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ÆVRI, Aeilus Value Research Institute

Aeilus Value Research Institute (ÆVRI)

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Methodology Papers

How to Assess Value: From Intuition to a Research Methodology

Value does not have to be measured in absolute units. In many decisions it is enough to determine which of the available actions brings a specific subject closer to the desired state. This note proposes one methodology with several levels of depth: from a quick assessment to collective expert judgement and empirical verification. It starts from the target state rather than from scores, checks causal links and alternatives, accounts for psychological biases, and ends with a practical decision card and a research programme for the institute.

value assessmentdecision makinggoal settingcognitive biasescollective estimationbucket estimationresearch methodology
Victor Bolshakov · 15 Oct 2026Not evaluated yet
Methodology Papers

Value Ownership Without Hierarchy: The Æilus Role and Process Model

In functional hierarchies every unit owns a process, but no one owns the value flow that crosses units and is realized at the receiving actor. This paper, written for managers, product and engineering leaders and operations, presents the Æilus v2.0 role and process model as a way to make value ownership explicit without adding command layers. It sets out the six roles, the mandatory process groups and events, an artifact allocation per role, an adoption path, and the risks of role inflation, bureaucracy and value theatre with their safeguards.

value ownershipÆilus rolesValue Transformer OwnerValue System OwnerFlow Owneroperating cycleartifacts and reportsvalue theatre
Victor Bolshakov · 1 Oct 2026Value +60
Methodology Papers

Wrapping OKRs and KPIs with Value: Prioritisation in a Common Value Currency

OKRs set direction and KPIs control quality, but in management systems all objectives look equal, so the convenient and the measurable tend to win over the important. This paper, for managers and product, engineering, operations and strategy leaders, proposes a value layer over existing goals: each objective and indicator receives a planned value and an anti-value estimate in Æ, tied to a named value system and owner, and is later checked against realized value. It gives the required record per objective, an eight-step adoption procedure, an illustrative example and safeguards against false precision and gaming.

OKRKPIprioritisationvalue currencyanti-valueplanned and realized valueaggregation policyGoodhart's law
Victor Bolshakov · 1 Oct 2026Value +120
Methodology Papers

Practices Are Local Value Systems: Domains, Policies and the End of 'Best Practices'

Practices copied from other organisations often fail to deliver, because a practice carries its form but not the value system that made it work. This paper, for managers and product and engineering leaders, defines a practice as a local value system with a declared value hypothesis, sets out when a practice is admissible under domain policies, and gives a structure for building and maintaining a practices collection.

practicesbest practicesdomainsdomain policiesadmissibilitypartial commensurabilitypractices cataloguevalue transformer
Victor Bolshakov · 1 Oct 2026Value +600
Methodology Papers

Measuring Value Flows in Software Delivery with the Value System Schema

Velocity, throughput and DORA-style delivery metrics describe how work moves through a pipeline, but not what value it delivers or what anti-value it creates. This paper gives product and engineering leaders a method for modelling a software product's value system with the Value System Schema (VSS) and the VSS Editor, and for comparing planned, realized and retrospective value per release. It covers flow resistance, leakage, shared nodes such as authorisation and API gateways, roles, cadence and the limits of the approach.

value system schemaVSS Editorsoftware deliveryplanned and realized valueanti-valueflow resistanceshared servicesdelivery metrics
Victor Bolshakov · 1 Oct 2026Value 0
Government

Public service as a value system

Ideas from Value Management Theory for public institutions: people who deliver services, the institution and citizens are three value systems that need to fit together.

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ÆVRI is open to researchers, engineers, leaders and practitioners who study value and the practices that change it. Authors can be individuals or organisations.

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Publication Guidelines

Publication Rules & FAQ

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What should my research include?
A title, a short value summary, key findings and their value, how the research was done, the materials and data used, and a few metadata fields: dates, category, technical domain, tags, author and co-authors.
Who can publish?
Researchers, practitioners and organisations. No academic degree, university affiliation, DOI or citation style is required.
How are works reviewed?
Each submission is reviewed before publication. Review checks quality; reader evaluation after publication measures usefulness.
How does Value work?
Readers choose one of six reactions, from "Brilliant, I want to apply this" (+500) to "Negative emotions" (-100). How value is evaluated.

An independent online community of researchers and experts exploring value and the practices that create, transform and preserve it.

Founded by Victor Bolshakov, the author of the Æilus methodology and the Theory of Value Management.

Researchers
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Experts
2
Research works
11
Learning materials
6
News
14

Latest news

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Institute

Call for research: value in engineering teams

In October and November, ÆVRI invites research on how engineering teams create, lose and shift value. Practitioners are welcome, and no degree is required.

14 Oct 2026Value +20

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Awards

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Rules and nominations will be published before the first round.

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