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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Organic Growth

A Kodak Moment for Xerox and HP

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In the early part of the negotiations (with HP), Xerox CEO John Visentin expressed concerns that his company was out of organic growth opportunities and must either expand through an acquisition or be acquired itself. Icahn Proposed Buying…
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Decision-flow Issues

Decision-Flow Issues ― Ten of Many

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How the Decision-Flow Impacts Product Development and Product Line PerformanceThis list relates the blog Decision Flows and Product Line Strategies.Here are ten issues that arise from a poor or disjointed decision flow. Please…
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Strategy-Essence is the core of a product line strategy.a

Product Line Strategy-Essence and Innovation 4.0

This blog supports the blog: Innovation 4.0 and Product Line Pivots The core of a product line strategy has three critical parts. When coupled and as a whole, these parts are called the Strategy-Essence.Attribute-Positioning Platform-Leverage …
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Innovation 4.0

Innovation 4.0 and Smart Product Line Pivots

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Germans declare it Industrie 4.0. The Yanks tag it as The Connected Enterprise. And the Brits give it the 4th Industrial Revolution moniker. Any way you slice it, it’s the future. The product development community, especially those in large…
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MGPP Multi-Generational Product PlanCopyright Adept Group 2020

Multi-Generational Product Plan (MGPP) Vs. Product Line Strategy and Roadmap

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What’s the difference between a Multi-generational Product Plan and Product Line Strategies and Roadmaps? The answer deserves a short discussion. Stick with me as I explain. The topic offers much insight into great development practices. Multi-Generational…
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How to Screw Up a Product Line (and a Business)

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When I began my career in product development, I didn’t understand how easy it is to screw up a product line. I had the opposite view. I thought managers of established product lines had an easy job. They didn’t have to worry about developing…
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Bring the systems view to your own line.

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