EMPOWERED

If you want to have truly empowered product teams, then your success depends very directly on these first‐level people managers.

The product strategy describes how we plan to accomplish the product vision, while meeting the needs of the business as we go. The strategy derives from focus, then leverages insights, converts these insights into action, and finally manages the work through to completion.

Tesla came along and proved what is truly possible when technology is at the core of the car, rather than treated as just a necessary cost.

, they're all spending more on software now.

Yes, they've (mostly) moved to Agile methods.

But most have not transformed in any meaningful sense, and in particular most have not embraced technology as the business enabler it is

What is so wrong with the business owners and stakeholders deciding what goes on the roadmap, and therefore what the engineers should build?

This is considered the first and most important principle of product discovery: our customers, and our stakeholders, aren't able to tell us what to build.

the empowered product team model, the product manager has a clear responsibility, which is to ensure that the solutions are valuable (our customers will buy the product and/or choose to use it), and
viable (it will meet the needs of the business). Together with a product designer who is responsible for ensuring the solution is usable, and a tech lead who is responsible for ensuring the solution is feasible, the team is able to collaborate to address this full range of risks

Because the teams are provided, or are pressed to provide, roadmaps of features and projects, the focus of the team is delivery—delivery of these features. And features are output. Even if someone were to complain of lack of business results, who would you hold accountable?

In contrast, in strong product companies, teams are instead given problems to solve, rather than features to build,

Further, a focused and compelling product strategy—based on quantitative and qualitative insights—is among the most important contributions of product leadership.

in strong product companies, the product leaders are among the most impactful leaders in the company.

They are responsible for staffing and coaching the product teams; they are responsible for the product strategy and converting the strategy into action; and they're responsible for managing to results.