Product transformation consultant and leadership coach. Cofounder/co-lead of Chicago Product Alliance. Formerly @prodify @DoorDash @FetchRewards @eBay.
Wilmette, Illinois USA
Joined February 2009
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David Jesse retweeted
Two big events coming up: a Chicago Product Alliance meetup this week & the Mind the Product Chicago conference on October 7 🧵
Empowerment in product teams doesn't happen by stepping back.
A company formed new squads and gave teams a lot of freedom. The teams became overwhelmed and totally lost. Progress stalled.
Their biggest issue wasn't desire. It was setup and support.
Leaders can't just disappear. They need to enable a gradual shift from directing to enabling as the team earns more autonomy.
Part 2 of my series on building empowered product teams.
buildcrescendo.com/blog/empo…
If you missed it, see part 1 here.
xitter.cf/TweetDavidJ/status/207…
Empowerment in product teams is both coveted and rare. Everyone wants it. Few attain it.
Teams want more ownership, but aren't trusted by leadership. Leaders don't want to micromanage, but it feels risky to let go.
Both sides want the same thing. Neither knows how to get there.
There's an established "formula for organizational change" that explains where this breaks down.
The failure to build empowerment is usually not for a lack of desire or even vision.
It's something much smaller.
And it's fixable.
The fix has more in common with behavior design, habit formation and agile principles.
Empowerment works the same way, if you let it.
Part 1 of my series on building empowered product teams.
buildcrescendo.com/blog/empo…
Overcommitment in product teams is insidious. It leads to big compromises: PMs skip discovery, designers skip exploration & user testing, engineers optimize for velocity over understanding.
Teams have more goals than people. Everyone feels harried. Actual progress is slow. 1/3
They don't even have time to save themselves.
Changing this requires top down and bottom up discipline.
Leaders: cut ruthlessly, double down on what remains, plan to 80% capacity.
Teams: own your scope, surface tradeoffs, push back before you commit — not after.
2/3
“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say ‘no’ to almost everything.” -- Warren Buffett
Q3 planning is a great moment to break the pattern. Here's how to start.
3/3
buildcrescendo.com/blog/over…
Early in my career I got a strong performance rating. My boss said "you're doing great, keep it up" and that was it.
I walked out proud yet frustrated. I had no idea what the next level looked like or what it would take to get there.
I wrote two blog posts on this — one on why it matters, one on how to actually build it.
Both links are below if this is something your product team needs.
Part 1: Standards, Levels & Paths
buildcrescendo.com/blog/stan…
Part 2: Paths & Competencies
buildcrescendo.com/blog/path…
Benfica's goalkeeper scored against Real Madrid to advance in Champions League. He'd never touched the ball in opponent's half all tournament.
Product teams need this mindset: everyone's job is helping the team win, not defending role boundaries.
buildcrescendo.com/blog/team…
I did a podcast with @jozeran from @TempusAI on building high-impact product teams through disciplined leadership and customer focus 🎙️
We covered what separates high-impact teams from busy teams, plus a few basketball metaphors...
Please give it a listen and comment below!
In this podcast hosted by Jonathan Ozeran, DoorDash former Senior Product Director David Jesse will be speaking on building high-impact product teams through disciplined leadership and customer focus.
productsthatcount.com/doorda…
#productteams #customerfocus #productoutcomes
In October, I moderated a discussion on how people are using AI. Last night, I attended a similar meetup.
Then: most were doing content editing & personal queries e.g. vacation ideas.
Now: many are coding their own apps, even non-technical people.
It's changing fast. Hang on!