Project to Product: How Value Stream Networks Will Transform IT and Business: How to Survive and Thrive in the Age of Digital Disruption with the Flow Framework

Product Information

Dr. Mik Kersten started his career as a Research Scientist at Xerox PARC where he created the first aspect-oriented development environment. He then pioneered the integration of development tools with Agile and DevOps as part of his Computer Science PhD at the University of British Columbia. Founding Tasktop out of that research, Mik has written over one million lines of open-source code that is still in use today, and he has brought seven successful open-source and commercial products to market. Deloitte has leveraged a successful framework to jump-start a transformation journey with many clients. The following tenets are needed to establish a successful product transformation journey:

Below is a breakdown of the five stages in the project to product journey. The assessment takes you through each stage in greater depth. Stage 1: Starting Out The differences between a project- and product-based approach are night and day. Instead of splitting product knowledge across numerous teams and piecemealing tasks together, a product-based team is responsible for every aspect of the product, from its overall design to the budget, market research, and product development. A product team might consist of designers, engineers, and product managers, among other roles. They’re able to answer questions, solve problems, and improve the product because they know the ins and outs. To undertake the project-to-product transition, “IT leaders can assess software organizations not by the lines of code written or microservices produced, but by how much business value their products deliver to customers,” Kersten says. Companies in the first stage are just beginning their journey of moving from project to product. But without a strong foundation and the right metrics in place, they run the risk of a challenging and inefficient transition. In this stage, determine why you need to change and set a vision for the positive business outcomes you want to achieve. Stage 2: ExperimentationTransitioning to a product-based approach can be challenging, but you aren’t alone. While the five-stage journey is well defined, the road to get to your destination can be difficult and nonlinear. In Dr. Mik Kersten’s book, Project to Product, that path is charted using the Flow Framework®, a lean and prescriptive framework for technology leaders to guide and measure the journey. According to Kersten, the following are the main differences between IT project and product management: Take the assessment to see how far along you are in the five-stage journey. From that point, you’ll be able to understand what you’re already doing right and where improvements can be made to advance to the next stage. A useful tool for benchmarking your organization’s project to product maturity is the Tasktop Product Maturity Assessment.

Digital transformation brings numerous changes, but among the most important is transitioning to a product-focused model. When it comes to increasing productivity, creating value, developing agility, and driving customer-centricity, there’s simply no better approach than the product-oriented model. A 2018 Gartner survey found that 85% of companies prefer a product-centric model. And with the acceleration of digital transformation and technology in recent years, that number has likely increased. As tech giants and startups disrupt every market, those who master large-scale software delivery will define the economic landscape of the 21st century, just as the masters of mass production defined the landscape in the 20th. Unfortunately, business and technology leaders are woefully ill-equipped to solve the problems posed by digital transformation. At the current rate of disruption, half of S&P 500 companies will be replaced in the next ten years. A new approach is needed.

Under the old model, teams are organized around projects and responsible for specific sections of the company’s initiatives. Teams are regularly rearranged to meet changing needs. Organizational change and mindset shifts can be daunting. A product shift doesn’t happen overnight. Organizations may be tempted to rapidly pivot toward a product-led approach and neglect to build the foundations and experiences necessary to scale effectively. The product-based approach organizes teams around specific products to create end-to-end owners of everything related to that product. Moving from project to product is a fundamental shift in how teams are organized and how work gets done.

Moving from project to product can signal a significant paradigm shift. It’s no longer about measuring activities but about driving outcomes that bring revenue and growth. The journey is typically broken down into five stages. 5 Stages of the Project to Product Journey Risk. Software delivery risks, such as poor market fit, are more likely with project management because specifications are set and strategic decisions are made at the start. The product-oriented approach spreads risk across a longer timeframe and multiple iterations, creating opportunities to adjust product features if initial assumptions prove incorrect or strategic opportunities arise. Before you embark on the project to product journey, you first need to know your starting point. Each step on the journey builds upon itself to successfully implement a new business focus, workflow, and organizational structure. The way we work and organize is changing. And so is the mindset around productivity and team structure. In the traditional project-centered model, companies are organized around tasks, with each group focused on one element of a project. But greater emphasis is being placed on moving from project to product, which focuses on enabling teams to become end-to-end experts.Budgeting. Project management typically assigns funding according to milestones defined during initial project scoping, and new budget requires the creation of a new project. Product-oriented management, meanwhile, funds based on business outputs, with new money allocated as needed and based on the delivery of incremental results. Prioritization. Disciplines like IT project and portfolio management drive more traditional projects, with a focus on delivering software according to requirements. Product-oriented management, meanwhile, is guided by road maps and hypothesis testing, with an emphasis on feature and business value delivery.