Linked Better Practices over Stacked Best Practices

​Dear Reader,​

“Let’s prioritize by value.” Value for whom? That was the question I explored in last week's essay Business Value, Customer Value, and Team Value Are Different Arguments. Today, let's demystify the term value even further.

Nothing is inherently valuable. The same opportunity can have different value under different strategies.

For that narrative to check out, we need an actual strategy in place. You know my drill: Does it pass the stupidity flip test? Does the strategy feature connected, coherent components? Can you translate it into tangible progress metrics?

Without that, every feature idea can be mapped to "more revenue" or "more AI" statements masked as strategies, without providing any context.

We're also not here to solve customer problems all day long. As unromantic as it sounds, solving customer problems is a means to the end of generating business value - whether that's revenue, engagement, or a broader economic/environmental impact.

It might not always feel exciting to think about solving customer problems this way, but once you start to articulate the value exchange between both levels, you see the necessity of aligning them.

And, luckily, if all value layers feel messed up because of your boss throwing around feature ideas like crazy again, know that a good old WHY-HOW-Laddering can get you to the right spot to make progress from at any time:

Thank you for Practicing Product,

​Tim​

Who is Tim Herbig?

As a Product Management Coach, I guide Product Teams to measure the real progress of their evidence-informed decisions.

I focus on better practices to connect the dots of Product Strategy, Product OKRs, and Product Discovery.