Proof of Value: Don't deliver it all - prove it works first

• Prove value fast or risk wasting months.

• Start small to learn fast, fail safe, and adapt.

• Build trust and momentum before scaling up.

Why “Proof of Value” Matters

You may have come across the term “proof of value” before. If so, you’ve probably found it hard to locate a clear, practical example—making it feel more theoretical than useful when it comes to project governance.

That’s a missed opportunity. This concept should sit at the core of project governance and be taught in every project management course as a central risk management strategy. It’s certainly a cornerstone of benefits-based governance and delivery.

Let me walk you through an example to show why.

A Failing Program and a Fresh Start

Back in 2001, I was asked to turn around a failing £70 million POS (point of sale, or "till") redevelopment program for one of the UK’s largest retailers, with around 1,100 stores nationwide. The project had just ticked over two years—and had yet to deliver a single working product. There were documents, and weekly reassurances from the prime contractor (a household name in technology since the 1950’s), but nothing tangible.

This was the biggest program I’d taken on in 13 years of delivery experience, including a decade with Ernst & Young. I was nervous. Would the techniques that had worked on smaller programs hold up at this scale, with a 150-person team?

They did. In fact, benefits-based governance—and especially the “proof of value” approach—had a disproportionately powerful effect at scale.

Resetting the Program

Within the first month, we had reframed and re-communicated the program’s goals around the business benefits we were accountable for delivering. We also made it abundantly clear that the prime contractor wasn’t up to the task. They were removed, despite a pre-negotiated £5 million severance fee. Then we got to work on a fresh start.

Now more than ever, we needed quick wins to rebuild confidence with the business owners - who remained deeply involved in day-to-day operations.

This is where “proof of value” came to the fore.

What a “Proof of Value” Actually Is

A “proof of value” is a small-scale solution that demonstrates—under real-world conditions—that we can deliver the business benefits we’ve committed to, even in a limited way.

The key insight is that proving value doesn’t require a complete solution. It doesn’t even need to be permanent. We run it for a short time, then revert to business as usual once the value is demonstrated.

This works because much of a full-scale solution is built to handle exceptions and integration—things that only matter when operating at scale. By skipping those initially, we can move fast and avoid major risk.

Identifying the Benefit

Within that first month, we’d clarified the key business objective: to run “median” stores with one fewer staff member. It sounds bold, but staff turnover was high, so the idea was simply not to replace one person who left in each store.

The hypothesis was that this saving could be achieved by changing how “long sales” were processed—things like mobile phone plans, warranties, and personal computers. These required back-office steps like credit checks and mobile service connections, which tied up the sales team and made other customers wait. Our idea was to let these long sales run in parallel.

Selecting a Store

The retailer had four brands: a whitegoods chain (like The Good Guys), a computer retailer (like Scorptec), an MVNO (like ALDI Mobile), and an electronics chain (like JB Hi-Fi).

We needed a store that was small, straightforward to operate, and representative of the benefit we were aiming to prove. The mobile phone stores were the natural choice—they were smaller and operationally simpler. We picked the nearest one so we could build a face-to-face working relationship with the team.

Building the Minimum Viable Proof

The next step was to define the simplest possible technical solution that could temporarily demonstrate the value of our time-saving idea.

Crucially, 90% of the solution was manual. We added a back-office staff member to simulate the back-end system, taking phone calls for each order and processing them per the existing method. The regular team didn’t need to learn anything new—perfect for a short, targeted test.

The system we built was tiny compared to what would come later. It didn’t handle admin functions like user setup or product configuration—we did all that manually behind the scenes. It wasn’t scalable, but it didn’t need to be. We weren’t building the full solution—we were proving the benefit.

My sponsor at the time coined a phrase I still use:

“The idea is to demonstrate the business benefits temporarily and on a tiny scale, but at an unsupportable cost.”

In our case, that “unsupportable cost” was the high level of manual work. We knew it wouldn’t scale—and that was fine. Scaling wasn’t the goal. Proving the benefit was.

The Results

We designed and ran this “proof of value” in under three months. It was a clear success—as these almost always are.

It delivered tangible time savings. Customers loved it—they could leave the store while the back-office work happened, then return to sign off and collect their purchase. That customer experience benefit turned out to be nearly as valuable as the cost-saving we set out to demonstrate.

The Ripple Effects

The power of an early win can’t be overstated—whether we’re rescuing a troubled program or starting a new one.

The team got an instant morale boost from delivering something real, instead of churning out documents. They got to engage directly with customers—energising work when you’re genuinely improving someone’s day.

Sponsors felt the shift too. They saw real results early and could see their investment was working—not just based on plans and promises, but actual outcomes.

Give It a Go

Try this on your next big, challenging initiative. It’s more achievable than it sounds—and it dramatically reduces risk.

When you're ready, here's how I can help:

Andrew Walker 
10 years AI strategy & implementation for executives in staff-heavy organisations, often with mobile workforces.

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