"Value" based Scaling

When any organization scales, it considers various factors as well as scaling frameworks based on requirements as mentioned below:

https://www.pmi.org/disciplined-agile/agility-at-scale/tactical-agility-at-scale/scaling-factors

https://www.nimblework.com/blog/scaled-agile-frameworks/

However, with the context of this article, Here I am going to discuss 3 types of scaling which are based on the Value creation.

As we know, Lean or Agile organizations (which have adopted agile frameworks and methodologies such as Lean, Scrum, Kanban, etc.) focus on Constant Value delivery, Experimentation, Feedback loops, Efficiency, Collaboration, and Empowered Teams etc.

When they are required to Scale, they could adopt one of the following strategies inspired by Nature (as we know that every plant/tree delivers Value to its consumers such as humans, birds, insects, etc. in the form of leaves, flowers, fruits, etc.).

$1 Vertical Scaling

In this type of scaling, the organization scales vertically upwards, but "growth to value delivery" does not increase in Proportion. It often feels that ROI on this scaling is low or towards the end (on top of the tree in this example) more than Continuous/Frequent.

# Pros: High visibility, Tall stance

# Cons: Less value delivery in proportion to scaling (adding resources), Not much efficient, Late delivery, Highly risky.

$2 Horizontal Scaling

In this type of scaling, very heavy focus is given to Value delivery at any cost. Product-based Startup organizations often follow this strategy.

# Pros: Quick to scale (due to constant funding), High ratio of Scaling to Value creation, Relatively easy to scale/de-scale.

# Cons: Often less sustainable, After the long run becomes messy to manage.

$3 Symmetric Scaling

In this type of scaling, Value gets delivered at each scaling stage. Agile organizations often divide the main product into sub-products (consider here as as Epic or a Branch in the context of the tree) which can independently deliver value with minimum dependency on the other teams having their own cross-functional teams.

# Pros: Sustainable growth, Delivery of value as scaling progresses, Less risky, Sub-product/Team can be independent if required, Less risky.

# Cons: None

Finally, there is 1 more level of scaling which is not that common but worth mentioning.

$4 Emotional Scaling

In this type of scaling, the organization just scales without properly calculating the Value proposition. Hence it all looks good or feels comfortable on the surface but deep inside everyone knows that not much Value is being added with respect to the scaling level.

In a nutshell, apart from deciding Scaling framework, it is equally important how to scale organically so that Value can be delivered at each stage of growth without creating much disturbance to the previous teams. This can happen only if a Product is divided into sub-products so that each team can act as a separate Product team.