Transformed
Andreas Spenninger
Head of Industrialization & Safety @ Agile Robots SE | Robotics & Mechatronics Expert | CBAP, CSEP, CAPM, Six Sigma Black Belt, TüV Certified | Driving Quality, Safety & Innovation | Co-Founder at Franka Emika
I just finished the book "Transformed" by Marty Cagan , which was just released 5 days ago. This was one of the rare occasions that I even preordered a book. I have a special relationship with Mr. Cagan's work because the books "Inspired" (2008) and "Empowered" (2020) were the first books on Product Management I ever read.
I learned the importance of good product management the hard way. I was often in an environment that was focusing on technology alone, concentrating on the best technical solution, the best algorithm but not on the customer. This does not necessarily lead to success. Therefore, I wanted to understand better how to build products that can really make a difference and will be genuinely successful in the market.
I also learned that "product management" often degenerates to solely stacking features on top based on isolated customer input. This "featurism" also does not lead to success either.
Having a clear product-led or product-oriented mindset does.
In his first two books, Cagan highlights the significance of a customer-centric approach in product development. He emphasizes the necessity of identifying and addressing the customer's needs effectively. He advocates for empowered product teams to actively engage with customers, gathering feedback and validating assumptions to ensure the product aligns with user expectations and desires.
Furthermore, he outlines the importance of establishing a clear product vision and strategy to steer product development efforts, discussing methods for recognizing market opportunities, understanding the target customer needs, and achieving a product-market fit. Additionally, he describes the critical role of product leadership in driving successful product development, emphasizing the qualities and skills required for effective leadership, such as vision, communication, and strategic thinking. Cagan elaborates on how product leaders set the direction and strategy for the product, unite the team towards shared objectives, and offer guidance and encouragement to enable teams to deliver customer value.
The key idea is the strategy for cultivating and guiding high-performing product teams, highlighting the significance of assembling diverse talent, nurturing a collaborative and co-located environment, and granting teams the autonomy to make independent decisions. Cagan advocates for empowered teams in successful product development, comprised of cross-functional members trusted with ownership of the product, enabling them to prioritize features based on customer needs and iterate quickly to deliver value.
Further, he describes the critical stages of product discovery and validation, stressing the necessity of perpetual learning and refinement. Techniques like user research, prototyping, and experimentation are explored to validate product concepts and enhance features based on user input. The books underscores the significance of continuous learning and experimentation throughout the product discovery and delivery process.
In his latest book, "Transformed," the author introduces the product operating model, which is meant for companies that believe they should be powering their businesses based on technology. Companies which know, that they need to transform to compete in an era of rapidly changing technology.
The author doesn't directly like the term "Product-led" because it implies that the product organization is taking over; however, it has quite some similarities to Melissa Perris' "Escaping the Build Trap".
Success depends on strong and visionary product leaders who can change the organization in terms of how to build, how to solve problems, and how to decide which problems to solve.
It's important that the organization understands the difference between a product manager for an empowered product team and a product manager for a feature team (versus a product owner for a delivery team). Empowered product teams depend on competent product managers who can coach and provide the necessary data. Companies often have people with the product manager title, but they often lack the competency to work with empowered product teams. Product management is a key role that requires strong people with a deep understanding of the customers, the data, the business, the market, and the technology.
The author discourages the feature team model, where features are presented on roadmaps and the feature team (engineers) solely builds what others come up with. Whether a feature will provide any value to the customers or the company is beyond the responsibility of the team. In this model, features often don't produce real value. Direct access to the product team to discover and deliver effective solutions is absolutely critical. Especially, the product manager must have direct, unencumbered access to the users and customers (or the data). It is less obvious the importance of providing engineers with direct access to the users. It's important to acknowledge that not all engineers need to talk to the customer or user, but "the magic happens" when an engineer sees a user struggling with their product. So the more the interaction is encourage and facilitate, the better. Of course, it must be ensured, that the team has been trained and coached on how to interact with customers. The team should test with prototypes instead of products, which allows to gain insight much faster and therefore save time and money. Product teams expect to be accountable for outcomes rather than output, but this works only if product teams are given a problem to solve rather than a particular potential solution to build and are then empowered to come up with a solution.
He also discourages an innovation lab inside a company, which is responsible for product discovery, while the product teams are responsible only for product delivery. It is important that every product team is responsible for both discovery and delivery. It is absolutely critical that the same people who discover an effective solution be the ones to bring that solution to market; otherwise, the motivation drops.
The team also needs qualitative techniques, the most important of which is actually talking to the users and customers. Also, everything which is build and deploy needs to be instrumented so that the team knows how the products are actually being used; without this data, you are flying blind. The author favors small, frequent releases as a core principle that is used to address the customers' needs.
