Mik + One: The Official Project to Product Podcast by Dr. Mik Kersten

Happy Holidays: A Message From Dr. Mik Kersten

We're taking a break for the holidays, but Dr. Mik Kersten, Tasktop Founder & CEO, and best-selling author of 'Project to Product', has left a short message to thank all of you for tuning in over the last year.

We'll be back with new episodes in 2022, however in the meantime, keep in touch by joining the Flow Framework Slack Community.

Built on communal learning, trust and professional development, this community provides a safe space to connect with business and technology leaders seeking to develop expertise in the transition from project to product, value stream management, Flow Metrics and the Flow Framework.

You will find a dedicated #ProjectToProduct channel where you can share success stories and challenges about your transformation journeys, ask questions and receive advice from your peers and even leave Mik a note about the podcast and suggestions for future guests! Mik has even made it his new year's resolution to check-in on discussion topics that arise from the podcast.

Join now: https://flowframework.org/flow-framework-community/

Subscribe to the Mik + One podcast today so you never miss an episode and don’t forget to leave your review.

Follow Mik on Twitter: @mik_kersten #MikPlusOne
www.tasktop.com

Episode 40: Dean Leffingwell on The Practices and Behaviors of High-Performing Teams

We’re delighted to welcome back Leffingwell, Co-founder and Chief Methodologist at Scaled Agile. Dean is an entrepreneur and software development methodologist best known for creating SAFe®, the most widely used framework for business Agility.

In this episode, Mik and Dean focus on practices and behaviors of high-performing teams, digging into their own experiences on what makes teams thrive. Additional topics include:

• Dean’s learnings on what he has seen with large transformations using SAFe
• Insight into how and why the Flow Metrics were incorporated into SAFe 5.1
• The importance of predictability in the enterprise
• The evolution of the Scrum Master role
• Measuring the system and outcomes, the different levels of team metrics, and who owns the Flow competency, outcomes and improvements of those metrics
• What makes a high performing team in 2021 and what Dean’s predictions on how this may look in 2025 

Subscribe to the Mik + One podcast today so you never miss an episode and don’t forget to leave your review.

Follow Mik on Twitter: @mik_kersten #MikPlusOne
www.tasktop.com

For more information about Dean Leffingwell and to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, as well as download the transcript, visit: https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/dean-leffingwell-2/

Episode 39: Sally Elatta on Business Agility and Measurement

Joining Mik in this episode of Mik + One is Sally Elatta, CEO and Founder of AgilityHealth and Agile Videos.

In this episode, Mik and Sally discuss the importance of using business agility and measurement as critical ways in driving innovation, as well as other key topics such as:

• Sally’s business agility journey and her learnings from over the years
• Insight into some of the biggest surprises from AgilityHealth’s study on metrics and measurements
• The success patterns of creating a roadmap for improvement of change, and the importance of continuous improvement, removing obstacles and developing talent
• Defining growth items and some examples of them that help teams become high-performing
• The difference between business outcomes and transformation outcomes and why they are crucial at different levels of the organization
• Advice and guidance to leaders on how to get started or scale these initiatives

Subscribe to the Mik + One podcast today so you never miss an episode and don’t forget to leave your review.

Follow Mik on Twitter: @mik_kersten #MikPlusOne
www.tasktop.com

For more information about Sally Elatta and to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, as well as download the transcript, visit: https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/sally-elatta/

Episode 38: Dave Snowden on The Cynefin Framework

In this episode, Mik is joined by Dave Snowden, CSO & Founder of Cognitive Edge and Director of the Cynefin Center.

In this episode, Mik and Dave talk about the development of Cynefin, a framework for decision making, and other key topics including:

• The Cynefin framework and some of the existing methodologies and techniques that have been developed
• Examples of things that have gone in the wrong direction as a result of not understanding some of the first principles
• The best practices for technology leaders to identify and thrive through chaotic events or chaotic environments
• Guidance on how to take aspects of each framework and put them together in different combinations
• Advice on how to approach the Cynefin framework at various levels of leadership

Subscribe to the Mik + One podcast today so you never miss an episode and don’t forget to leave your review.

Follow Mik on Twitter: @mik_kersten #MikPlusOne
www.tasktop.com

For more information about Dave Snowden and to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, as well as download the transcript, visit: https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/dave-snowden/

Episode 37: Felipe Castro on Connecting Business Agility To OKRs

We're back! And what an episode we have to kick things off. Joining Mik in this episode of Mik + One is Felipe Castro, renowned author, speaker and trainer on objectives and key results (OKRs).

In this episode, Mik and Felipe talk about how Felipe helps organizations transform how they use goals by adopting OKRs, and other key topics such as:

• How Felipe became an early adopter of OKRs
• Common mistakes organizations use when leveraging OKRs
• Why unlearning is the solution to change the ways of working
• The importance of shortening Feedback loops to manage risks and connect people to outcomes
• Characteristics of successful modern product teams

Subscribe to the Mik + One podcast today so you never miss an episode and don’t forget to leave your review.

