Is your team obsessed with building MVPs? It's time to rethink.

The term "Minimum Viable Product" has lost its way.

Over the years, the focus on MVPs has pushed many teams toward an output-over-outcome mindset. But here's the thing:

The term MVP obscures what really matters

Instead, I break an MVP down into two crucial components:

1. MER (Minimum Effort for Return)
2. MEL (Minimum Effort to Learn)

👉 MER: Are you proving value and viability? What is the smallest effort you can invest to show real return to your business or customer?

👉 MEL: Are you learning something about your customer, business, or team that moves you forward? How can you use minimum effort to gain maximum insight?

🔑 If your team can articulate these two components clearly, you'll stop focusing on "what can we push out next?" and start asking "what value are we creating?"

💡 MVPs should be more than just quick releases; they should drive learning and return. This shift in thinking takes us away from simply shipping features toward delivering true value—outcomes over outputs.

Teams that focus on MER and MEL consistently deliver higher impact

Think about it: When you learn more and provide real returns, you build trust with stakeholders and customers. You get better at predicting, adapting, and truly serving your users.

Next time your team talks MVPs, challenge them: Is this about learning or creating return? If not, why are we doing it?