“Business-led” companies & the role of product development
<p>Some praise companies that define themselves as<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-difference-between-design-engineering-product-led-oluwole/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"> “product-led”, “engineering-led”, “design-led”</a>, “sales-led”, “experience-led”, and so forth. Unsurprisingly usually folks with the x-led background praise companies that align with their function.</p>
<p>This framework undermines by definition certain functions, and the people working in the, and generally doesn’t allow said company to take a holistic approach on what you need to focus on.</p>
<p>I prefer companies that are “business-lead” (admittedly this is not very catchy), in which all functions have input and the executive team drives the definition of the priorities considering such upward input in addition to the competitive landscape, macro trends, etc.</p>
<h1>So what’s the role of product development?</h1>
<ol>
<li>Propose and collaborate with the Executive team to define the target market(s), timing, and the product goals(s), continuously synthesizing new information/data and creating alignment — Product Managers are accountable for this, and supported by Designers (<em>side notes: my takes on product management </em><a href="https://medium.com/@teoz/reflections-on-product-management-927df5a8691a" rel="noopener"><em>here</em></a><em> & </em><a href="https://medium.com/@teoz/product-managers-change-managers-103dd964dde8" rel="noopener"><em>here</em></a>)</li>
<li>Accelerate/enable/support the company strategy by ensuring the product(s) timely hit the target market(s) and meet their goal(s) with the least amount of resources — Engineering is accountable for this, in partnership with Product Management and Design</li>
</ol>
<h1>How do you do that?</h1>
<ol>
<li>An org structure that provide clear ownership and accountability to different cross-functional teams comprised of a Product Manager, engineers, designer(s), and the right set of subject matter experts</li>
<li>Processes that ensure decisions and relevant information is timely communicated to all relevant parties</li>
<li>Empower everyone to be at their best</li>
</ol>
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