
Mik + One: The Official Project to Product Podcast by Dr. Mik Kersten
Since publishing best-selling book, Project to Product, technology business leader, Dr. Mik Kersten, has introduced transformative frameworks and ideas for delivering software at scale. He has given numerous standing room only keynotes and presentations worldwide and is an internationally recognized thought-leader.
In this podcast, Mik + One, nothing is off the record as Mik sits down with industry leading guests and delves into how they deliver value and drive digital transformations in their organizations.
Tune in for a new episode every two weeks! Subscribe to the Mik + One podcast today so you never miss an episode.
Follow Mik on X: @mik_kersten #MikPlusOne
www.projecttoproduct.org
Latest episodes

Nov 17, 2020 • 40min
Episode 21: David Anderson on IT Shifting to Partner-Enabling Technology
Joining Mik on this episode of Mik + One is David Anderson, Director of Technology, Liberty IT.
In this episode, Mik and David discuss:
Liberty IT’s journey into a serverless-first world
A customer over cost-centric approach to cloud
Removing “undifferentiated heavy lifting” from the work environment
Creating “two-way door” architecture for flexibility and flow
Using “lego blocks” to help engineers build innovative solutions on the cloud
Shift away from traditional IT to partner-enabling technology
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 David Anderson, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/david-anderson/

Nov 3, 2020 • 55min
Episode 20: Justin Watts on Doing The Right Things Wrong
Joining Mik on this episode of Mik + One is Justin Watts, Director of Agile Change at Lloyd Banking Group one of the UK’s Big Four banks.
In this episode, Mik and Justin discuss:
Redesigning software systems around flow to the customer instead of process
Respecting the laws of physics when accelerating flow across value streams
Importance of doing the right things wrong, rather than wrong things right
Identifying leading indicators to track and improve lagging measures
How the economies of flows outweigh the economies of scale
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 Justin Watts, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/justin-watts

Oct 20, 2020 • 55min
Episode 19: Peter Moore on Zone Management Measurement
Joining Mik on this episode of Mik + One is Peter D. Moore, a business and digital technology strategy advisor specializing in helping companies manage exponential revenue, margin and net income growth.
In this episode, Mik and Peter discuss:
In the influence of the Zone Management Model on Project to Product
The role of different cultures and leadership in specific zones
The need for specific metrics and targets for each zone
The big evolution in IT skill sets to fill the talent gap
How the Flow Framework® can be applied to all zones to balance innovation with performance
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 Peter D. Moore, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/peter-moore/

Oct 6, 2020 • 41min
Episode 18: Bryon Kroger on Agile Development Success at the DoD
On this episode of Mik + One, Mik is joined by Bryon Kroger, Founder and CEO of Rise8, and former co-founder and COO of the USAF's Kessel Run.
In this episode, Mik and Bryon’s conversation includes discussions around:
The remarkable story of Project Kessel Run at the U.S. Airforce
Driving change at large bureaucracies
Adopting a “think big, start small” strategy to software transformation
Paying attention to total cost of ownership of a value stream
Avoiding the Lean trap and alignment trap
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 Bryon Kroger, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/bryon-kroger/

Sep 22, 2020 • 54min
Episode 17: John Willis on Your Most Pressing Bottleneck
Joining Mik on this episode of Mik + One is John Willis, Senior Director of the Global Transformation Office at Red Hat.
In this episode, Mik and John discuss:
Embracing failure for continual learning
Flow Metrics as the next evolution of software delivery measurement
Where most waste and wait times are found
How team happiness is a leading indicator of value stream health
The right structure and measures for adaptive, complex systems
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 John Willis, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/john-willis/

