Product Revisited
The Product Operating Model conversation is too narrowly focused on tech products. What happens when you apply product thinking to the business format, operations, and the company itself — not just the software.
Product thinking should not stop at the software
I’m starting to wonder whether the current focus on Product Operating Models is distracting us from the broader opportunity of applying product thinking. Much of the conversation is about empowered product teams. There is much less conversation about what the product actually is. Models inspired by Silicon Valley Big Tech tend to focus on tech-heavy products.
But what if the product is the business format?
In The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber talks about developing your business as if you are preparing to make it a franchise. In other words, the business format becomes systemized enough that it is a product in and of itself.
Melissa Chi, a product leader who transitioned into a wider COO role, talks about how her organization realized that the operational side of the business is also worth treating as a product. This makes a lot of sense, yet it is still uncommon in the product organizations I have seen.
Business leaders at a large FinTech already consider themselves owners and developers of the real business product. They are somewhat confused by the fact that there is now an additional product: the technology product, as an artifact of a product operating model transformation driven by the technology organization.
My suggestion: when considering your product portfolio and where to apply a product operating model, think about everything involved in creating the customer experience as the product.
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