Building a Prototype the Customer Didn't Believe: Bruno Pešec

My Favorite Mistake: Navigating Business and Career Pitfalls for Leadership Growth and Innovation

My guest for Episode #248 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Bruno Pešec, A Croatian living in Norway.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Bruno Pešec helps business leaders innovate profitably. He is the rare innovator who can claim he's worked on a regulation-defying freight train and an award-winning board game. In addition to his corporate experience with brands like DNV, DNB, and Kongsberg Group, Bruno runs a community of entrepreneurs of several thousand members. He is currently undertaking a doctorate in organizational change, with a specific focus on the issues with innovation in large enterprises. Bruno has co-authored the Augmented Strategy book, a practical guide to decision-making based on data and human intuition.

His academic credentials include a master's degree with distinction in industrial engineering and management, specialization in production and quality engineering, and an advanced management diploma specializing in strategy and innovation.

He has also been trained by Toyota in corporate value creation and innovation. Bruno is currently undertaking a doctorate in organizational change, with a peculiar focus on the issues with innovation in large enterprises.

In today's episode, Bruno shares his favorite mistake story about a revolutionary freight train design that seemed to deliver against impossible customer requirements — but it seemed too good to be true! We also discuss how Bruno moved past his initial skepticism about the “Lean Startup” methodology to be a big advocate for the approach. We also discuss his educational board game, “Playing Lean” and mistakes he learned from during that journey.

Questions and Topics:

• Was it a mistake to ignore Lean Startup initially 2008 before starting to pay attention in 2012?
• Like me, you’re an Industrial Engineer – with Toyota Production System origins… what did you experience and learn through Toyota?
• “Playing Lean” and “Playing Lean 2”
• Were you able to talk with any non-buyers to get feedback??
• Not just experimenting on the product, but also on the business model?