The Adept Blog

Product lines, thought through in public.

Essays on managing product lines as systems — strategy, flow, velocity, and roadmapping — from Paul O’Connor and The Adept Group.

Systems thinkingManage the line, not one product.
Velocity & flowWhat actually ships, and how fast.
RoadmappingThe whole stack, across generations.

What you’ll find

The ideas behind the trilogy, worked out loud.

The blog is where the product-line system gets argued in the open — archetypes, platform-levers, decision flow, the tilting effect, verb-based segmentation, and outcome velocity.

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Browse by topic

Six threads run through everything here.

Product Line StrategyProduct Lines as SystemsFlow & VelocityResponsive RoadmappingPortfolio ManagementCorporate Innovation

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Latest

Recent posts.

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Product Line Mess

Your Product Line Mess Looms Large

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Can you fix it by next summer?The COVID economy hasn't messed up all product lines. But I'm stunned by how many well-known companies have serious problems. And most customers and shareholders have yet to see the messes. But discussions…
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post-COVID growth

A New Growth Cycle? You Bet!

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But it's not just ‘more of before.’ This growth cycle won’t be a pick up from where we were before our COVID experience. We’re all dealing with major changes and disruptions. Nonetheless, growth is imminent. Get ready! Consumer demand…
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Testing Assumptions

Testing Assumptions

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Assumptions May Be Your Product Line's EnemyA curious thing is happening as we learn ways to work through and deal with the COVID disruption.It seems everyone is questioning and testing assumptions. And by that, I don't mean only about…
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Product Line

Rethinking The Product Line

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How to Improve Your Product Line's Performance A product line is a collection of related products. But let's be clear. There's only one reason to create and organize a set of products into a product line. It's to boost their performance. Managing…
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Product Line Mess

Our Looming Product Line Mess

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I have an important and timely message for product and innovation managers. It's specifically for those who work in big companies. And I base the message on a fact I've seen validated repeatedly over my career.Here's the fact:Growing…
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Product Line Velocity

Product Line Velocity: Measuring The Flow

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Product Line Velocity is speed in a direction toward a line's objectives. Speed, by itself, does not have a direction. In single product thinking, speed is the time it takes to carry out a task. The time to develop a product is a measure of…
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Bring the systems view to your own line.

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