Need for SPEED? Starts with the CANVAS
What the F-35 Case Reveals—and How the Lean Procurement Canvas Can Help
Over the past few months, I’ve been working with governments, enterprises, and ecosystem-driven organizations—and one thing has become crystal clear:
In a world defined by volatility and complexity, the fundamentals matter more than ever:
✅ A shared vision
✅ Clearly agreed constraints
✅ And the ability to adapt without losing direction.
Take the historic procurement of the F-35 fighter jets in Switzerland. A once-in-a-generation decision—high stakes, high visibility.
And yet, when we look beyond the headlines, the process reveals a persistent truth:
Procurement is still too often treated as a formal process—
📕 A checklist to be completed
🧾 A series of documents to be filed
🔒 A box-ticking exercise instead of a strategic capability that drives real impact.
That’s a missed opportunity.
🧠 Rethinking Procurement as a Strategic Capability
That’s why we created the Lean Procurement Canvas— a one-page framework to rethink, co-design, and steer complex procurement initiatives in a modern, outcome-focused, and collaborative way.
It shifts the focus from:
“What is the process?” ➡️ to “What outcome are we trying to achieve—and how can we best enable it?”
After 9 years in practice and countless success stories, the feedback is clear:
“Finally, a canvas that helps us design procurement like a business case—modern, outcome-driven, and collaborative.”
🔍 F-35 Case on the Canvas: A Thought Experiment
Imagine if the F-35 procurement had been mapped through the Lean Procurement Canvas:
High-Level Concept: What’s the strategy & Mission we’re supporting
True North: What are the key objectives
Conditions: What are the frame conditons & constraints
Need & Outcome: What military and geopolitical capability gaps were we solving? What measurable outcomes were expected?
etc.
If we had asked these questions early and openly, would the discourse and outcome have looked different?
🧠 LEARN MORE about the Lean Procurement Canvas
💬 Let’s Make Procurement Strategic Again
The good news? We now have the tools—and the mindset shift is happening.
✅ From compliance to co-creation
✅ From cost-only to value and impact
✅ From rigid process to adaptive strategy
And the Lean Procurement Canvas is here to help lead that shift.
Learn more about the Swiss F-35 Procurement in another blog post below:
Check out the U.S. Speed Act and how this all plays together:
👉 What stands out to you?
Have you experienced similar challenges in high-stakes procurement?
Drop your thoughts in the comments—or message me if you'd like to explore how this could work in your context.
📩 Want to see a real-world example applied to defense, health, or infrastructure?
I’m happy to share a canvas walkthrough.