"Time to Us Too" is a specialised form of lead time, focusing specifically on when innovation in the marketplace forces everyone else to pivot and maintain parity. This measure is revealing, as it expresses time to production under stressed conditions rather than 'business as usual'.

In July 2014, Metro Bank, a UK 'challenger' bank, launched an in-app feature allowing users to temporarily 'freeze' their debit card. This same functionality was present when Monzo Bank launched its alpha preview in October 2015, demonstrating this kind of functionality was quickly becoming 'table stakes' for mobile banking applications and a bellwether of the organisation's digital capabilities.

I recall showing this to an elderly relative who remains fearful of online banking and conceded that this was a helpful feature. Over the next few years, the more established banks scrambled to replicate the functionality in their existing systems. MoneySavingExpert collated a list of banks with their launch dates:

  • Metro Bank - July 2014
  • Monzo Bank (at launch) - October 2015 - 15 months
  • Starling Bank (at current account launch) - May 2017 - 34 months
  • Tesco Bank (credit cards only) - August 2017 - 37 months
  • HSBC - October 2017 - 39 months
  • Barclays - November 2017 - 40 months
  • Bank of Scotland, Halifax, Lloyds - September 2018 - 50 months
  • Nationwide - May 2019 - 58 months

This data is only a snapshot of collated mid-2019, but it's telling enough - challenger banks were launching with this feature; it's effectively a condition of entry to the marketplace. It took three years for the larger players to start their rollouts, with some still working on it five years later.

I am not measuring this "Time to Us Too" from when an individual org started their work but from when the original product launched. Admittedly, this is a lagging indicator that is useful in retrospect. What insights and challenges can this surface?

  • How long did it take us to identify this feature's importance to customers?
  • Could we measure this demand or quantify the decline in customer numbers?
  • Did we differentiate or replicate?
  • Have we measured the effectiveness of the feature since launch?
  • When handoffs and dependencies slowed us down, was this necessary to proceed safely?
  • What experiments can we perform to reduce handoffs, eliminate waste and streamline essential processes?
  • Are product owners frequently reassessing backlogs to accommodate changes in market demand?
  • Do teams respond to change over following a plan?

We can't be at the forefront of innovation on every front. However, we can improve our "sense and respond" feedback loop to minimise the time a disruptor holds a differentiating advantage.