Cadenced Flow:Portfolios & Roadmaps

Cat Swetel & Matt Barcomb@catswetel @mattbarcomb

Issues with typical portfolio planning

Applying optionality to a portfolio

Thinking in terms of information value

Using flow-based roadmaps to deliver

Example metrics for portfolios & roadmaps

How we’ll spend the time

Traditional Portfolio Planning

Planning formass construction

Planning forscientific research

Routinemanufacturing

Complexmanufacturing

Physicalproduct dev.

Spectrum ofknowable stuff

Scientific research

Massconstruction

Softwareproduct dev.

Enterprise ERP impl.

Known about problemResponse to unknownsAmount of unknowables

Shift the focus

You’re going to spend (at least)this amount

regardless of investment model...

Portfolios: from projects to products

Migration patterns:

from projects to products

Big projects

Single Segments

Microfolios

Your portfolio as

options

Like a sales funnel

Information discovery funnel

Your portfolioas options

Ideation Prototype Pilot Prod

Not yet validated

High uncertainty Uncertainty decreased

Validated

Options

MVPs/Projects are options

triggers: starting/stopping heuristics (context, events, rules of thumb)

information value of options

Options: start/stop heuristics

Options

MVPs/Projects are options

triggers: starting/stopping heuristics (context, events, rules of thumb)

information value of options

Options: start/stop heuristics

e.g. $$$ or market readiness

leading indicators

pilot’s checklist

Information Value of Options

Tomorrow’s Core Business

Today’s Core Business

Keep the lights on

Focus

Low risk

Big investment

Lots of small, high risk/high reward bets

Pay less to obtain

information early

But how do you actually use an options-based portfolio?

Team A

Team B

A starting structure

Team A

Team B

Readiness

Infras

Readiness & Infrastructure

Team A

Team B

Readiness

Infras

OnHorizon

ComingSoon

UpNext

CurrentGoal

InUse

Time-based flow

Team A

Team B

Readiness

Infras

OnHorizon

ComingSoon

UpNext

CurrentGoal

InUse

HBD

Here be dragons!

Team A

Team B

Readiness

Infras

OnHorizon

ComingSoon

UpNext

CurrentGoal

InUse

HBD

things we do now and again for reasons

things we do now and again for reasons

things we do now and again for reasons

things we do now and again for reasons

things we do now and again for reasons

things we do now and again for reasons

Define explicit policies

Team A

Team B

Readiness

Infras

OnHorizon

ComingSoon

UpNext

CurrentGoal

InUse

HBD

things we do now and again for reasons

things we do now and again for reasons

things we do now and again for reasons

things we do now and again for reasons

things we do now and again for reasons

things we do now and again for reasons

12 22

Limit work in progress

Roadmap metrics

Cycle Time and/or Lead Time

Lead Time

Cycle Time

Team A

Team B

Readiness

Infras

OnHorizon

ComingSoon

UpNext

CurrentGoal

InUse

HBD

DISCLAIMER: This is just an example.

Roadmap metrics

Cycle Time and/or

Lead Time

Portfolio metrics:churn

Ideation Prototype Pilot Prod

Churn

Churn

Churn

Discover viability

of ideas at lowest

possible cost.

Portfolio metrics:risk and experimentation

Portfolio metrics:cost of delay

“Whenever we pay less than this amount for time we are improving the

economics of a project.”

-Don Reinertsen in LeanMagazine.net

Transitioning traditional portfolios

Working with a variety of options

How to use information value to inform

Starting a flow-based roadmap

Metrics and measures for product planning

What we covered

Questions?

Cat Swetel Matt Barcomb@catswetel @mattbarcomb