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 #339 How to predict the future of your OKRs (and why it matters) READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Oct 25, 2024 READING TIME 3 min & 32 sec Dear Reader, Ever sat in an OKR review meeting feeling like you're just going through the motions or reporting without meaning? You're not alone. As a Head of Product, I've been there too. But what if I told you there's a way to make your OKRs truly useful for decision-making? Let's dive in. The power of predicting the future One of my favorite...
Product Practice #338 Product at Heart 2024Keynote Recording and Slides READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Oct 18, 2024 READING TIME 2 min & 17 sec Dear Reader, Stepping on stage at Product at Heart 2024 five weeks ago was a definitive highlight of my year so far. I loved bringing a message I deeply care about to an audience I also care about. Without further ado, I'm happy to share the full recording of this keynote with you: Watch the Video You can also get the slides and templates I shared during...
Product Practice #337 How to Know if Your Product Strategy Has Worked READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Oct 11, 2024 READING TIME 4 min & 16 sec Dear Reader, Your Strategy can be perfectly thought-out, based on well-researched insights, co-created by Individual Contributors and Leadership, and contain sustainable advantages over alternatives. But if nobody understands it and you can't integrate it into teams' decision-making processes, the value of Product Strategy will remain locked. The degree to...