The 5 Obstacles to High-Performing Teams Maarten Dalmijn Why Organizations Sprout Bureaucratic Tentacles And How Teams Can Escape Their Soul-Crushing Grasp 

“The conductor of an orchestra doesn't make a sound. He depends, for his power, on the ability to make other people powerful.” - Benjamin Zander <3 Classical Music 

Obsession with Teams The Product Manager of a team doesn't make the product. We can’t do a good job when our teams don’t perform well. 

Hired as a PM for the first time Once up on a time, in a galaxy far, far away... 

Hired as a PM for the first time 6 months in: I suck 

Best-performing team Hired as a PM for the first time 6 months in: I suck 

Best-performing team Hired as a PM for the first time 6 months in: I suck 2nd team 

Best-performing team Hired as a PM for the first time 6 months in: I suck 2nd team 3rd team 

Best-performing team Hired as a PM for the first time 6 months in: I suck 4th team 2nd team 3rd team 

High-performing team Hired as a PM for the first time 6 months in: I suck 4th team 5th team 2nd team 3rd team 

Best-performing team Hired as a PM for the first time 6 months in: I suck 4th team 5th team FML: Ready to quit 2nd team 3rd team 

Best-performing team Hired as a PM for the first time 6 months in: I suck 4th team 5th team 2nd team 3rd team Help Barcelona office Ready to quit 

Best-performing team Hired as a PM for the first time 6 months in: I suck 4th team 5th team Ready to quit 2nd team 3rd team Help Barcelona office Exhausted 

My Initial Realization Next job: I want to work with people with lots of experience. More experienced people = better teams 

Hired after 8 interviews 

First week: WTF is this mess Hired after 8 interviews 

First week: WTF is this mess Hired after 8 interviews Running smoothly 

First week: WTF is this mess Hired after 8 interviews Can you help this other team? Running smoothly 

First week: WTF is this mess Pretty please? Hired after 8 interviews Can you help this other team? Running smoothly 

First week: WTF is this mess Pretty please? Hired after 8 interviews Can you help this other team? Running smoothly This one too? 

First week: WTF is this mess Pretty please? Hired after 8 interviews Can you help this other team? Running smoothly This one too? And this one? 

First week: WTF is this mess Pretty please? Hired after 8 interviews Can you help this other team? Running smoothly This one too? And this one? ROCK BOTTOM 

Mind Blown I kept nagging our CTO why he would not let one of our PMs run the roadmapping process. Their response in front of all ten PMs: “I don’t trust any of you.” 

Leaders don’t trust their teams We create rules, processes and hierarchy to prevent having to trust our teams Teams struggle to make decisions and deliver The Cycle of Distrust Distrust breeds distrust When you don’t trust your people you will develop an organization where you can’t trust your people. 

I was Wrong... Lack of expertise is not what makes Product Management difficult. 

If Companies would be half as good at Product Management as the applicants who complete their interview assignments, we would be seeing far better products. How do we fix this? Companies are the Problem 

Interviewing for the Job Interviewing for the Job 

Interviewing for the Job Interviewing for the Job Doing the Job Doing the Job 

Why The Massive Delta? Interviewing for the Job Interviewing for the Job Doing the Job Doing the Job 

Optimizing Your Organisation For Teams CACAO The 5 Obstacles to High Performing Teams 

Collaboration Collaboration Autonomy Autonomy Context Context Alignment Alignment Organizational System Organizational System Decided to rebuild their product New app must be finished before Ace headphones Managers yelled at developers when they said the app wasn’t ready Teams were organized around silos Ship it no matter the quality Plus: go public, restructure team to silos, launch more products, and get rid of QAs 

Teams Do Work To Create Value Team Work Results We Want If the work is linear and predictable, internal obstacles don’t matter as much. 

Delivering a Feature is Like Telling a Joke Delivering features doesn’t mean you are delivering value, just like telling a joke doesn’t mean people will laugh. 

Not Linear, But Messy Team Work Results We Want If the work is messy and unpredictable, we must decrease the distance and friction between the team and the results we want 

Brittle Teams Team Brittle Team Other Teams Departments Business Units Organization Teams that are shackled and brittle because they are busy dealing with internal obstacles and bureaucracy. Score poorly on CACAO. Focus on predictability and coordination. 

