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Mensen & capabilities
Product Thinking is a concept that focuses on delivering sustainable value, to customers, users, and the organisation itself.
Rather than seeing work as a series of projects, Product Thinking views the organisation as a system of products and value streams. Each product represents an ongoing commitment to solving a specific problem or delivering a defined outcome.
This idea is strongly inspired by the work of Mik Kersten, author of Project to Product. His research and Flow Framework demonstrate how organisations that shift from project-oriented to product-oriented structures achieve faster flow, higher alignment, and more meaningful outcomes.
“When we manage work as products, not projects, we focus on flow and outcomes instead of outputs.” — Mik Kersten
Why it's important
In many organisations, Product Thinking is misunderstood or applied inconsistently. Scrum and agile practices are often introduced at team level, complete with Product Owners, backlogs, and sprints. Yet the wider organisation continues to operate in a project-based structure.
This mismatch forces Product Owners to act as mini project managers rather than value leaders.
Budgets are still allocated by project, people are moved around based on availability instead of value, and governance focuses on deliverables rather than outcomes.
A true product-oriented organisation aligns funding, resource allocation, portfolio management, and governancearound enduring products and value streams.
This alignment enables long-term ownership, customer focus, and measurable flow of value, exactly what a modern operating model aims to achieve.
Impact on building blocks
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Organisation – Teams are structured around products or value streams instead of departments or projects. Clear product ownership and accountability emerge.
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Processes – Delivery processes focus on continuous flow and feedback rather than temporary project milestones. The product lifecycle replaces the project lifecycle.
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Systems & Technology – Tooling and platforms evolve to support product backlogs, roadmaps, telemetry, and customer feedback loops.
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People & Capabilities - New roles (e.g. Product Owner, Product Manager) require skills in value management, stakeholder communication, and long-term ownership.
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Performance & Metrics – Success is measured by outcomes (value, flow, satisfaction) instead of outputs (deliverables, deadlines). Flow metrics from Kersten’s Flow Framework can be used to monitor progress.
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Governance & Policies – Funding and decision-making shift from project approval to continuous product investment. Governance becomes leaner and outcome-focused.
Common challenges
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​Organisations introduce agile methods but keep traditional project funding and planning.
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Product Owners struggle with conflicting expectations: being accountable for outcomes but managed on output.
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Leadership is used to project milestones and struggles to adapt to continuous product evolution.
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Legacy governance structures slow down flow and learning.
Our vision
At Value Visionary, we see Product Thinking as a core enabler of a modern operating model.
It helps organisations move from fragmented initiatives to a coherent, value-driven system.
By aligning teams, funding, and governance around products and outcomes, organisations create flow, ownership, and lasting impact.
True Product Thinking transforms not only how we deliver value but how we think about the organisation itself.
Or send us a mail at info@valuevisionary.nl
For more information
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