All the product roles and agile scrummy scrums in the world

I've come across various interpretations and applications of Agile, product management, and DevOps. When done well, these approaches have helped organizations become more human-centered, adaptable, and innovative, by getting the most out of their people to create value for their users. This, in turn, leads to success, trustworthiness, and profitability.

However, in the rush to adopt these approaches, some organizations can forget the core reasons behind their success. Subsequently, some interpret Agile in familiar ways with a new label.

In a traditional, inside-out organization, we are too easily shielded and distanced from the realities and insights on the front lines. This clouds decision-making, potentially leading to flawed strategies that make the overall organization less effective.

For example: when an employee says their “customer is the [Deputy Minister ADM, Manager]” this is management-centred design. This point of view is indicative of a misaligned, inside-out organization. Therefore, change efforts are needed to shift to an outside-in point-of-view and focus on the people who use its products or services.

Structuring an organization around product teams helps to create this outside-in perspective. The main idea is to put the user at the center of everything – decisions, processes, and workflows. This shift happens because by working back from the touchpoint between users and the product, every aspect of the organization becomes about creating value for the end-user/citizen/human.

It’s not important whether people call themselves ‘product yadda yaddas’ and are up to their eyeballs in agile scrummy scrums. What matters is that our mindset is focused on the user, and everything we do – our processes, structures, designs, how we measure success and even our incentives – reflects this orientation.