It used to be all about projects and deliveries. You delivered and then the project finished.
In software engineering, what is called continuous deployment, is an example of a perfect pull system, where new code is pulled from the individual software developer and at a certain pace – immediately or close to – deployed into a live system.
It enables a constant flow of value.
As the number of existing systems and products is constantly growing, relatively, the size of any new project is diminishing.
To further amplify this, there is a clear trend towards smaller and faster projects.
It’s approaching a situation where the meaning of a project in some contexts is less important.
Rather than structuring work as a project, with a clear start and end, and a clear set of deliveries, more and more we see a continuous flow of value.
In the future, it will be more about the flow of value. With no start and no end. Just forever.
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David Joyce call this ‘independent value’ – see his LKCE12 presentation.