He also addresses technical debt, which should be addressed immediately and continuously, indefinitely. Most companies with a good handle on tech debt will focus 10 to 30% of their engineering capacity on reducing technical debt.
The author further outlines the impact of the models on various stakeholders. A product manager promises to engage directly with each of their relevant stakeholders and work to learn and understand the various constraints and needs represented by each area. A stakeholder is defined as someone who is not explicitly a member of a product team, but who represents a key constituency area of the business or has special expertise.
He favors that the top management gets away from the command and control model to the product model, which represents a fundamental cultural change for many company leaders. The model depends on trust rather than control. Teams can make good decisions only when they are provided with the necessary strategic context, so it's critical for executives to share the broader context, the business strategy, financial parameters, regulatory developments, industry trends, and strategic partnerships. Product teams depend on the executives to share as much of the relevant strategic context as possible so they have the relevant information.
Product management and sales are two interdependent roles in the company. Product management depends on sales to get its products into the hands of customers, and sales depends on product management providing them with solutions to truly meet their customers' needs.
Cagan also advocates for collaboration between product and finance, because the new efficient model allows them to get the most from their investment dollars as well as manage the financial risks. When something gets built but is then deemed to have a serious problem, it is a reason to have a post-mortem to see how that type of waste can be avoided. Similar to "The Lean Startup," he favors "Innovation accounting" to track how many ideas were tested in the last quarter and if the number increased significantly from the prior quarters.
A fundamental principle is that strong product solutions rarely come from the customer. The customer and the salesperson do not know what is technically possible. They are often experts in their domain, but rarely are they experts in the enabling technologies used to build the solutions they buy. When they buy your products, they are effectively hiring you to be the experts for them. Strong products come from combining real customer needs with solutions that are just now possible.
Finally, the author makes a small side note regarding product-market fit. Until a company achieves product-market fit, the company should not spend on sales and marketing, which is typically very inefficient. Until product-market fit has been achieved, the company needs to focus as many resources as possible on getting to product-market fit.
领英推荐
I really appreciate reading his latest book, which shaped my understanding of proper product management even further.
Additional information on productions management can be found in what I call the "Lean Series" comprising of the books:
Those books are loosely connected. Eric Ries ("The Lean Startup" and "The Startup Way") worked with Steve Blank, who wrote the books "The Four Steps to the Epiphany" and "The Startup Owner's Manual". Therefore, some transfer of ideas can be assumed. If I remember correctly, it was also mentioned in one of the books, but surely in this article: https://hbr.org/2013/05/why-the-lean-start-up-changes-everything. Eric Reis was an editor for the Lean Enterprise, which complements the lean startup idea for larger enterprises.
"The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win" is a book written by Steve Blank, published in 2005. It introduces a methodology for developing successful products and startups, emphasizing the importance of customer development. Throughout the book, Blank emphasizes the importance of agility, iteration, and learning from failures in the startup journey. Blank defines the following four steps:
The most famous book of this "series" is most likely "The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses" by Eric Ries, published in 2011. Ries introduces the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop as the core of the Lean Startup methodology. Startups should first build a minimum viable product (MVP) to test their hypotheses about the market and customer needs. They then measure the results and learn from the feedback to iterate and improve the product. Central to the Lean Startup approach is the concept of validated learning. Startups should focus on testing assumptions and hypotheses through experiments designed to gather actionable insights from real customers. By validating or invalidating assumptions early and often, entrepreneurs can mitigate risks and make informed decisions. Startups should be prepared to pivot—changing course based on new information or market feedback—if their initial assumptions prove to be incorrect. Therefore, startups need to be flexible and adaptive. However, they should also persevere when they have evidence that their core vision is valid.
Ries further introduces the concept of innovation accounting to measure progress in startups. Rather than relying solely on traditional financial metrics, such as revenue and profit, innovation accounting focuses on actionable metrics that reflect the startup's learning and growth. Overall, The Lean Startup encourages a culture of continuous deployment and rapid iteration. Startups should strive to release product updates frequently and gather feedback from real users to drive continuous improvement.
"The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company" is a book authored by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf, first published in 2012. It details the ideas of "The Four Steps to the Epiphany" and describes a systematic approach to building a successful startup. It offers a more comprehensive guide to building and growing a startup. The book incorporates more practical tools, templates, and exercises for entrepreneurs to apply directly to their startup endeavors. It offers step-by-step instructions and actionable insights to help readers implement the concepts discussed in the book. Especially interesting for me was the continuous consideration of what market type you are facing with. This seems trivial, but I have seen misunderstandings quite often. This can lead to costly pivots down the road.
