Managing a Balanced Portfolio Competency
Business Problem
We struggle to balance long-term strategic investments with immediate demands, failing to maximize economic outcomes.
Business Outcomes
- Ability to adapt to market changes and respond to strategic opportunities.
- Accelerated delivery of high-value strategic initiatives.
- Achieve a balance between short-term needs and long-term strategic goals.
Why is the Managing a Balanced Portfolio Competency important?
"If you are in high tech, or for that matter in any other sector characterised by recurrent disruption, you can't sit still. You simply have to be a growth company." - Geoffrey Moore, Zone to Win [1]
This competency directly addresses the persistent challenge faced by large technology organizations: balancing urgent, short-term demands with critical long-term strategic goals to maximize overall economic value and competitive advantage across all significant portfolio investments. Mastering this competency empowers portfolio leaders to overcome the constant tension between immediate needs and future growth
It demonstrates how SAFe’s Lean Portfolio Management Discipline (LPM) provides the practices for portfolio leaders to consistently deliver on their most critical portfolio-level initiatives (Epics).
Which roles would benefit from mastering this competency?
This competency is relevant for anyone involved in identifying, defining, analyzing, prioritizing, funding, and implementing strategic initiatives (Epics) across a Portfolio utilizing lean-agile practices. It will benefit Portfolio Leadership, Epic Owners, Business Owners, Release Train Engineers (RTEs), Solution Management, Product Management, and VMO members.