Follow Mik on Twitter: @mik_kersten #MikPlusOne
www.tasktop.com

For more information about Felipe Castro and to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, as well as download the transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/felipe-castro/

Episode 36: Summer Special with Dr. Mik Kersten

In this special episode of Mik + One, Mik summarizes some of his favorite episodes from the last 18 months and provides insight into some of his key takeaways including:

• Interesting insights on scaling Agile and helping digital transformation succeed
• The importance of equity, diversity and inclusion on value streams
• The pivotal role of leadership’s responsibility on improving daily work
• Flow Metrics and OKRs as a match made in heaven
• How balancing portfolios to managing risk and debt can be a key enabler of innovation

Subscribe to the Mik + One podcast today so you never miss an episode and don’t forget to leave your review.

Follow Mik on Twitter: @mik_kersten #MikPlusOne
www.tasktop.com

For more information about Dr. Mik Kersten and to view the full list of episodes featured in this episode, as well as download the transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/summer-special/

Episode 35: Christian Idiodi on Product Management at All Levels

In this episode, Mik is joined by Christian Idiodi, Partner at Silicon Valley Product Group.

Mik and Christian talk about how to establish product management disciplines and other key topics including:

• Fascinating insights into how Christian got into product management, how he landed within Silicon Valley Product Group and insights about his own career
• Establishing product management disciplines at multiple levels of the organization and why it is an important catalyst to successful transformations
• The importance of good leadership and management, and why it’s crucial to establish stable teams that can learn, solve problems and deliver value to the customer
• Aligning OKR’s with culture and empowering teams to deliver greater value to customers
• Advice to this generation of leaders on coaching and key cultural initiatives that Christian has seen resonate at large enterprises

Subscribe to the Mik + One podcast today so you never miss an episode and don’t forget to leave your review.

Follow Mik on Twitter: @mik_kersten #MikPlusOne
www.tasktop.com

For more information about Christian Idiodi, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/christian-idiodi/

Episode 34: Courtney Kissler on Nike, Nordstrom, Starbucks and OKRs

Joining Mik in this episode of Mik + One is Courtney Kissler, Chief Technology Officer at online retailer, Zulily.

In this episode, Mik and Courtney talk about Courtney's experience in driving technological transformations and cover many key topics such as:

• Courtney’s journey within DevOps and how her experience leading transformations at large enterprises including Nordstrom, Starbucks and Nike led her to Zulily
• The importance of fixed capacity and creating a generative culture where team members feel they can be honest and supported
• Value stream mapping and how this can help teams and organizations understand the dynamics of flow to increase the flow of value to customers
• Helping technology and business leaders understand what the leading indicators of success are and how to track them
• Tips to practise and adopt OKRs in order to promote learning and improvement

Subscribe to the Mik + One podcast today so you never miss an episode and don’t forget to leave your review.

Follow Mik on Twitter: @mik_kersten #MikPlusOne
www.tasktop.com

For more information about Courtney Kissler, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/courtney-kissler/

Episode 33: Scott Prugh on Product Value Streams and Service Ownership

Joining Mik in this episode of Mik + One is Scott Prugh, Chief Technology Officer at CSG.

In this episode, Mik and Scott talk about Scott’s experience and learnings from within the DevOps community, as well as many other key topics including:

• The three domains in DevOps portfolio management and how to think about them independently, as well as how they reinforce each other
• Flow Load and Work in Progress (WIP) and how organizations end up with a mismatch between capacity and the work that’s booked and committed
• Combining service ownership with produce value streams
• How to play the longer game by changing team structures and looking at managing services
• The concept of an impact minute and how to calculate it
• Successfully communicating technical language and processes to the wider team of stakeholders

Subscribe to the Mik + One podcast today so you never miss an episode and don’t forget to leave your review.

Follow Mik on Twitter: @mik_kersten #MikPlusOne
www.tasktop.com

For more information about Scott Prugh, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/scott-prugh/

Episode 32: Carmen DeArdo on Not Letting Your Work Manage You

Joining Mik in this episode of Mik + One is Carmen DeArdo, Principal Flow Advisor and VSM Practice Lead at Tasktop, and co-author of the award-winning book, Standing on Shoulders: A Leader’s Guide to Digital Transformation.

This episode covers:

• Insight into Carmen’s early experience at Nationwide and Bell Labs, and how he has applied his experience and learnings to help other organizations today
• Carmen’s expertise with local optimization of the value stream and how he works with organizations to take those first steps in making the switch from vertical thinking to horizontal thinking
• The origins of The Flow Framework and how it has helped shift the way that organizations look at the entire value stream
• The key lessons Carmen has learned from helping larger organizations fulfill large deployments of The Flow Framework and some of the biggest surprises and learnings from the past couple of years

Subscribe to the Mik + One podcast today so you never miss an episode and don’t forget to leave your review.

Follow Mik on Twitter: @mik_kersten #MikPlusOne
www.tasktop.com

For more information about Carmen DeArdo, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/carmen-deardo/