Value is a flow

In the world of product development, we often hear the phrase ‘build the right thing, build the thing right’. This mantra emphasises the importance of not only creating valuable products, but also doing so with optimal flow. However, as our industry evolves, we’re beginning to realise that these two concepts are inseparable. Value, in essence, is a flow – and understanding this flow is crucial for both strategic product management and operational excellence.

Many organisations believed they were solving the ‘build the thing right’ problem by adopting agile methods. Unfortunately, most stopped after introducing basic practices without considering how value flows to customers or how to empower teams to improve end-to-end delivery. Even fewer organisations simultaneously optimise flow and customer (and business) value.

Whilst there is a growing awareness that delivering smaller features more frequently is a good thing, this view often fails to connect the flow of work to the flow of value. Improving flow needs to consider the broader context of value creation.

The bigger picture: from concept to cash

To truly understand and optimise flow, we need to look at the entire value stream and the customer journey it supports – from concept to cash – where the notion of cash includes delivering value to customers and returning value to the business.

Within a value stream, this means considering not just the development process, but also ideation, discovery, deployment and release. It also needs to include the realisation of value through the customer journey the value stream supports.

Optimising flow within a value stream needs to be end-to-end. For example, imagine the average flow time for a feature is 150 days and development takes 20 days. If features spend 100 days in various stages of ideation, planning and portfolio management before even reaching the development team, there is little value in focusing improvements on agile practices within the development team.

Likewise, if the average flow time in the value stream is only 20 days for a feature, yet features deliver little value to customers, there is no point in further improving feature flow times within the value stream.

Strategic product management and delivery excellence

One of the key opportunities in optimising value flow is by improving strategic product management. This may be by improving alignment from company strategy to product development teams. Product teams need to be formed and set on their way with a clear understanding of how their work connects to broader strategic goals.

To address this, organisations need to create an environment that supports strategic product thinking. This involves empowering product managers to make decisions based on market research, company strategy and product lifecycle considerations – not just churning out features.

While the scope of flow spans both value streams and customer journeys, from how we develop features to validating value hypotheses effectively, you need to start somewhere. We need to start within our sphere of control, be that within teams or as leaders in different parts of the organisation. This might be introducing flow metrics and flow concepts to highlight issues within a team or before addressing value hypotheses challenges or vice versa.

As change agents, we need to stimulate more strategic thinking and help connect the dots between different parts of the organisation to improve the flow of features and the flow of value.

While the concept of flow can be intimidating to many organisations, starting small can be a valuable approach. Making flow visible can be scary for organisations, so starting small with experiments can help introduce awareness at a pace the organisation can accept.

An experimental approach can be particularly effective in demonstrating the value of often-overlooked work, such as technical debt reduction and enabler stories. By showing how these efforts improve the flow of features, teams can make a compelling case for investing in foundational work that needs to be undertaken to accelerate flow over time.

The power of data storytelling

Flow metrics and other data can be powerful tools for telling stories and influencing decision-making. Being intentional about storytelling, rather than just presenting facts when presenting to stakeholders, makes it easier to understand trade-offs which improves decision making.

Data storytelling requires a more scientific mindset towards measurement, establishing baselines and tracking changes over time. It also requires consideration of the psychological impact of measurements – understanding how results will affect people’s behaviour and what kind of behaviour you want to encourage.

As you measure and optimise flow, there’s an opportunity to shift accountabilities within the organisation. By tying measurements to outcomes, you can create incentives for leaders to focus on value delivery rather than project completion. This shift in accountability can drive more strategic thinking and a focus on outcomes rather than just outputs.

Flow metrics are a handy way of holding up a mirror to an organisation, prompting deeper and richer conversations about value creation. The real value lies not in implementing the metrics, but in how they are used to drive improvement and strategic thinking.

Embracing the flow of value

As we've explored, value is indeed a flow. We need to build the right thing and build the thing right to optimise flow. Optimising this flow requires a system level approach that considers strategy, product management, development practices and organisational structures.

The key takeaways for organisations looking to accelerate the flow of value are:

• Look beyond development efficiency to consider the entire value stream and how it contributes to customer journeys from concept to cash
• Invest in strategic product management capabilities along with product development capabilities and create an environment where empowered teams can truly generate value
• It’s good to start small, experimenting with flow metrics or value hypotheses and using them to tell stories and demonstrate value through data
• Expand the conversation around flow to include more strategic thinking and a wider group of stakeholders
• Consider how measurements can shift accountabilities and incentivise value-focused behaviours
• Combine business outcomes and flow metrics to get a more complete picture of organisational performance

By embracing these principles, organisations can move beyond the false dichotomy of ‘building the right thing’ versus ‘building the thing right’. Instead, they can create a more unified approach where value flows smoothly from idea to impact, delivering better outcomes for customers and the business alike.