At first glance, the question seems straightforward. I mention “Value Vision” so often in my trainings, consultations, and mentoring sessions that I sometimes forget it’s not an obvious concept that needs no definition. But reality brings me back down to earth, usually through the very question posed in the title.
So let’s dive in. Let this post capture my explanation of what Value Vision is. Hopefully it will save me from having to repeat this story over and over.
“We deliver VALUE to our users!” “We’ve analyzed the entire VALUE CHAIN…” “Our team has mapped the VALUE STREAM…” There’s so much talk about value, yet no clear answer on what it actually means. When I start working with a new product, I like to conduct an exercise. I gather the entire IT and business team, hand each person a sticky note, and ask them to write down what they believe is the Core Value of their product. I give them five minutes. I’ve done this exercise dozens of times and almost never get two identical answers.
In the practical part of my Kanban Method training course, I facilitate a discussion with students to piece together a more or less common understanding of value from disparate viewpoints. Through the discussion, we arrive at three main points:
- We’re really talking about hypotheses when we discuss value—we can’t know for certain if users will love a new feature or how much revenue it will generate.
- Value is a composite (complex) concept—we can’t single out one universal thing that constitutes value.
- The composition of value depends on the current context—what we consider valuable now may not be seen the same way tomorrow.
When we start breaking down what typically forms the notion of value in practice, the picture looks something like this:
Customer Satisfaction is, of course, the foundation. Some radical thinkers say that’s all we need: anything that delights our users is inherently valuable. Unfortunately, if making users happy doesn’t positively impact the business, we won’t be able to keep delighting them for long. We need to add Business Impact to our understanding of value. But to avoid wrecking everything in the pursuit of quick gains, we must consider strategy and long-term goals, including balancing interests and resources within the company between our product and other initiatives. Stakeholder Expectations capture everything that doesn’t bring immediate benefits or explicitly satisfy user needs but is still crucial. These three components don’t entirely define value, but they’re the most universal.
This brings us to the answer to what Value Vision means in my understanding. Value Vision is a context-based understanding of what constitutes Value. It’s our ability to recognize which components make up the concept of value here and now, how they’re interconnected, and prioritized.
These seem like simple, almost obvious things. But I find it important to highlight this to my students, clients, and mentees repeatedly. It’s crucial for a product team to share a common Value Vision so that everyone aligns promptly in understanding the composition of value and the interconnections between its components.
It’s important that the Value Vision is stable enough for the team to not only adapt to changes but also deliver value in the intervals between adaptations. At the same time, the Value Vision should account for environmental changes and evolve accordingly.
An unstable value vision or a fragmented understanding of value across different parts of the delivery system can lead to a wide range of conflicts and dysfunctions. A clear example of such dysfunctions is the use of excessive or incorrect metrics for configuring delivery. This often happens when people interested in improving delivery lack a common Value Vision and can’t define the direction of development or the indicators by which progress is tracked.
Understanding and articulating our Value Vision isn’t just theoretical — it’s essential for cohesive teamwork and effective delivery. By aligning on what constitutes value in our specific context, recognizing how its components interconnect, and prioritizing them appropriately, we can minimize conflicts and dysfunctions. This shared clarity enables the team to adapt to changes while consistently delivering value, ensuring that our efforts genuinely benefit customers and businesses alike.