Experience Over Process
Product teams don’t need more processes, they need more experience. Product leaders, this one is for you.
Building great products that meaningfully impact people's lives is complex and challenging. As product teams we need to deeply understand one or multiple customer problems and design solutions that truly address them. This has to be done in a way that is both useful to our business and technically feasible. Finally, we must build, test, and ship our solution, then determine whether it was successful.
This is an oversimplified explanation of the process and doesn’t cover all the competencies required to build a successful product. Nor does it mention the dozens of outside forces constantly trying to steer the ship off course, such as leadership quality, shifting priorities, team dynamics, and time and resource limitations.
Small wonder product teams often find themselves struggling in various areas, because it’s difficult to create something when the ground is constantly shifting underneath your feet. But that’s the job, isn’t it? Building something that didn’t exist before and adds value to this world requires honest communication and excellent collaboration. It requires logical thinking and analysis while also being able to dream and envision things that do not yet exist in a way that adheres to reality. To succeed, we must bring together some of the best qualities that human beings can muster to create something new.
So how can a product team overcome these challenges to achieve success? The answer lies in recognizing that building products is a creative act.
Get to Doing
Ask any creative person, and they’ll tell you the best way to grow and succeed is through experience. If you want to become a better painter, you need to paint. A lot. If you want to become a better writer, you need to write. A lot.
The same is true for product teams. If you want to become a better product team, you need to deliver. A lot.
Resist the Process Urge
When faced with struggling teams, product organizations often default to applying new frameworks and processes, hoping these one-size-fits-all solutions will enhance team success. They won’t.
Your product teams already know the different methodologies of product development. Forcing a process upon them probably won't change anything; it’ll just create more busy work. While some processes are necessary for large organizations to remain aligned, burdening your teams with unnecessary processes can cause significant harm. Low-performing teams will gain experience at a slower pace, meaning they will struggle for longer. High-performing teams will feel like they are taking a step backwards instead of becoming more optimized.
What Can Product Leadership Do?
Product leadership can take many actions to enhance team success without relying on new standardized processes or meetings. Here are a few:
Understand that experience is the best teacher: The more opportunities your product teams have to go through their process, the more they will learn from it and refine it. Leaders must create a culture emphasizing growth through experience and focus on helping teams.
Encourage and educate best practices: Leaders should set expectations for the quality required from their product teams.
Ask teams how you can support them: Regularly check in with your teams to understand their specific needs and challenges, and offer support that helps them overcome obstacles and reach their goals.
Commit to minimal intervention: Support teams in making good decisions without making those decisions for them. To create solid, experienced product teams, grant them a certain amount of autonomy and trust, even if you sometimes disagree with their decision-making.
By fostering a culture of growth through experience, encouraging best practices, and providing thoughtful support, product leaders can help their teams navigate the complexities of building great products and achieve success.