiting factor. In manufacturing, the constraint is often referred to as a bottleneck.
I love the concept of a manufacturing factory and the principles of managing it. These principles would be in high-level thinking in a five steps plan. Constraints lead to creativity, and using constraints as a focus can improve the R&D process.
Here are principles I believe matter most for R&D departments:
- A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. You should identify your weakest link (not to be confused with your weakest engineer, it can be the best engineer in the department that does not share knowledge, for instance). From the manufacturing process view, identifying the weakest links should reduce bottlenecks. It’s important to note that identifying the weakest link is only the first step, and after you analyze these links, you need to go over the following steps to gain the wanted effect of improvement.
- The golden ratio (The golden ratio is represented by the Greek letter ‘phi,’ which is said to be a mathematical connection between two aspects of an object. It’s also called the Fibonacci sequence and can be found across all of nature: plants, animals, weather structures, and star systems. So it’s valid for R&D as well. For example, it would be best if you had a golden ratio of the number of engineers to the number of DevOps, the number of QA, and so forth.
- Of course, the number changes from company to company and between different states of the same company, but it should be set and respected. From my experience, a team of 1 product manager, 1 UX/UI, and 4–5 engineers is a golden ratio team.
- Reduce WIP (work in process) — in a factory, where WIP is visible and costs money, it is clear that you need to have as little as possible. It is sometimes missed in the software world where WIP is not visual. Do you have many Jira tickets that begin but never end? How many topics does one team in your R&D tackle in one sprint? These could be indicators of a high level of WIP going on that keep your delivery low. WIP in an R&D department is unshipped code — branches that you work on in parallel, and the amount of unshipped code should be lowered to the minimum.
I would be happy to hear your thoughts, so don’t be shy and write a comment!
Special thanks to Tremis Skeete, Executive Editor at Product Coalition for the valuable input which contributed to the editing of this article.
