👇 Here are 10 different ways to CONSTRAIN DEMAND in large-scale digital portfolios:

Building on yesterday’s post, balancing capacity and demand is the secret to getting a system into a state of flow.

Again, there are two levers: Increase Capacity and Constrain Demand.

There’s a misconception that constraining demand means saying “No” to all new ideas. But that’s not how you do it.

👇 Here are 10 different ways to constrain demand in large-scale digital portfolios:

1️⃣ Introduce a Triage Discipline

Just like in emergency services, every new “patient” (idea/initiative) should go through a triage process. Assess whether it should be done now, next, later, or not at all. Use cost of delay in starting to make informed economic decisions.

2️⃣ Use the Guillotine Approach for Work-in-Progress

Automatically abandon or abort any flow item sitting idle for over 12 weeks.

3️⃣ Use the Guillotine Approach for Future Work

Automatically discard any flow item sitting in the backlog for over 24 weeks.

4️⃣ Establish a WIP-controlled, Pull-based system

Only start work when the system signals upstream that it has capacity.

5️⃣ Introduce Stricter Pull-Transaction Policies

Make explicit and enforce conditions for each workflow step. What must the flow item satisfy to be pulled into the next stage?

6️⃣ Reduce Time to Commit and Batch Size

Make smaller commitments more often.

7️⃣ Introduce Filtering for Selecting Work

Apply filters when choosing work from a large pool of options, e.g., fix only bugs affecting 100k+ users.

8️⃣ Host Regular Replenishment Meetings

Given your complex and multifaceted landscape, form a cross-functional/cross-divisional group of leaders to analyse the next right work to start, leveraging the wisdom of the crowd.

9️⃣ Say “Maybe Later” to Non-Essential Work

Defer commitment to any work that doesn’t directly contribute to the core mission.

🔟 Prioritise Work Based on Probability Distributions

Your division aims to complete 150 flow items next quarter. The data shows there’s an 85% confidence that 52 will be completed. A 60% confidence for another 37, and a 15% chance for a remaining 49. Knowing that, which 52 items would you prioritise?

What else can help constrain demand in a healthy and sustainable way? Share your thoughts below!