1 min lesson
The velocity pillar
Name the parts in "The velocity pillar" and give the practical job of each one.
Step 1 of 2
The velocity pillar
Velocity has three layers and they trade off against each other. The easiest one to measure sits furthest from the outcome the business cares about; the one closest to the outcome is the hardest to capture. Pick the layer deliberately and say which trade-off you're making.
- PR velocity
- PRs merged per period. Easiest to measure, furthest from the business outcome - more small PRs isn't more value, so it's the most gameable layer.
- Story-point velocity
- Estimated business value shipped per period. Closer to outcome, but org-dependent - points mean different things across teams, so it travels badly between accounts.
- Feature-completion velocity
- Whole features delivered end to end. Hardest to capture, closest to the outcome - it counts shipped value the customer can actually use, not commits.
Measurability falls and outcome-relevance rises as you move down. Most teams default to the top row because it's free; the bottom row is what a CTO is actually buying.
Reach past PR count when you can. Feature-completion velocity is harder to instrument, yet it's the only velocity layer that maps cleanly to value the customer experiences. A wall of merged PRs can sit on top of zero shipped features; a completed feature can't be faked the same way.