Q: How do you instill a product-focused culture in an organization?
Let's first identify the symptoms of an organization devoid of product culture:
One workgroup within the company (e.g. sales, executives, marketing, engineering etc.) dictates what needs to be built
The product is seen as a good-to-have service but not the core business. In other words, it merely exists to tick a checkbox
People aren’t passionate about solving customer problems through the product, rather, focus on how it can serve their own purpose
There is no customer discovery effort or a product process. The backlog is simply a collective wish list of tasks thought in silos
Everyone talks about delivery & timelines, but not outcomes
The product is brimming with legacy code, technical code & dated user flows.
In contrast, here's what you would see in product-focused culture:
All departments are aligned on how the product vision & strategy contributes to the business
Product teams have funding, support & license to experiment
Customer research & discovery is highly valued
People are motivated to solve real customer problems
All processes - ideation till execution - revolve around customer value
Note: you most likely will have a mixed situation where some items from both categories are observed.
So, how do you transition to adopt a product culture?
It’s not easy. If leadership is adamant to stick to its old ways, then it can be an uphill climb.
However, in places where there is an opportunity to create awareness, the PM can try to:
Identify a cross-functional committee whose influence & feedback would be invaluable for the product
Invite them to a brainstorming session to set a product direction. Accompany this invite with a 2-page memo on how a product strategy can contribute to business metrics
The goal of the workshop would be to create alignment on the product vision (the world we aspire to create) & strategy (logical steps to get there/our focus)
Ideate on a roadmap of initiatives that map back to a company OKRs or goal. Share this with the committee
Set product-level metrics linked to the company's business goals. Ex: Next year, 5% of acquired customers will come through this app. Ensure these metrics get on dashboards that leadership & department heads regularly review
Conduct a bi-monthly product update townhall & give live demos on new releases to excite the team
Lobby to allow product teams to interface with customers directly for discovery. Create a schedule of customer interviews. Share sound bites, quotes & insights in a weekly email
Conduct customer research to identify key problems. Conduct brainstorming sessions to ideate solutions together
Circulate positive customer feedback regularly on the product internally
Adapt hiring criteria to prefer people with customer-centric mindsets & high empathy.
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