Elastic Teams Team Elastic Team Other Teams Departments Business Units Organization Teams that are flexible and adaptable towards external obstacles that may come their way. Score high on CACAO. Focus on adaptability and collaboration. 

Messy Nature of Complex Work = Misunderstood by Leaders Not knowing what you WILL be doing is NOT the same as not knowing what you’re doing. Messiness is not necessarily incompetence 1. When you try to prevent sucking at predicting, you will guarantee to suck at adapting. 2. Better coordination, doesn’t fix poor collaboration. 3. 

Model to Optimize for Elastic Teams Start Explaining at the Top of the Delta Don’t worry, I’ll get to the bottom! :) Team level Organisational level 

#1. Obstacle: Missing Context Team Work Results We Want Self-referential: The goal of the work is to finish the work Result: Team unable to make decisions when they encounter mess surprises 

#1. Obstacle: Missing Context Symptoms: Teams are given features to deliver Teams care only about delivering outputs (features) on time Teams have a poor understanding of customer and business Context Context 

Teams With Context Characteristics: Teams are given important problems to solve Teams have sufficient information to reframe problems Teams understand the customer and the business and can make decisions Context Context Moving authority to information 

#2 Obstacle: Inadequate Autonomy Team Work Results We Want Other Teams Experts Outside the Team 

#2 Obstacle: Inadequate Autonomy Team Other Teams Experts Outside the Team The team lacks the expertise or trust to make decisions without involving others outside of the team The Real Team 

Symptoms: Teams must coordinate with many other teams Team can’t make decisions because they depend on others outside the team Teams scared to make decisions due to culture or environment #2 Obstacle: Inadequate Autonomy Waiting and inaction Autonomy Autonomy 

Overcoming the 2nd Obstacle: Conditions for Autonomy Characteristics: Teams can ship features to production independently Team can mostly make decisions without depending on others Team has trust and psychological safety Waiting and inaction Decisive Action Autonomy Autonomy 

#3 Obstacle: Lack of Collaboration Work Results We Want Subteam Subteam Subteam Subteam Subteam Subteam Subteam Subteam Subteam 

#3 Obstacle: Lack of Collaboration Symptoms: Teams work in silos and horizontal slices. When you need help from another team, you don’t get it Bottlenecks within and between teams, e.g. QA is slow Sluggish Silos Collaboration Collaboration 

Effective Collaboration Characteristics: Teams collaborate as necessary to produce vertical slices of value Receive help as necessary from other teams Bottlenecks within and between teams are swiftly resolved Sluggish Silos Collaborative Teams of Teams Collaboration Collaboration 

Symptoms: Teams have no clue what other teams are working on When teams need help, there is a big fight Teams are working on too many different things at once Lots of competing interests make collaboration difficult #4 Obstacle: Insufficient Alignment Alignment Alignment 

Moving Along a Shared Trajectory Characteristics Teams know what other teams are working on When teams need help from each other, it’s quietly and quickly resolved Feels like teams are pulling in the same direction 3Cs: Chaos, Cannibalization and Conflict Focus and Clarity Alignment Alignment 

#5 Obstacle: Counter-Productive Organizational System Counter-Productive Organizational System AKA The Kraken Mindset Culture Organizational Structure Process Rules Bureaucracy Departments Leadership Policies 

The Kraken is the Delta Monster The Kraken 

Brittle Teams Feeding the Kraken Team A Team B Team C Busy fighting and feeding the kraken Customer Users Business Not busy thinking about customers, users and the business The Kraken 

Feeding and Fighting the Kraken Counter-Productive Organizational System Counter-Productive Organizational System Like the bottom of the pyramid constrains the top of the pyramid, our organizational kraken constrains the context, autonomy, collaboration and alignment of your teams. 

Why Fighting the Kraken is Difficult The longer you are part of a system, the more blind you become to problems of the system. 1. When your organizational system makes it hard to make decisions, making changes also becomes harder. 2. Organizational systems have evolved based on conditions from the past and are not designed for the future. 3. 

The Kraken Is Big and Scary We’re Afraid of Making Changes and Changes are Difficult The Kraken Grows Over Time Brittle Teams The bigger the Kraken, the more brittle our teams. The connection between the team, the work and the results we want is highly likely to break. 

