Tuning in to value

It drives me nuts when high-value solutions get taken off the table in the name of cost-reduction. Never formally killed, just de-scoped, de-prioritised or deferred.

The thing is, if you have a solution that delivers genuine value to users or the organisation, the discussion shouldn’t start with what to get rid of. We should start by discussing the value we’re trying to deliver, and how we can deliver that value with less. You can reduce the budget or the build time without losing the fundamental value.

Think about it like an amplifier (one of my favourite metaphors). In design and delivery we have plenty of knobs to twiddle. How can we turn cost or effort or risk down whilst keeping the value high?

Innovation thrives in constraints, so next time you’re staring down the barrel of a descoping session, play with the knobs and see where it takes you.