Building the right product vs Building the product right

So should we build the right product or should we build the product right?

What do I mean by building the right product? The right product is one that addresses the user problems in the right context and provides a proper solution. This is the key function of the product department.

What do I mean by building the product right? Building the product right is defining a perfect architecture, addressing all the technical debts, and making the solution reliable, scalable, highly available, performance efficient etc. etc. This is the key function of the engineering department.

These are not two different ends of a thread but the key attributes for any successful product/project. Actually, there is another dimension to a successful product, which is building it fast.

What do I mean by building fast? A product definition or development cannot be eternal. It has to be planned well to be continuously developed, shipped, delivered, managed for successful delivery, and for a customer to reap value. This the key function of an Agile Coach.

Often the role of an Agile Coach is underestimated in most organizations. Or some over enthusiast from the product or engineering team owns up the role of a scrum master and runs scrum ceremonies in the name of agile. But what I have mentioned here is more than just being a scrum master.

To reiterate; the key tenets of a successful project are

• Building the right product
• Building the product right
• Building it fast.

It is key to figure out the right balance; for a product and subsequently a business to be successful. Otherwise, we may end up in a product which no one uses, or a product with a lot of bugs, or we lose the first scaler or the critical competitive advantage.

It is quite astounding to know & see how Spotify is able to build such a great product , great culture within their community. There is minimal handshake, great amount of autonomy and alignment across the organization, enables them to be mutually exclusive but collectively exhaustive!!!

I'm one of those over enthusiasts who strive to formulate a proper product requirement, put a definite plan, and deliver a quality deliverable. I have been successful to a great extent with some failures. Great insights from Spotify!! Kudos!!!

Would happy to hear others experience as well!!!!

Thanks & Regards

Mk

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