In this episode, Peter Maddison and Dave Sharrock sit down with Steve Pereira, founder of Visible Flow Consulting, to talk about flow, value stream mapping, and why bolting new tools onto a broken system almost never works.
Steve works with large companies to improve operational performance through continuous delivery and large-scale collaboration. The conversations he keeps having aren't about cutting costs. They're about untethering capable people from the systems that are quietly getting in their way.
What we cover:
Why high utilization is often the enemy of good work
How lean thinking applies to knowledge work without losing what makes it different
What happens when you add AI on top of a system you don't fully understand
The "tight, loose, tight" pattern that quietly kills predictable delivery
Full kit: the concept that changes how you think about prioritization
Want all 4 takeaways? Don't miss the last few minutes of the episode.
📖 Book mentioned: Tools of Flow by Tody Goldratt
A practical read on triage, prioritization, and the concept of full kit. https://www.goodreads.com/es/book/show/75304520-goldratt-s-rules-of-flow
🎙️ About Definitely Maybe Agile
Hosted by Peter Maddison and Dave Sharrock, Definitely Maybe Agile is a weekly podcast exploring the real complexities of Agile, DevOps, and organizational change at scale. No buzzwords, no rigid frameworks. Just honest conversations from practitioners who have been in the trenches.
🌐 Website: definitelymaybeagile.com
📩 Feedback: feedback@definitelymaybeagile.com
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:11 The most common pain point Steve sees
03:12 Why efficiency is the wrong conversation
06:20 Flow vs efficiency
09:30 Value stream mapping in knowledge work
12:11 Dependencies in creative vs manufacturing contexts
17:08 Work in progress and the utilization trap
20:05 Prioritization and decision-making systems
27:18 AI and why you need to map first
30:45 Standardization and the resistance to it
34:56 Three (actually four) takeaways