Sep 8, 2020 • 54min
Episode 16: Dr. Nicole Forsgren & Dr. Denae Ford Robinson on Breaking Developer Persona Stereotypes
In this episode, Mik is joined by two guests: Dr. Nicole Forsgren, VP of Research & Strategy at GitHub, and Dr. Denae Ford Robinson, Senior Researcher in the SAINTes group at Microsoft Research.
Mik, Nicole and Denae had an energetic and insightful conversation about many topics, including:
Measuring productivity, and how leaders can utilize these insights to build diverse systems and measures to strengthen inclusion and diversity at scale
The importance of making the workflow, conversations and collaborations visible
Creating a company culture that embraces diversity and inclusion, and encourages employees to bring their authentic selves and ideas to the workplace
Breaking the stereotypes of developer personas and creating a safe working environment that encourages the intersection of personal and professional identities
The social fabric of an organization and how evolving technological architecture can increase flow and visibility, and create better outcomes
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. Nicole Forsgren & Dr. Denae Ford Robinson, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/dr-nicole-forsgren-dr-denae-ford-robinson/

Aug 25, 2020 • 1h 6min
Episode 15: Adrian Cockcroft on the CEO’s Most Critical Metric
Joining Mik in this episode of Mik + One is Adrian Cockcroft, VP of Cloud Architecture Strategy at Amazon Web Services.
In this episode, Mik and Adrian provide concrete advice on moving ahead in the digital world and cover many key discussion points including:
Insight into Adrian’s experiences establishing technical practices in organizations like eBay, Netflix and AWS
The importance of product-centred innovation in order to pave the path for faster success
Business agility, and why all organizations must have this in order to innovate and stay ahead of the competition
The importance of feedback loops when delivering software, with a key focus on the four stages of the OODA loop
The notion of ‘Flow Time’ or ‘Time to Value’ and why it is a crucial and powerful metric that all CEOs must prioritize
The use of VSM in order to achieve better decision making and build a scalable organization
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 Adrian Cockcroft, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/adrian-cockcroft/

Aug 10, 2020 • 34min
Episode 14: Heather Munoz on Visualizing Systems Thinking
In this episode of Mik + One, Mik’s guest is Heather Munoz, Head of Retail Brokerage Practice, E*TRADE.
In this episode, Mik and Heather discuss many topics including:
The importance of an effective tool network and how it supports an organization’s value streams
Using visualization and data to get people to understand systems thinking approach in order to deliver more value to the customer
Thinking in flow metrics and using them to help shift to product thinking
Characteristics of a good leader and how showing empathy can lead to greater results
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 Heather Munoz, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/heather-munoz/

Jul 27, 2020 • 36min
Episode 13: Don Reinersten on the Economic trade-offs in Product Development (Part 2)
In this episode of Mik + One, Mik continues the conversation with Don Reinertsen, President of Reinertsen & Associates, a product development consulting firm located in Redondo Beach, CA, and author of three best-selling books on product development: Developing Products in Half the Time; Managing the Design Factory: A Product Developer’s Toolkit; and The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development.
The second part of this two-part special includes discussions around:
Assessing the reserve buoyancy of a project.
Using loss of safety margin as a leading indicator of project deterioration
Becoming more rigorous about how we think about technical debt
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 Don Reinertsen, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/don-reinertsen-part-2/

Jul 14, 2020 • 54min
Episode 12: Don Reinersten on the Economic trade-offs in Product Development (Part 1)
In the twelfth Mik + One, Mik sits down with Don Reinertsen, President of Reinertsen & Associates, a product development consulting firm located in Redondo Beach, CA, and author of three best-selling books on product development: Developing Products in Half the Time; Managing the Design Factory: A Product Developer’s Toolkit; and The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development.
A wide variety of topics were discussed in the first half of this special two-part episode, including:
Viewing product development decisions as economic tradeoffs
Shifting from deterministic planning models to a stochastic perspective
Managing the Fuzzy Front End: the time from opportunity identification to commitment
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 Don Reinertsen, to view the full list of resources featured in this episode, and to download the episode transcript, visit:
https://projecttoproduct.org/podcast/don-reinertsen-part-1
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