Step 1: Determine the scope of your value delivery system
We need to reiterate that value delivery (usually called Product Development) is a system. It’s not only a section of the org chart or a set of processes and artifacts. It’s all the contributors, management, and ways of working involved in conceiving, making, and delivering a technology product that matters.
As such, it’s rarely just Engineering or a team in IT. The people probably even report to different functional managers. However, they’re all interdependent and necessary; no part of the system can achieve user outcomes and move business needles without the other parts. For this reason, SQUARE’s strategies are less useful if they’re applied only to specialized parts such as product management, DevOps, or UX.
Take a moment to make a clear mental picture of the scope of your value delivery system — who and what it includes.