36 years of research into how the fastest technology teams actually work.
Fast-Time-to-Market (FTTM) was first researched in the early 1990s through an extensive multi-company study of 500+ people in Silicon Valley. It has been continuously refined through hundreds of global engagements. It predates Agile and anticipated Lean. It works on projects Agile cannot address.
The study that predated Agile.
In the early 1990s, lateralworks conducted a groundbreaking multi-company research project studying 500+ people involved in fast-to-market projects in Silicon Valley. The goal was simple: what actually separates fast teams from slow ones?
The answer was a set of observable, reproducible best practices — not platitudes, but specific behaviors around how teams were organized, how products were defined, and how execution was managed. FTTM was built from these practices.
Every client engagement since has added to the research base. The practices have been culturally refined across deployments in the US, Germany, China, and elsewhere. What works in San Jose changes in Shanghai. The research is ongoing.
Five pillars. One integrated system.
Mindset
Fast companies don't just move quickly — they believe speed is the most critical asset they have. This mindset is understood by leadership and practiced consistently. They don't just say it. They do it. The FTTM Mindset pillar defines what separates the cognitive patterns of fast teams from normal ones.
Host
The Host is the organization outside the project team — functional management, executive leadership, resource owners. In fast organizations, the Host empowers teams, removes interrupts, and provisions resources when needed. In slow organizations, the Host interrupts, over-fills the pipeline, and controls cost without understanding its economic impact on speed.
Team
Fast teams are organized around integrated deliverables rather than functional outputs. They are self-contained, heavyweight, and cross-functional. They have the authority to make decisions without escalating. They engage the customer continuously and iterate based on real feedback — not assumed requirements.
Portfolio
Portfolio management is the front-end of the FTTM system. Deciding what projects to do — and aligning them with business strategy and available resources — determines whether the back-end execution can succeed. Over-filled pipelines kill fast teams. Strategic portfolio discipline enables them.
Execution
The FTTM execution system starts with a macro plan — a high-level view of the project that fits on one page. It cascades into detailed micro plans, connected through the Macro-Micro Roll-up. Refresh Planning updates the schedule weekly, pulls in near-term tasks, and drives teams to look forward, not backward.
8 principles of the FTTM System.
End in Mind
FTTM schedules are always built from Doneness Criteria. Define completion before you define the work.
No Constraints
Plan optimally first, then assess gaps. Planning within constraints hides reality and compromises outcomes.
Engage the Team
People beat goals they set themselves. Teams must be engaged in planning and solutioning to own the outcome.
Macro Before Micro
Abstract complexity first. A one-page macro plan that everyone grasps is more valuable than a 50,000-line schedule no one understands.
Look Forward
The best teams spend equal time looking forward and back. You can influence the future; you cannot recover the past.
Accelerate Learning
Innovation projects succeed by accelerating learning cycles — design, test, learn, iterate — not by avoiding failure.
Lateral Integration
Connect silos horizontally around the work flow. The critical path runs across functions, not within them.
Adaptive Implementation
One size does not fit all. FTTM must morph to fit culture and readiness. Push the envelope; don't break it.
They can coexist. One fills the critical gap.
FTTM was developed in 1990-1991 through original research. Agile emerged in 2001 with roots in the 1980s. Both approaches share the same foundational insight — eliminate bureaucracy, involve the customer, iterate rapidly.
The critical missing link in Agile tools: no integrated schedule, no critical path, no ability to predict an end date or close a gap. Ask any Agile team when they'll finish. They can't tell you. They know what's happening in the next two weeks.
FTTM provides the integrated thread that Agile lacks — the critical path that connects everything from today to the end of the program. Agile and FTTM can coexist. We've proven it on software programs that were consistently missing deadlines under Agile until we introduced FTTM's critical path discipline.
Go deeper into the methodology.
166 articles covering every aspect of FTTM — from critical path analysis to portfolio strategy to team structure.