From Project to Product – Coaching for Fit-for-Purpose

Situation

A key electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure player was undergoing a pivotal transition from project-based delivery to a product-oriented model.

This required not just a change in operating model, but a cultural evolution to ensure delivery capability, leadership alignment, and improved stakeholder engagement.

Adaptavis, the end client’s transformation partner, recognised the complexity of this challenge and engaged MilUX to embed specialist coaching capability within the organisation.

Context

The transformation initiative aimed to increase stakeholder engagement, streamline initiative triage, and improve operational transparency through better alignment between strategy and delivery.

To support these goals within one of the organisation’s value streams, one of several key areas, Adaptavis contracted MilUX for specialist coaching support.

Matt Odell, founder of MilUX, was assigned as the coach and consultant delivering services from mid-2022 through to 2023.

The transformation support from MilUX centred on one of the Value Streams within the EV company, one of several value streams orchestrated to deliver outcomes aligned with their broader business strategy.  Adaptavis had been contracted to support the shift to a strategic portfolio-based operating model and increase organisational maturity.

Matt Odell helped embed modern service delivery practices, provided coaching support for leadership, and helped grow internal capability through training and mentoring.

Activity

Matt Odell acted as a coach across three intersecting domains:

Kanban Method and Kanban Maturity Model Coaching – Matt introduced and embedded cadences associated with Maturity Levels 1 and 2 of the Kanban Maturity Model (KMM). These included Team Kanban Meetings, Flow Reviews, Blocker Clustering, and Workflow Replenishment. The aim was to transition teams from reactive, unstructured work towards disciplined, evolutionary change. Coaching was tailored to team-level constraints and maturity, ensuring relevance and stickiness.

Fit-for-Purpose Training and Evolutionary Change – MilUX facilitated simulations and playbooks on Cost of Delay, Flow Economics, and Service Orientation. This was done through targeted training workshops, including economic modelling for different types of demand, and through mentoring leaders to integrate the Fit-for-Purpose Framework (F4P) into their strategy and OKR processes.

Leadership and Organisational Design Coaching – Alongside capability uplift, Matt coached leaders on the organisational structures needed for sustainable delivery. This included advice on business change functions, recruitment strategies, career frameworks, and governance models. These insights supported broader objectives such as the redesign of the PMO, the creation of new outcome-focused teams, and OKR literacy across the company

Result

Through this engagement, the Value Stream shifted from ad hoc delivery to an evidence-based, service-oriented operating model. Key outcomes included:

• Full implementation of Kanban Maturity Model Level 2 practices within the team.

• Embedded economic modelling practices to assess initiative viability.

• Adoption of Fit-for-Purpose thinking at both operational and leadership levels.

• Stronger cohesion between strategy (OKRs) and delivery (Kanban Method).

• Emergence of internal capability to sustain and scale these practices.

This work directly contributed to the impact described in Adaptavis’s case study with SRS, particularly around stakeholder engagement, strategic portfolio creation, and improved flow of value through outcome teams.

Impact

MilUX’s coaching supported Adaptavis in enabling the Value Stream to realise a significant evolution in capability, from fragmented project execution to unified product-focused delivery.

The integration of the Kanban Method, the Kanban Maturity Model, and the Fit-for-Purpose framework ensured that the transformation was implemented and internalised.

Most importantly, leadership and teams were empowered with the tools, language, and mindset to evolve continuously, positioning the Value Stream to adapt quickly in a competitive landscape.