What is Understood by "VALUE" in Agility?
From Projects to Value
👋 Hey, Carlos here! Welcome to “The Holistic Leader”, your weekly source of simple and honest leadership, Agile, Management & team insights.
As I reflect on my early career as a PM, I remember the immense pressure to keep the "iron triangle" in check.
The goal back then was simple: deliver a project within scope, by a set deadline, and under budget.
If I nailed that, I thought I had done my job well.
But over time, something didn’t sit right. Even when projects were delivered on time, under budget, and with extra features, they sometimes went unused.
Why?
Because they didn’t solve the real problems customers faced.
That realization shifted my focus from managing projects to managing products that people actually needed.
The Shift from Product to Value
Take Blockbuster, for example. At its peak, it had over 9,000 stores and was the dominant force in video rentals. Yet, it missed a critical shift in consumer behavior. Customers didn’t want to rent physical DVDs and deal with late fees—they wanted convenience. Enter Netflix, which pivoted to digital streaming and disrupted the entire industry.
This story taught me an important lesson: in agile, it’s not about the product itself; it’s about solving the real problem for your customers. This is the power of agile leadership—understanding the customer’s pain points and adapting to meet their evolving needs
Shift Your Focus to Value, Not Product
As a leader, ask yourself: What problem are we solving for the customer? Rather than obsessing over project timelines or features, focus on the value your product provides. Is it solving a real problem, or is it just something you think the customer wants? This shift will help you make decisions that truly matter.
Start looking at customer feedback not just through the lens of scope, but through the lens of value. If your product addresses the core customer problem, you’re on the right track.
The Toyota Way: Maximizing Value, Minimizing Waste
I often refer to the lean principles, especially those from Toyota. Lean isn’t just about eliminating waste—it’s about maximizing value. Waste is anything that doesn’t add value to the customer, whether that’s unnecessary meetings, redundant processes, or overcomplicated product features.
Identify and Eliminate Waste
Evaluate your processes and your team’s activities. Ask: Does this add value to our customers, or is it something we’ve always done out of habit? By focusing on value and eliminating waste, you free up resources to solve the real problem your customer faces.
Lean isn’t just about cutting costs; it’s about ensuring every action contributes to solving the customer’s problem.
The Customer is Always the “King”
In agile, the customer isn’t just the one buying your product—they’re the reason your organization exists. That’s why the core of holistic leadership is ensuring that every decision, process, and goal is centered around the customer’s needs.
Too often, companies get stuck focusing on their own internal processes and metrics, losing sight of what truly matters—the people they’re meant to serve.
Align Teams Around the Customer’s Needs
Break down silos within your organization. Marketing, product development, customer service—all teams must work together toward the same customer-centric vision. The goal is to create a unified, cross-functional effort that maximizes value for the customer.
When teams align around the customer, the flow of value is seamless—from problem identification to solution delivery.
This is the heart of agile.
Delivering Value Frequently and Collecting Feedback
Agility thrives on delivering small increments of value and gathering feedback. It’s about validating assumptions early, making adjustments as needed, and avoiding the “build it and they will come” mentality. Frequent feedback allows you to stay on track and deliver something that truly resonates with your customers.
Deliver Small Increments and Iterate
Don’t wait for the “perfect” product. Start delivering small increments of value and gather feedback quickly. Whether it's a new feature or product update, prioritize feedback and use it to make improvements in real time. This approach keeps you agile and ensures what you're building is exactly what the customer wants.
Final Thought: The Core of Agility
Agility isn’t just a framework or a set of tools. It’s a mindset that centers around delivering value to the customer. By understanding their needs, solving their problems, and minimizing waste, we can create products and services that truly make a difference.
So, as agile leaders, let’s continue listening to our customers, delivering value, and staying adaptable.
By doing so, we’ll not only succeed in the short term but also build organizations that thrive in the long run.
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- Carlos✌️
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Loved this, Carlos. That shift from “on time, on budget” to “did it solve a real problem?” is something more teams need to sit with. Your Blockbuster vs. Netflix example nailed it—value isn’t just delivery, it’s relevance. I especially resonated with the reminder that lean isn’t just about efficiency, it’s about eliminating anything that doesn’t serve the customer. Keep the insights coming—this was gold.
Nice work. Subscribed. I hope you do the same