Dimension Characteristics Context Teams lack context: Are given features to deliver Must ask for instructions or clarification after encountering surprises or obstacles have a poor understanding of customers and the business Autonomy Teams have inadequate autonomy: Must coordinate with many other teams to ship a feature to production Unable to make decisions because they depend on people outside the team. Are scared to make decisisions. Collaboration Teams lack collaboration: Working in silos, both within and between teams. When help is needed from another team you don’t get it. Unresolved Bottlenecks within and between teams that slow everything down Alignment Teams are insufficiently aligned: No clue what other teams are working on Working on too many things at once and cannibalizing each other’s progress. Competing interests making reaching agreement difficult Brittle Teams 

We Need Leaders With More Guts We need leaders who have the guts to chop off the tentacles of the Kraken to create an environment for Elastic Teams. Counter-Productive Organizational System Counter-Productive Organizational System 

Strategy for Slaying the Kraken Start at the top of the pyramid, and provide the missing context the teams need to make decisions. The goal is to create pockets of goodness. Meanwhile, you will discover tentacles of the kraken that limit your teams Collaboration Collaboration Autonomy Autonomy Context Context Alignment Alignment Organizational System Organizational System 

Strategy for Slaying the Kraken As you move down, you will begin to notice systemic problems Fixing inadequate autonomy often means: Changing team structure Moving individuals around Fixing cultural issues (trust, psychological safety) Collaboration Collaboration Autonomy Autonomy Context Context Alignment Alignment Organizational System Organizational System 

Strategy for Slaying the Kraken Lack of Collaboration is one of the toughest nuts to crack. It’s right in the middle, and impacted by all the dysfunctions above and below. Collaboration Collaboration Autonomy Autonomy Context Context Alignment Alignment Organizational System Organizational System 

Strategy for Slaying the Kraken Lack of Alignment usually indicates organizational and leadership problems. OKRs don’t fix insufficient alignment, start with: Vision Strategy Removing Institutionalized Competing Interests Reducing WIP Collaboration Collaboration Autonomy Autonomy Context Context Alignment Alignment Organizational System Organizational System 

Strategy for Slaying the Kraken Fixing broken organizations is like fixing spaghetti code. When you touch one area, you might be touching ten other areas at the same time. This is why most organization settle for short-term surface-level success HURRAY! We’re doing the Spotify Model or we’ve rolled out OKRs. Collaboration Collaboration Autonomy Autonomy Alignment Alignment Organizational System Organizational System Context Context 

Organizations Ignore Ashby’s Law “The variety in the control system must be equal to or larger than the variety of the perturbations in order to achieve control.” Also expressed as: variation absorbs variety. In Brittle Teams the organization is actively working to constrain and limit the degrees of freedom a team has to respond to perturbation and surprises. 

Remember This? The more we try to prevent sucking at predicting, the more we will guarantee to suck at adapting. Better coordination doesn’t fix poor collaboration. Do we want Brittle Teams or Elastic Teams? 

Elastic Teams Dimension Characteristics Context Teams with context: Are given important problems to solve Have sufficient information and understanding to reframe problems Understand the customer and the business Autonomy Teams with autonomy: Can put features live on production independently Have all the expertise to make decisions without depending on others outside the team Have trust and psychological safety Collaboration Teams with effective collaboration: Collaborate to produce vertical slices of value Receive help as necessary from within the team and other teams Bottlenecks within and between teams are swiftly resolved Alignment Teams are aligned: Know what other teams are working on When teams need help, it’s quietly and quickly resolved Teams are moving along a shared trajectory and pulling in the same direction 

If You Remember Two Things... “A bad system will beat a good person every time.” - W.E. Deming #1. Changing complex systems is much harder than developing Product Management expertise. This is why Australia is still plagued by 200 million rabbits. It’s also why we still don’t know whether eggs are healthy or not. 

#2. Use CACAO to Create Elastic Teams with Short Feedback Loops to The Results We Want Context Autonomy Collaboration Alignment Organizational System Feel free to send any questions you might have to [email protected] 

Collaboration Collaboration Autonomy Autonomy Context Context Alignment Alignment Organizational System Organizational System 2. swiftly make decisions and act? 3. make better decisions together? 4. Move along a shared trajectory? 5. Work in an Organizational System that supports Context, Autonomy, Collaboration and Alignment? CACAO: Do We Have Brittle or Elastic Teams? Do Teams: 1. have all information to make decisions?