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Breaking Silos In Product Development

Breaking Silos In Product Development

In this talk, I look closer at the negative consequences of working with dis-empowered teams in what has also become known as the feature factory organization. I will show how the most innovative product companies of today seem to work very differently and talk about two examples from my personal career that have been very eye-opening in that regard. With this talk I hope to encourage people with an engineering background to make themselves more familiar with “state-of-the-art” product management to help make our software product companies more successful together.

Presented at the Paris.rb Ruby Conference, Feb 2020

Raphaela Wrede

February 18, 2020
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  1. RAPHAELA WREDE ➤ Ruby developer ➤ Turned engineering manager ➤

    From Berlin ➤ Currently working @contentful ➤ Previously @travisci, @babbel ➤ Part-time student of sociology and political sciences ➤ Lover of Berlin Currywurst but also Haute Cuisine Française
  2. +

  3. + =

  4. „ The difference in team engagement and the unfolding development

    process, was very noticeable and felt very eye-opening to me.
  5. „ Project B had felt so creative, empowering and engaging.

    Like a much more mature and elevated way of working together in a team.
  6. „ There is a huge discrepancy between how the mediocre

    and the great product companies do Product.
  7. BUT: ➤ There are some principles and patterns that great

    product organizations seem to have in common.
  8. BUT: ➤ There are some principles and patterns that great

    product companies seem to have in common. ➤ Interestingly, those companies can have pretty different company cultures. Makes great product culture Culture A Culture B
  9. PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 1. Product Discovery vs. Product

    Delivery ➤ Distinction between Discovery and Delivery workstream
  10. PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 1. Product Discovery vs. Product

    Delivery ➤ Distinction between Discovery and Delivery workstreams ➤ Collect evidence to separate the good ideas from the bad
  11. PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 1. Product Discovery vs. Product

    Delivery ➤ Distinction between Discovery and Delivery workstreams ➤ Collect evidence to separate the good ideas from the bad ➤ Series of experiments using rapid prototyping to discover solutions
  12. PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 1. Product Discovery vs. Product

    Delivery ➤ Purpose: Address 4 critical risks asap ➤ Value risk: Will the user buy the product or choose to use it? ➤ Usability risk: Can the user figure out how to use it? ➤ Feasibility risk: Can we build it? ➤ Business viability risk: Does the solution work for our business?
  13. PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 1. Product Discovery vs. Product

    Delivery ➤ Purpose: Address 4 critical risks asap ➤ Value risk: Will the user buy the product or choose to use it? ➤ Usability risk: Can the user figure out how to use it? ➤ Feasibility risk: Can we build it? ➤ Business viability risk: Does the solution work for our business? (see also in „Inspired“ by Marty Cagan) (User research/Analytics) (Design/UX) (Engineering) (Business Analysts/Marketing/Sales/Market Research)
  14. PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 1. Product Discovery vs. Product

    Delivery ➤ Purpose: Address 4 critical risks asap ➤ Value risk: Will the user buy the product or choose to use it? ➤ Usability risk: Can the user figure out how to use it? ➤ Feasibility risk: Can we build it? ➤ Business viability risk: Does the solution work for our business? ➤ Not more than 1/3 of ideas should make it into Delivery !
  15. PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 2. Experimentation mindset ➤ Short

    and time-bound bets: How much are we willing to invest in a solution?
  16. PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 2. Experimentation mindset ➤ Short

    and time-bound bets: How much are we willing to invest in a solution? ➤ Measure success of shipped work
  17. PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 2. Experimentation mindset ➤ Short

    and time-bound bets: How much are we willing to invest in a solution? ➤ Measure success of shipped work ➤ Kill unsuccessful features
  18. PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 2. Experimentation mindset ➤ Short

    and time-bound bets: How much are we willing to invest in a solution? ➤ Measure success of shipped work ➤ Kill unsuccessful features ➤ Learning through failure is seen as a success
  19. COMMON PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 3. Empowered and autonomous

    teams ➤ Problems (not work) assigned to teams
  20. COMMON PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 3. Empowered and autonomous

    teams ➤ Problems (not work) assigned to teams ➤ Techniques: User story mapping / Design sprints
  21. COMMON PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 3. Empowered and autonomous

    teams ➤ Problems (not work) assigned to teams ➤ Techniques: User story mapping / Design sprints ➤ Trust: Management trusts their teams
  22. COMMON PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 3. Empowered and autonomous

    teams ➤ Problems (not work) assigned to teams ➤ Techniques: User story mapping / Design sprints ➤ Trust: Management trusts their teams ➤ Cross-functional teams staffed with people of sufficient seniority and competence
  23. COMMON PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 4. Teams Equipped With

    Business Context ➤ Avoids creative chaos while guaranteeing team autonomy
  24. COMMON PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 4. Teams Equipped With

    Business Context ➤ Avoids creative chaos while guaranteeing team autonomy ➤ Teams are grouped around a customer-centric mission: ➤ A part of the user journey / customer personas
  25. COMMON PRINCIPLES OF GREAT PRODUCT CULTURES 4. Teams Equipped With

    Business Context ➤ Avoids creative chaos while guaranteeing team autonomy ➤ Teams are grouped around a customer-centric mission: ➤ A part of the user journey / customer personas ➤ Some form of OKR system ➤ Alignment through high level objectives ➤ Outcome-oriented vs. output-oriented
  26. DIFFERENT LANGUAGE & TERMINOLOGY Versus Project mindset Product mindset Feature

    factory Scrum Output-oriented Outcome-oriented Experimentation mindset Work assigned Problem assigned Top-down Collaborative Product discovery Mission-driven
  27. DIFFERENT LANGUAGE & TERMINOLOGY Versus Project mindset Product mindset Feature

    factory Scrum Output-oriented Outcome-oriented Experimentation mindset Work assigned Problem assigned Top-down Collaborative Product discovery Mission-driven
  28. DIFFERENT LANGUAGE & TERMINOLOGY Versus Project mindset Product mindset Feature

    factory Scrum Output-oriented Outcome-oriented Experimentation mindset Work assigned Problem assigned Top-down Collaborative Product discovery Mission-driven
  29. DIFFERENT LANGUAGE & TERMINOLOGY Versus Project mindset Product mindset Feature

    factory Scrum Output-oriented Outcome-oriented Experimentation mindset Work assigned Problem assigned Top-down Collaborative Product discovery Mission-driven
  30. „ It does not really matter with what technology we

    are building unoriginal products.
  31. „We need to break silos between Engineering and Product to

    help make our product companies more successful together.“
  32. „We need to level up our knowledge about state-of the-art

    Product Discovery and Management to reduce the huge chasm between the mediocre and the great product companies out there.“
  33. READ MORE HERE Inspired: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/inspired-2nd-edition/9781119387503/ Nimble Leadership: https://hbr.org/2019/07/nimble-leadership The Lean

    Startup: http://theleanstartup.com/book Sprint - How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days: https://www.thesprintbook.com Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, 3rd Edition: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Facilitator%27s+Guide+to+Participatory+Decision+Making%2C+3rd+Edition-p-9781118404959 User Story Mapping: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/user-story-mapping/9781491904893/ 12 Signs You’re Working in a Feature Factory: https://cutle.fish/blog/12-signs-youre-working-in-a-feature-factory Shape Up - Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters: https://basecamp.com/shapeup How to build a generative engineering culture: https://changelog.com/posts/how-to-build-a-generative-engineering-culture