A couple of episodes ago, I made the outrageous statement that - in an Agile world -
1+1 can equal 3
It wasn’t mathematical sleight of hand.
It was a natural consequence of two properties of VALUE:
Persistence
and stackability
Hi, I’m Gary
Welcome to Development that Pays
So the “1 + 1 = 3” episode went out.
And it’s fair to say that I ruffled some feathers.
One person even used the word “misleading”.
What did I say to elicit such a response?
Let me show you:
I work on two things
- features, if you like -
over the course of two weeks.
And release them at the same time.
In week 3, they deliver two units of value.
Nothing too controversial so far, I hope?
2 units of work producing 2 units of value.
Let’s start again:
Two features again
But this time I release them one at a time.
Feature A goes live
and delivers one unit of value in week 2,
It continues to deliver value into week 3.
So when Feature B goes live,
Its value STACKS on top of the value provided by Feature A.
2 units of work in
3 units of value OUT.
1 + 1 = 3
For what I’ve just shown you is true,
The the Value must PERSIST
And the value must STACK
Not all value persists and not all value stacks.
Time to move away from the theory and into a real-life example.
How about this video?
The one you’re watching right now.
Conveniently, it took one week to complete.
it was published on Wednesday at 3pm UK time
When - and only then - did it begin to deliver value.
Is it a value that’s persistable?
Even if you’re really enjoying this episode, I doubt you’ll watch it again.
It’s hardly “Toy Story”.
So this video doesn’t deliver persistent value in that sense.
Of course, you’re not my only viewer.
What tends to happen is a bunch of people watch an episode on the day it comes out
And then it settles down.
And - if I’m really lucky - it picks up again.
So: these videos have some level of persist value.
Contrast that with pre-internet TV.
Especially a news broadcast.
ALL of the value delivered during the broadcast.
No persistence whatsoever.
Back to this video again.
Is its value stackable?
When this episode came out, did people immediately stop watching other episodes?
No.
At least I hope not!
But the existence of this episode might impact the viewing figures of a similar video.
So the stacking is not perfect.
There’s some cannibalisation.
But perfect stacking is possible:
Not far from me is the site of the (now defunct)
Walls sausage factory
Seems most sausages in the winter months
Leaving Walls with spare manufacturing capacity during the summer
Which they used to make ice cream.
The products are so different that one didn’t impact the other
No product cannibalisation
Perfect stacking.
I’ve done all the talking so far.
Now I want to hear from you.
What are examples of value that persists?
An value that doesn’t persist?
And what are examples of value that stacks perfectly?
And imperfectly?
Let me know in the comments below.
If you enjoyed this episode and would like
its value to persist AND stack,
please click to LIKE
SHARE it with your network
And click here for stackable persistable value every Wednesday.
Cheers for now.