December 6, 2024
This is no time for hanging around; It’s the CRO Roundtable Roundup!
Thanks to Matt Beischel, Iqbal Ali, Craig Sullivan, and Veronika Morozová for joining us. Want to get in on the action and talk with cool CRO people like this? Then join us this Friday, December 13.
One Sentence Takeaway
This Time We Discussed:
Shifting from “CRO” to “Product”
- Experimentation roles blending into product management and marketing
- Shift in CRO demand to agencies and product-focused skill sets
- Experimentation deprioritized during cost-cutting measures
- Commoditization of basic practices
Statistical Rigor is a Cornerstone of Quality
Team Topologies and Organizational Structures
- Teams empowered to manage their own experimentation programs
- Importance of self-dependent teams with centralized support
- Adoption of “teal structures” for autonomy and efficiency
Use of AI in Regular Job Tasks
- Potential and limitations in summarization, content generation, and decision-making
- Challenges in applying AI to hiring and fraud detection
High-Intent Searchers in E-commerce
- Using hybrid search systems to improve e-commerce performance
- Increased revenue through better search optimization
- Addressing mixed results in product vs. content searches
Quotes of the Week
Standout quips from this week’s roundtable
“Experimentation is a way of making decisions, not just a job title.” – Iqbal Ali
CRO Link Digest
Links to interesting, amusing, thought-provoking, or downright silly content shared at this week’s roundtable
- Personalization Pioneers – Personalization meetups and conferences presented by Dynamic Yield
CRO Book Club
by Frederic Laloux
The way we manage organizations seems increasingly out of date. Survey after survey shows that a majority of employees feel disengaged from their companies. The epidemic of organizational disillusionment goes way beyond Corporate America — teachers, doctors, and nurses are leaving their professions in record numbers because the way we run schools and hospitals kills their vocation. Government agencies and nonprofits have a noble purpose, but working for these entities often feels soulless and lifeless just the same. All these organizations suffer from power games played at the top and powerlessness at lower levels, from infighting and bureaucracy, from endless meetings, and a seemingly never-ending succession of change programs. – Amazon Link (non-referral)
by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais
Effective software teams are essential for any organization to deliver value continuously and sustainably. But how do you build the best team organization for your specific goals, culture, and needs? Team Topologies is a practical, step-by-step, adaptive model for organizational design and team interaction based on four fundamental team types and three team interaction patterns. It is a model that treats teams as the fundamental means of delivery, where team structures and communication pathways are able to evolve with technological and organizational maturity. – Amazon Link (non-referral)
by Tony Fadell
Written for anyone who wants to grow at work—from young grads navigating their first jobs to CEOs deciding whether to sell their company—Build is full of personal stories, practical advice and fascinating insights into some of the most impactful products and people of the 20th century. Each quick 5-20 page entry builds on the previous one, charting Tony’s personal journey from a product designer to a leader, from a startup founder to an executive to a mentor. Tony uses examples that are instantly captivating, like the process of building the very first iPod and iPhone. Every chapter is designed to help readers with a problem they’re facing right now—how to get funding for their startup, whether to quit their job or not, or just how to deal with the jerk in the next cubicle. – Amazon Link (non-referral)
Off-Topic Sidebars
Experimentation isn’t the only thing we talk about at the CRO Roundtable. There’s often a healthy dose of discussion on shared interests, personal passions, and hobbies. This week we had some sidebars about:
- AI-generated content for Christmas music videos
- Cultural idioms and their meanings across languages
- U.S. healthcare system costs and societal impacts
- Guns and their regulation in different countries
- The impact of AI biases in hiring and benefits fraud detection
Off-Topic Shareables
- Udio – AI-powered music creator