LPM Post

Dec
05
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Other Mental Models — Systems Thinking

Other Mental Models — Systems Thinking

LPM Post
Systems Thinking LPM considers the organization to be a network of linked value streams, making decisions with the overall impact on the entire system in mind rather than focusing solely on a single project. One gear could move the whole system. Example: Viewing the portfolio as a dynamic system, where changes to one project or investment can impact others, leading to a need for balancing priorities across the entire organization. One gear could move the whole system. Also... the whole system working as whole, not in parts, is Systems Thinking. Improve the whole, not just some parts. Just like a…
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Dec
04
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Other Mental Models

Other Mental Models

LPM Post
There are other Mental Models that you can use vis-a-vis LPM (Lean Portfolio Management). A Mental Model is a pattern your mind uses to understand the world. In a way, we all think, understand, behave, and act in a patterned way. It is the way your mind understands how something works. It is like a mental map or framework you use to interpret the world, solve problems, and make decisions... without needing to analyze every detail from scratch. Mental model = how you think. A side note: Mental Model is not, however, a sense-making map... that is what Cynefin is…
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Dec
03
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 12 – The Denouement

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 12 – The Denouement

LPM Post
5 Mental Models To Calm The Chaos in LPM There are 5 Mental Models used in LPM (Lean Portfolio Management) ... that you can also apply in life and any other aspects of your work (i.e., ART-level work or Team-level work): Mental Model #1: Limit Work to Increase Flow Old Mental Model: "More throughput needs more started work." New Mental Model: "Starting less = finishing more." Mental Model #1 instantly reduces/calms chaos. Mental Model #2: Capacity is a Real Constraint Old Mental Model: "Capacity? What capacity... just assign it to the teams. They will figure it out." New Mental Model: "We cannot…
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Dec
02
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 11

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 11

LPM Post
Mental Model #5 In Action: Feedback Over Prediction The Marshmallow Challenge Scene: Kindergarten In Rainbow Station Kindergarten, Teacher Lily divided her class into pairs and challenged all pairs to build as high a structure as they can with the materials on their respective table. On each pair's table are the following: a marshmallow (which must go as the tip of the structure), twenty spaghetti sticks, one yard tape, and one yard thread. The class was extremely excited. They all wanted to build a "Super Tall" building! So, the kids tried to build... On the first try, structures fell. They were…
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Dec
01
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 10

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 10

LPM Post
5 Mental Models There are 5 Mental Models used in LPM (Lean Portfolio Management) ... that you can also apply in life and any other aspects of your work (i.e., ART-level work or Team-level work): Mental Model #5: Feedback Over Prediction Old Mental Model: "Plan it perfectly upfront. Variance is failure." New Mental Model: "Short cycles help us adapt... before chaos hits." Mental Model #5 Calms chaotic flow by letting the system self-correct. Translating this to LPM (Lean Portfolio Management): Prediction = Big up-front planning; big up-front design. Feedback = MVPs, Learnings from experiments, Learning milestones, customer signals (not noise). Short…
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Nov
30
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 9

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 9

LPM Post
Mental Model #4 In Action: Make Work Visible Kanban + LPM In Action: The Big Classroom Project Scene: Kindergarten Your class wants to make a big Mural on the wall. But you cannot paint everything at once. You need to decide: What to do When to do it Who will do it That's what LPM (Lean Portfolio Management) does for the school. And Kanban helps everyone see -- visualize -- the plan... making work visible. Step 1: Ideas go to the "Funnel" box. One kid says: "Let's paint a big Nativity Night mural since Christmas is just around the corner!"…
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Nov
29
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 8

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 8

LPM Post
5 Mental Models There are 5 Mental Models used in LPM (Lean Portfolio Management) ... that you can also apply in life and any other aspects of your work (i.e., ART-level work or Team-level work): Mental Model #4: Make work visible Old Mental Model: "If I don't push, work will be ignored." New Mental Model: "If we visualize work, we can manage it." Mental Model #4 stabilizes/calms chaotic flow. LPM uses Portfolio Kanban to stabilize chaotic flow, and to visualize and manage work. To be continued ... LPM is on Amazon
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Nov
28
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 7

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 7

LPM Post
Mental Model #3 In Action: Strategy Before Execution Jeff Bezos’ Comet Strategy A comet has a “head” with a long “tail.” To Amazon, the “head” stands for the big sellers — profitable big items. The “long tail” stands for the “niche”/ rare items… but there are a lot of them! The aggregated sales of the “long tail” is greater than the sales of the aggregated “head.” How this “Comet Strategy” relates to LPM value flow The Portfolio “Head”: 1) Big initiatives 2) Loud stakeholders 3) High-Cost Epics But there is a large value hiding in the “Long Tail” … the…
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Nov
27
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 6

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 6

LPM Post
5 Mental Models There are 5 Mental Models used in LPM (Lean Portfolio Management) ... that you can also apply in life and any other aspects of your work (i.e., ART-level work or Team-level work): Mental Model #3: Strategy Before Execution. Old Mental Model: "Fund everything a little." New Mental Model: "Fund the few strategic things a lot." Strike a balance of funding strategic initiatives (the head), and niche / small work items that improve the system (the tail). Mental Model #3 reduces chaos from scattered investments. To be continued ... LPM is on Amazon
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Nov
26
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 5