"Lean Enterprise: How High-Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale" is a book co-authored by Jez Humble, Joanne Molesky, and Barry O'Reilly. Published in 2015, the book focuses on applying lean principles to large organizations, emphasizing efficiency, innovation, and adaptability. It explores techniques such as delaying decisions until the last responsible moment, using minimum viable products (MVPs) for learning, and prioritizing features based on the cost of delay. The book critiques the use of vanity metrics and advocates for actionable data that drives behavior change. It also addresses organizational dynamics, promoting a culture of learning and experimentation while reducing survival anxiety. While "The Lean Startup" primarily focuses on guiding entrepreneurs through the startup journey, "Lean Enterprise" targets large organizations seeking to adopt lean principles to drive innovation and efficiency at scale. "The Lean Startup" is tailored towards entrepreneurs and startup founders, whereas "Lean Enterprise" targets executives, managers, and employees within established companies looking to implement lean practices. "Lean Enterprise" delves deeper into organizational dynamics, addressing issues such as survival anxiety, decision-making processes, and cultural transformation, which are often more complex in large organizations compared to startups.
A small side note on survival anxiety and fear of change: It's not even necessary to work for a large enterprise to experience this. I have seen it even while implementing a new software tool at work. Individuals within an organization often experience fear when faced with change or uncertainty. Leaders should not underestimate the resistance to change. When employees are accustomed to traditional ways of working, the introduction of change can be met with resistance. They may fear that their roles or responsibilities will change, leading to uncertainty about their job security or professional future. This is why leaders need to proactively foster a culture of trust, radical transparency, and psychological safety.
"The Startup Way: How Modern Companies Use Entrepreneurial Management to Transform Culture and Drive Long-Term Growth" is the second book authored by Eric Ries that I put on this list. Published in 2017, it serves as a follow-up to his previous work ("The Lean Startup"). It expands on the application of entrepreneurial principles beyond startups to established organizations (similar to Lean Enterprise). Eric Ries argues that in today's rapidly changing business environment, traditional management practices often hinder innovation and limit organizational adaptability. To thrive in this landscape, companies must embrace entrepreneurial management principles. Ries introduces the concept of entrepreneurial management, which involves applying lean startup principles within larger organizations. This includes fostering a culture of experimentation, empowering employees to take risks and innovate, and implementing processes that prioritize validated learning and rapid iteration. The role of leadership in driving organizational change and fostering a culture of entrepreneurship. Leaders are encouraged to lead by example, promote psychological safety, and provide support and resources for innovation initiatives. Similar to "The Lean Startup," "The Startup Way" introduces the concept of innovation accounting, which focuses on measuring progress and success in innovation efforts. Companies are encouraged to use actionable metrics to track the impact of innovation initiatives and make data-driven decisions. Ries argues that embracing entrepreneurial management principles can lead to sustainable, long-term growth for organizations. By continuously innovating and adapting to changing market conditions, companies can stay ahead of the competition and maintain their relevance over time.
There are three further books which complement product management, which I would not describe in detail. They are also interesting to read. Melissa Perri' "Escaping the Build Trap" is, in my opinion, the best book for someone to start when interested in product management, because it describes the Product-led idea very well. Dan Olson's book also gives a good overview.
Alternatively, the playlist by https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa1_vXxMr75GSOCCsej2sBfRl3IVolSdp or the trainings at pendo.io (https://www.credly.com/badges/6d696d0d-b4c2-40af-ae9b-5c03a81ce6c3, https://www.credly.com/badges/a8edcdf7-1b47-4f03-b8c8-a560a92c57a2) can be highly recommended.
I am not a product manager, but I have seen too much to not care about it. Sure, some of the upper ideas don't adapt to complex mechatronic products such as robots. Just the safety assessment, verification, and engaging an external assessor will lead to longer development cycles. Also, the intrinsic versatility makes product management intrinsically difficult for robots. Nonetheless, it's appealing to apply modern product management ideas to a complex mechatronic system, such as a versatile robot.
A small side note: if you are interested in the versatility aspect of robotis, I can strongly recommend Ulrich Hagn's PhD thesis, "The Aspect of Versatility in the Design of a Lightweight Robot for Surgical Applications." It served me as a bible on how to build robots in the last decade.
In my career, I implemented sophisticated algorithms, commissioned complex mechatronics systems, built a production line for several thousand robots a year, and just recently worked on fully certified safe systems. Nonetheless, even with all that knowledge from the mentioned books, building products that customers love (and pay you for) is the hardest of all tasks. But realizing this fact helps steering the development in the right direction. In this sense, those books inspired, empowered, and transformed me.
CEO/CTO High performing companies - und das menschlich!
1 年You seem truly inspired, thanks for the elaborate description of those books. What a great recommendation.