Transformed

1. Transform to the Product Model for Consistent Innovation

The product operating model is about consistently creating technology-powered solutions that your customers love, yet work for your business.

Competitive advantage. In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, companies must transform to the product model to remain competitive. This model enables organizations to consistently innovate and respond effectively to market changes and customer needs.

Key components. The product model involves three critical dimensions:

• Changing how you build: Moving from infrequent, large releases to continuous delivery
• Changing how you solve problems: Empowering cross-functional teams to discover effective solutions
• Changing how you decide which problems to solve: Developing strong product leadership and strategy

Cultural shift. Transforming to the product model requires a significant cultural change, moving away from top-down, command-and-control structures to a more collaborative, empowered approach. This shift enables companies to leverage the full potential of their technology and talent to create innovative solutions that truly meet customer needs.

2. Empower Cross-Functional Product Teams to Solve Customer Problems

Innovation absolutely depends on empowered engineers.

Team composition. Empowered product teams consist of product managers, product designers, and engineers working collaboratively to solve customer problems. Each role brings unique expertise:

• Product managers: Responsible for value and viability
• Product designers: Responsible for usability
• Engineers: Responsible for feasibility

Direct access. Teams must have unencumbered access to:

• Users and customers
• Product data
• Business stakeholders

Collaborative problem-solving. By bringing together diverse perspectives and skills, empowered teams can discover innovative solutions that meet customer needs while aligning with business objectives. This approach leverages the technical knowledge of engineers, the customer insights of product managers, and the user-centric focus of designers to create truly effective products.

3. Change How You Build: Implement Continuous Delivery

Shipping lots of features may make you feel good, but unless that translates into real business results, you fail.

Frequent, small releases. Move from large, infrequent releases to continuous delivery of small, incremental changes. This approach:

• Reduces risk
• Improves product quality
• Enables faster response to customer needs

Key practices:

• Implement automated testing and deployment
• Instrument products for data collection and monitoring
• Develop robust deployment infrastructure for controlled releases

Benefits. Continuous delivery allows companies to quickly iterate on products, gather real-time feedback, and make data-driven decisions. This agility is crucial for staying competitive in fast-moving markets and meeting evolving customer expectations.

4. Adopt Product Discovery to Find Solutions Worth Building

Everything you build and deploy needs to be instrumented such that you know how your products actually are being used. Without this data, you are flying blind.

Risk assessment. Product discovery focuses on addressing four key risks before building:

• Value risk: Will customers buy or use it?
• Usability risk: Can users easily learn and use it?
• Feasibility risk: Can we build it with our current resources?
• Viability risk: Does it work for our business?

Rapid experimentation. Embrace techniques for quickly testing ideas:

• Prototyping
• User interviews
• A/B testing
• Data analysis

Evidence-based decisions. By thoroughly exploring and validating ideas before committing resources to building, teams can significantly reduce waste and increase the likelihood of creating successful products that deliver real value to customers and the business.

5. Develop Strong Product Leadership and Strategy

The heart of the matter is the question: What is more important for this effort: hitting this date or accomplishing this outcome?

Strategic context. Product leaders are responsible for providing:

• Compelling product vision (3-10 years out)
• Insight-driven product strategy
• Effective team topology
• Clear team objectives

Coaching and development. Leaders must prioritize coaching their teams, spending significant time developing the skills of product managers, designers, and engineers.

Outcome focus. Shift from output-based metrics to outcome-based goals, holding teams accountable for business results rather than simply shipping features. This approach encourages innovation and ensures that product efforts align with overall business objectives.

6. Establish New Product Model Competencies

To be explicit on this critical point, if the tech lead is unable or unwilling to engage in product discovery, then you are very likely guaranteeing that the eventual product will not achieve your goals.

Key roles:

• Product managers: Deep understanding of customers, data, and business
• Product designers: Skilled in interaction design and prototyping
• Tech leads: Engaged in both discovery and delivery

Skill development. Invest in developing these competencies through:

• Targeted hiring
• Ongoing coaching and training
• Clear job definitions and expectations

Collaboration. Foster a culture of collaboration among these roles, encouraging shared ownership of product outcomes and leveraging diverse perspectives to drive innovation.

7. Transform Organization Culture to Support Innovation

100% predictability = 0% innovation.

Key principles:

• Principles over process
• Trust over control
• Innovation over predictability
• Learning over failure

Experimentation mindset. Encourage teams to take calculated risks and learn from both successes and failures. Create an environment where it's safe to experiment and iterate rapidly.

Continuous improvement. Foster a culture of ongoing learning and adaptation, regularly reflecting on processes and outcomes to identify areas for improvement.

8. Partner Effectively with Stakeholders and Executives

Product teams depend on executives to provide as many degrees of freedom as possible to solve the problems they're assigned.

Collaborative relationships. Build strong partnerships with:

• Sales
• Marketing
• Finance
• Customer success
• Executives

Clear communication. Regularly share product vision, strategy, and outcomes with stakeholders to build trust and alignment.

Balancing needs. Work to find solutions that meet both customer needs and business constraints, involving stakeholders early in the discovery process to address potential issues.

9. Address Common Objections to Transformation

If you're working on changing how you solve problems, this begs the question: Where are the problems coming from?

Common concerns:

• Loss of control for stakeholders
• Perceived lack of predictability
• Resistance to changing roles and responsibilities
• Fear of job security

Addressing objections:

• Clearly communicate the benefits of the product model
• Provide examples of successful transformations
• Offer training and support for new roles
• Demonstrate early wins to build confidence

Continuous evangelism. Regularly reinforce the principles and benefits of the product model throughout the organization to maintain momentum and support for the transformation.

10. Measure Success by Business Impact and Customer Value

If a product team doesn't produce real results for your customers and your company, then what have you really accomplished?

Outcome-based metrics. Focus on:

• Customer adoption and satisfaction
• Revenue growth
• Cost reduction
• Market share gains

Continuous improvement. Regularly assess and iterate on products based on real-world data and customer feedback.

Long-term perspective. Recognize that transformation is an ongoing process, with success measured over time through sustained innovation and business growth. Celebrate both quick wins and long-term achievements to maintain momentum and motivation throughout the organization.

Last updated: August 9, 2024