Pushing The Boundaries of a Product Portfolio

“We have to have this product capability - it’s a key element of this business initiative we already committed to.”

The essence of the Product Operating Model is to empower product teams to achieve outcomes without prescribing to them what outputs to deliver.

I often encounter organizations who adopt a Product Operating Model as an intervention into how they build products. Frequently, business investment decisions are made outside of the model.

When a business initiative has already been green-lighted, asking too many questions about whether to invest in the product capabilities needed to support it can be a career-limiting move for a product professional.

The alternative I often see is “rubber stamping” - going through the motions - asking the questions just because your process dictates it, even though everyone knows the outcome.

Unfortunately, Just saying you are “Product-oriented” doesn’t automatically make you product oriented.
Especially if it’s just the product/engineering organization that is product-oriented.

So, what can you do in these situations?

To start with - acknowledge and manage this reality.

Clarify which initiatives are automatically greenlighted based on business decisions and which are discretionary product portfolio investments oriented around strategic product portfolio goals.

Work closely with business stakeholders so they can see the value of outcome-oriented evidence-based management when applied to product initiatives.

Respect their decision making authority about business initiatives. .

Discuss and define a clear process for managing business-driven and product initiatives.
Don’t waste time on rubber stamping.

Reviewing this ratio can bring transparency and enable a constructive evidence-based conversation.

For business-driven initiatives, look for ways to deliver product outcomes incrementally. Enable/encourage incremental/iterative rollout of the business initiative.

Build trust through improved execution flow and predictability.

Look for opportunities to apply product oriented techniques to the business investment decision. (Find a friendly early adopter business stakeholder who’s willing to acknowledge uncertainty)

You’ll probably get better traction by figuring out what’s frustrating business leaders about how business initiatives are managed, then by telling them “we’re using a product operating model now and this is how you should work”. Don’t ask me how I know.

How have you navigated the tension between pre-approved business initiatives and applying a product-led, evidence-based approach in your organization?