Panel: “How Leadership Impacts Transformation Success”

Throughout my career as an engineer and engineering leader, the business saw my role and teams as cost centers. Cost control was mainly achieved through reducing the workforce, which had its own challenges. However, my passion lies in aligning software engineering efforts with business outcomes. Product and technology are integral to the business. We can connect engineering work to business outcomes. Today, we have the practices, technology, and data visibility to address this effectively.

My goal is to lead software engineering initiatives that align with business outcomes. We will enhance senior leadership’s understanding and alignment, invest in people, and leverage team design, technology, and modern industry practices. Our ways of delivering software aim to become a benchmark for competitive success.

“The problem is that most of us are working with an outdated playbook: plays that we have been programmed to run from an older paradigm of leadership—the Industrial Revolution.” – David L. Marquet

The leaders of organizations that delivered software in the previous era need to relearn how to deliver it today. To win, you will have to unlearn, relearn, and

Rethink Your Understanding^®

Regardless of the bottom-up or top-down approach, the success of organizational change depends on top leaders’ experience and understanding. Outdated models and a lack of understanding of leadership can lead to conflicts and unsuccessful change attempts.

“It’s not what you know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you think you know.” — Mark Twain.

Become a Relearning Organization: You’re Never Done

Adaptive leaders always look for ways to improve because of today’s rate of change and understanding that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. My goal with this site is to give you an inside look at my leadership style, how I serve and collaborate with others, my view on digital product delivery, and how I recognize success in product and technology.

About Me

Vice President Engineering | Technology Leader | Industry Collaborator | Effective Software Delivery | Embracing AI

Vice President Technology connecting software engineering efforts to business outcomes.

Former Board Director, Value Stream Management Consortium (now Flowtopia.io)

I’m a technology leader with 25+ years of experience transforming how software is delivered by rethinking everything from team structures and practices to leadership mindsets.

I currently lead global technology and engineering teams, as well as Agile delivery practices. My goal is to build and sustain teams that are outcome-driven, autonomous, engaged, efficient, and focused on clear business value.

Over the last decade, we’ve transitioned from a traditional waterfall approach to a modern, product-centric framework, evolving our delivery capabilities to incorporate Agile, Lean, and DevOps principles. This shift made our investments more visible through value stream management, unlocking speed, alignment, and resilience.

Fundamental transformation is about leadership. Starting in the waterfall era with functional teams, I had to unlearn old approaches and adopt new management practices, delivery methods, and team structures to stay competitive in today’s fast-paced environment.

I’ve spent years collaborating and sharing experiences with other industry leaders who face these same challenges, learning as much from missteps as from successes. Through collaborations, board work, executive roundtables, and workshops, I stay grounded in what works across diverse environments, bringing those lessons back to my teams and culture.

At Parchment, this meant growing an organization from $5M to $110M, building globally distributed teams across 10+ countries, growing from 30 to over 175 engineers, and achieving consistently high retention through intentional hiring and career development. I’ve supported technical diligence for 9 acquisitions and multiple investment rounds, translating engineering capability into strategic business value.

In addition to my day job, I serve as a Flow Coach with Flowoptia.io, the next-generation organization that evolved from the Value Stream Management Consortium, where I previously served as a Board Director. I continue to collaborate with industry leaders, mentor emerging talent, and contribute to discussions that connect strategy with measurable change.

If there’s one theme in my career, it’s this: stop treating technology like overhead and start leading it like your biggest advantage.

I’m now focused on making the most meaningful impact of my career, helping organizations build systems and cultures that empower people, deliver value, adopt AI to accelerate software delivery, and leave something better behind.

Learn more from my mission, collaboration, and posts.

Connect or follow:

philclark RYU

Today’s Agile, Lean, and DevOps communities are among the most inspiring resources we have. As we focus on engineering and product delivery excellence, we’re also looking for effective ways to lead lasting change. I’m committed to collaborating with senior leaders who are ready to rethink how we work, lead, and deliver. It’s not about pushing practices. It’s about shifting mindsets and learning what’s truly possible.

Some of the most significant turning points in my career didn’t come from frameworks or certifications. They came from conversations. Honest ones. In trusted spaces where, experienced leaders from noncompeting organizations let down their guard, shared what wasn’t working, and challenged each other to think differently. That’s the power of collaboration when it’s done right.

Most senior leaders won’t talk about the hard stuff in public. But in the right room where trust is built, and there’s no need to posture, that’s where the real learning happens. That’s where meaningful change begins.

Working across different eras of software delivery has shaped my perspective on progress. The shift in mindset, the rise of automation and visibility, the pace of change, and the culture of learning have kept me deeply engaged. I’ve had the privilege of sharing this journey with some of the most thoughtful and courageous transformation leaders in our industry. Comparing our team’s evolution to industry benchmarks, I’ve observed the same patterns emerge: customer experience improves when system flow improves, delivery becomes faster and smarter, and teams thrive in the right environment.

There’s still a lot of work ahead to help organizations deliver digital products more effectively. But I’ve learned this: sharing experiences helps. It creates momentum. It changes minds. And sometimes, it changes everything.

Let’s talk.

Stay curious. Learn to unlearn. Rethink your understanding.

What I talk about

It takes a Team

“Let me be clear, you only get things done through committed teams” – Mark Fields, former Ford Motor company CEO

Great people at all levels and great teams help drive the journey together.

I am grateful for the variety of talented teams, leaders, mentors (personal and virtual), coaches, peers, industry collaborators, publishing’s, and my experiences that have helped me to shape my understandings. The journey thus far has been a very challenging and rewarding one.

“You’re either a learning organization or you’re losing to someone who is.” ~Andrew Clay Shafer

Incredible Conversation

Conversations can help you and your team learn how others are framing their journey, identify what to amplify, and sparking questions to find unexpected sources of inspiration to succeed within their own context.

I have participated in discussions about digital transformations, contexts, and practices with thought leaders and participants from various organizations.

Non-Affiliation Disclaimer: This web site is not endorsed by, directly affiliated with, maintained, authorized, or sponsored by any organization. All company names are the registered trademarks of their original owners. The use of any trade name or trademark is for identification and reference purposes only and does not imply any association with the trademark holder of their product brand.