Next in my blog series on “Anti-patterns that spell doom for Product Owners” is the topic of vision and strategy. Having a vision for your product is like having a north star to guide you. Without one, you will probably fail.
No Vision or Strategy
Let’s hope that your organization already has a corporate strategy. If not, then you might want to skip this blog and go figure out your strategy first. If you have an organizational strategy, then any work done within your company should align with and support those strategic goals.
Problem
Product Owners must own and create a vision for their product that ties back to and aligns with its strategy. Without having a clear and inspiring vision, how will the team know what work to do? And how will the team understand the context, or the “why,” of the work they’re doing? Not having a vision means not having a roadmap, and without a map, you’re on the road to nowhere.
Solution
First, look at your organization’s strategies. Then, craft a Product Vision that aligns with that strategy. There are many methods to create your vision, including:
- Product Box
- Elevator Pitch
- Product Vision Canvas
- Vision Statement
It doesn’t matter which method you use to define your vision – make sure you have one.
A vision exists, but it hasn’t been communicated or evangelized
So, if you have a vision, but no one knows about it, it won’t be of much use.
Problem
You took the time to craft a Product Vision carefully, but you failed to communicate or evangelize it. Without sharing your vision with others, you won’t gain the support you need for your product to succeed.
Solution
If you are a Product Owner, part of your job is to be the primary cheerleader for your product. You need to share your vision far and wide so you can gain buy-in from your stakeholders. Sharing your product vision can be done formally or informally, depending on your needs. The key: don’t keep your vision to yourself – communicate it!
Not seeing the “big picture” of the product
Can’t see the forest for the trees? Then you’re missing the big picture.
Problem
The Product Owner is responsible for understanding the whole landscape of the product, which means taking their view up a level or two. If a PO came from another role, such as a Business Analyst, it might be challenging to see a holistic product picture.
Solution
Product Owners need to view their products from a high level – this means letting go of the small things and seeing the whole. It’s not easy to do this if you haven’t had to do it before. Having a big picture view means you can see your product and its place in the overall landscape of your organization, your market, and your industry.
No success criteria for the product
Have you heard the expression “you won’t get where you want to go if you don’t have a map”? By not having Success Criteria for your product, it’s like trying to get somewhere without any directions.
Problem
Establishing Success Criteria before you fully understand your product can be daunting. What is product success? Don’t you have a magic ball that can show you a vision of the future? Well, of course not, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least have some idea of what success means.
Solution
Create some Success Criteria for your product. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Take a first pass with the information you have now, knowing that you can always adjust your success criteria as conditions change. Like anything in an Agile framework, the process is empirical and about inspecting and adapting. You should regularly review your Success Criteria to see if they still align with your product; if not, change them.
Not having an overarching Product Goal
So, the Product Goal wasn’t an official artifact until the most recent (2020) update to the Scrum Guide. Even though this wasn’t in previous versions, I think it was implied. However, now that it is official, every Scrum Team should have one for their product.
Problem
The new concept of the Product Goal may be a new idea for those who don’t stay closely informed of Scrum’s evolution. Most pre-2020 teams may or may not have had a Product Goal. This goal should inform the Scrum Team’s work, along with the individual Sprint Goals. Without a Product Goal, a team can quickly lose track of why they are doing what they’re doing.
Solution
First, revisit your Product Vision; this will help you create your Product Goal. Keep in mind that goals tend to be high-level rather than more specific objectives. That said, I would still recommend trying to use the SMART goal approach, which as a reminder stands for:
- S – specific
- M – measurable
- A – attainable (or achievable)
- R – relevant (or realistic)
- T – time-bound
Having some guardrails for your goals will keep you focused on what you’re trying to achieve. And by setting specific time-bound and measurable targets, you’re more likely to achieve them.
Can’t articulate the business problem (or opportunity)
Every project or product intends to solve either a problem or to take advantage of an opportunity. If you can’t state the business problem, you certainly can’t expect to solve it.
Problem
You probably haven’t written a Business Case or a Problem Statement. If you had, either one of these would have helped you to clearly state the problem to others, along with the proposed solution. When people don’t understand the issue, they’re not going to support you in fixing it.
Solution
Even if you don’t have an existing document to justify what you’re trying to do, you can create a Problem Statement. As long as you understand the problem, it’s not that hard to put it down in writing. For more details about problem statements and how to write one (with examples), visit this article on indeed.com.
Final Thoughts
Being a Product Owner is a great responsibility. A Product Owner must lead and inspire their team, which means having a clear purpose and vision aligned to its strategies. Having product clarity isn’t an easy thing to do, and it’s also easy to overlook, especially if you’re new to the role. But take it from me, taking the time to understand these things and craft a Product Vision and a Product Goal will pay huge dividends in the end.
Now, what do you think? Do you believe a Product Owner can achieve success with any of these anti-patterns in place? I’m guessing I will hear crickets on this question, but I’m always looking for alternate opinions for debate, so let me know if you disagree!