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 5

LPM Post
Mental Model #2 In Action: Capacity is a Real Constraint Scenario 1 (good): A businessperson bought a shipping container to ship his goods from Denmark to the USA. That container has a fixed capacity vis-a-vis its dimension. The container's cost is also fixed. The schedule of the ship is also fixed. Time (schedule), Container capacity, and its cost are fixed. However, the content (scope) of the container is variable -- the businessperson can load the container with anything he wishes to load (if it is legal); however, the capacity is a real constraint. And it is okay... he cannot go…
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Nov
25
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 4

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 4

LPM Post
5 Mental Models There are 5 Mental Models used in LPM (Lean Portfolio Management) ... that you can also apply in life and any other aspects of your work (i.e., ART-level work or Team-level work): Mental Model #2: Capacity Is a Real Constraint. Old Mental Model: "Capacity? What capacity... forget that! Just assign the work to the teams. They will figure it out." New Mental Model: "We cannot commit beyond real capacity." Think of Capacity just like you would think about money. Capacity as currency. You must budget it... you cannot go beyond your means. Something must yield. Allocate it…
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Nov
24
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 3

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 3

LPM Post
Mental Model #1 In Action: Limit Work To Increase Flow and To Increase Finished Work Jacksonville, Florida. Summertime. In the summer of 2021, my family and I dropped by for lunch at Jollibee. The line of customers was long... and the wait time was not ideal... in fact, it was insufferable! The management -- sensing customer discontent -- put into play, Mental Model #1. They closed the "intake" of all orders (from online, phone-in, and walk-in). Then the manager directed her staff to focus on finishing the long queue of already "in-flight" orders. Mental Model #1 was invoked: Limit Work at its extreme sense:…
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Nov
23
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 2

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 2

LPM Post
Mental Models can make or break you. If leaders' Mental Models are: "Keep starting... in an unbridled way... and perhaps something finishes." "More work = more output." "My initiative is the most important... ROI is astronomical!" With that mindset, Chaos is inevitable... and it will grow... and more meetings and reports cannot take you out of Chaos! A new Mental Model is needed! To Calm The Chaos, leaders need new Mental Models that reshape how they work.   5 Mental Models   Here are 5 Mental Models used in LPM (Lean Portfolio Management) ... that you can also apply in…
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Nov
22
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 1

Connection of Mental Models to LPM — Calm The Chaos. Part 1

LPM Post
November 22, 2025, Charlotte International Airport. I noticed the sign: "Calm The Chaos". I said: "That's interesting... I see no chaos at all... whatever the airport is doing -- to Calm The Chaos -- is working!" So, I got curious... I observed... whilst waiting for my son's arrival -- he is coming home from Delaware to Charlotte, NC, for Thanksgiving with the fam. What I have observed... I can relate it -- the "Principle" of "Calm the Chaos" -- to the Portfolio and Mental Models! "Calm The Chaos" vis-a-vis Mental Models and LPM (Lean Portfolio Management). "Calm The Chaos" is…
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Nov
21
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Connection of Mental Models to LPM

Connection of Mental Models to LPM

LPM Post
There is a strong connection between Mental Models and Lean Portfolio Management (LPM). Mental Models and Lean Portfolio Management: Steve Jobs' Strategic Reset When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he was confronted with a sprawling, incoherent product lineup. To cut through the noise, he posed a deceptively simple question to his leadership team: “Which ones do I tell my friends to buy?” This question wasn't just tactical—it revealed a powerful mental model: clarity through customer-centric prioritization. Jobs used this model to expose the lack of strategic focus and alignment across Apple’s portfolio. Unable to justify the clutter, Jobs…
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Nov
20
2025
By Clarence Galapon
Mental Models

Mental Models

LPM Post
What is a Mental Model? It is the way your mind understands how something works. It is like a mental map or framework you use to interpret the world, solve problems, and make decisions. Why it matters: Mental models help you make sense of complex situations without needing to analyze every detail from scratch. The more (and better) mental model you have the better your judgement and problem solving become. Here are some useful Mental Models for LPM: Lean (Lean Thinking) and Agile (Agile Thinking) Systems and Science (Systems Thinking, Feedback Loop, Leverage, Game Theory, Entropy), General Thinking and Problem…
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Nov
19
2025
By Clarence Galapon
LPM — What is it and Who is it for?

LPM — What is it and Who is it for?

LPM Post
LPM (Lean Portfolio Management) helps organizations chart the best courses through Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. LPM aligns technology initiatives with strategic goals. LPM simplifies decision-making. LPM shows how it empowers portfolio leaders – to align strategy with execution, manage investments effectively, and deliver continuous value. LPM is not just for executives .... it is also for Business Owners, Architects, RTEs, Scrum Masters/Team Coaches, Coaches, Product Management, Product Owners ... basically, all roles and stakeholders – like the Value Management Office (VMO) and Lean Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) – critical in supporting execution and governance across the Portfolio. In…
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Nov
17
2025
By Clarence Galapon
LPM and Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz

LPM and Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz

LPM Post
Imagine you are like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. You are navigating a maze of investment priorities: new initiatives on-going commitments complex and dynamic demands unexpected twists and turns With the wrong approach, you can be left navigating the dark while technology investments veer off-track. But... what if you have a roadmap to guide the way... like the yellow brick road in the Wizard of Oz? Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) is the roadmap – the “yellow brick road!” LPM. Now on Amazon
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