Find the Balance between Sugar and Sustainability with Agile Portfolio Operations (#20)

“Without consistency and standards none of this works. With too much consistency nothing changes. You have to steer and constantly sense and course-correct.” - Mark Richards

Mark Richards and Niko Kaintantzis join Stephan Neck in this episode with Agile Portfolio Operations from Lean Portfolio Management.

We kick off by sharing our passions: Mark’s thoughts about finding the balance between consistency and standards so that it works, but not too much of it so that nothing changes; Niko’s emphasis on avoiding large solutions by mastering this dimension correctly.

In the first part, we reflect on how to ensure that decentralized ART execution is effectively coordinated across various teams and value streams to maintain alignment with the overall business objectives.
Mark elaborates on the minimum viable level of centralization and finding the value stream with the biggest contribution to an Epic so they can take ownership and lead an effective collaboration. Niko mentions “coordination” as an important element to avoid “false” large solutions, which needs facilitation by an RTE organizing a Pre-Plan meeting.

The second part sparked a discussion about emphasizing “Lean thinking principles” to foster operational excellence and innovation speed. Stephan initiated this part by stating that the speed of innovation is dependent on flow, which requires discipline for sustainable speed and space for innovation.  Mark reminds us that "Without standards, there can be no kaizen"—portfolio members have to establish and agree on shared standards. Niko adds that testing business hypotheses with MVPs is crucial for innovation.  Mark and Niko mention the human element - working with people and connecting people to find “pockets of excellence.”

The final part dealt with engaging and empowering the LPM function, VMO, LACE, and RTEs to actively support and enhance the value streams. The portfolio's power is to see patterns—it’s necessary to do the chores (in a disciplined way, involving senior management): get data flowing, and pre-work done by small groups of people enables informed insights and incisive actions.

The closing “just one sentence” highlights “When it comes to change, find the balance between sugar and sustainability”, “The portfolio deserves dedicated people” and “Excellence is a quality that people really appreciate because it is so hard to find”.