It’s been a big couple of years in delivery.

The pace of change is relentless, and more and more of our clients are asking:

👉 How do we actually deliver what matters – faster, better, and with less issues?

That question is pushing a clear shift across all sectors including the insurance sector. Most large insurers we work with are either adopting, or seriously exploring, organising their teams around ‘value streams’ over traditional functions or silos.

While some are using bits of SAFe 6.0 or other scaling methodologies, most are creating their own flavour. But the trend is the same:

✅ Less siloed, scope-bound projects with long lead times

✅ More stable, cross-functional delivery teams aligned to real business outcomes ‘value’

Why? Because the old way just doesn’t work anymore.

Traditional project delivery simply isn’t fast or flexible enough for today’s environment.

We’ve seen this firsthand:

🔹 We helped one client implement value streams at scale. This led to an increased pace of change and better alignment from business strategy through to the work and outcomes produced by the teams.

🔹 At another, we helped a large transformation program implement some key aspects of value streams which helped aligned teams stay focused on end-to-end business features, improving quality and reducing lead time.

The opportunity for value streams is massive:

  • Improved delivery flow
  • Better prioritisation
  • Real clarity on value
  • Teams who know what success looks like

But here’s the catch: it’s not as simple as a new structure or rebranding your teams.

To make value streams stick, a few things need to come together:

🧠 Clear business ownership – not just in name, but in accountability

👥 The right people – cross-functional, capable, sticky teams

📊 Good metrics – not just story points, but data that tells you if you’re delivering value

⚙️ Fit-for-purpose tech – because no amount of agility will fix slow, fragile systems

💰 A pragmatic funding model – if you’re still writing business cases for every change, you’re already behind

Time …. Change takes time and patience – many sprints, quarters, years to embed with continuous feedback loops

We’ve also seen where it goes wrong:

  • Streams operating like a bunch of mini-projects with project mindsets
  • No real change to governance, technology operations, or leadership support
  • Misaligned cadences making it hard to synchronise the whole back to strategy

If you don’t invest in the foundations, you won’t see the benefits.

But when it works – it really works.

One client moved from dozens of standalone project business cases to a single regulatory value stream. It gave them visibility, agility, and confidence – and it saved time, money, and endless rework.

So if you’re thinking about moving from project to product, or from delivery to flow – value streams are the right conversation.

Just make sure you’re not stopping at the label. Do the work to make it real.

We’ve had the privilege of supporting some incredible people and teams on this journey – and if you’re exploring this in your business, I’d love to connect.

Thanks to everyone who’s been part of the ride so far – we’d love to hear your feedback and thoughts on value stream delivery – do you think it’s worth the hype?