What Should Strategy, OKRs, and Discovery Allow You To Do?Dear Reader, It’s tempting to focus the process of practicing Strategy, OKRs, and Discovery on technical correctness. Does the Objective not have a number? Cool! Do you interview one customer per week? Great - Let’s move on. But that’s a pattern of Alibi Progress: prioritizing technical correctness over everyday value. Whenever these ways of working feel like a tick box exercise –– either for management or from a thought leader's definition of “how to do them right” –– your chances of experiencing the real value go down. “I have to write the Product Strategy exactly as stated in the most popular template.” - No, you don’t. “My OKRs have to only be about Outcomes, or I’m not allowed to use them.” - No, they don’t. “I have to interview customers every week directly, or else I’m not doing Discovery and my products will fail.” - No, you don’t. Every choice you make about HOW you work should be in service of helping you and your team experience the core value of a practice. The core value of Product Strategy is enabling a team to confidently say yes or no to opportunities that come their way over the next 6 - 18 months. The core value Product OKRs provide is helping teams measure their progress toward strategic priorities by responding to their everyday decisions. The core value of Product Discovery is to reduce uncertainty regarding problems worth solving and solutions worth building through reliable evidence. If I were an “Anti Product Doctor,” here’s what I would prescribe to any product team to keep them busy with alibi progress: Try to talk to more users to unlock “the one insight” that will make you believe that a problem is worth solving. Rewrite your lagging OKRs after reading another thought leaders' book. Or translate your ambiguous product strategy into another canvas, hoping it will make it more tangible A more (seemingly) counterintuitive way of moving from being stuck to making real progress is to stop digging deeper into the area you're stuck in and look around you to spot opportunities to drag yourself out of your current rut. Focus on connecting the dots you have and on improving the practices that exist, rather than drawing new ones and having to seek connections over again and again. Did you enjoy this one or have feedback? Do reply. It's motivating. I'm not a robot; I read and respond to every subscriber email I get (just ask around). If this newsletter isn't for you anymore, you can unsubscribe here. Thank you for Practicing Product, Tim What did you think of this week's newsletter? As a Product Management Coach, I guide Product Teams to measure the progress of their evidence-informed decisions. I identify and share the patterns among better practices to connect the dots of Product Strategy, Product OKRs, and Product Discovery. |
1 tip & 3 resources per week to improve your Strategy, OKRs, and Discovery practices in less than 5 minutes.
Product Practice #372 When are you donewith Product Discovery? READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Aug 22, 2025 READING TIME 3 min & 45 sec Dear Reader, One of the standard questions I get in discovery coaching and workshops is, "How do I know I have done enough discovery?" I typically smile, because I can get on one of my favorite soapboxes:Think of the end of discovery as the exit of a highway you feel confident enough in taking, based on your surroundings and your current understanding of how...
Product Practice #371 The OKR ParallelUniverse Syndrome READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Aug 15, 2025 READING TIME 3 min & 55 sec Dear Reader, Welcome back! I for sure started to miss writing these weekly essays about halfway through my summer break. Between speaking appearances and nudging my book closer to completion, I also enjoyed some time off. I hope you had (or still have) a fantastic summer full of nourishing experiences and some time to recharge. And now, onto this week's essay. Here's an...
This is the last newsletter before my annual summer writing break. I will be back in your inbox on August 17. Have a wonderful summer! ☀️ Product Practice #370 My 2025 Mid-Year Review READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Jul 4, 2025 READING TIME 4 min & 06 sec Dear Reader, What I focused on in the first half of 2025 Writing and Editing My Book After a big writing push from February to April, I was able to share the first complete draft of my book Real Progress - How to Connect Product Strategy, OKRs,...