#81 - Teresa Torres // Author of 'Continuous Discovery Habits'
Jul 27, 2023
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Teresa Torres, author of 'Continuous Discovery Habits,' shares insights on outcome-oriented mindset, continuous feedback loop with customers, mistakes in product discovery, and pitfalls of founder-led product. Also discusses roles in organizations, the effectiveness of OKRs, factors for business and discovery success, lessons from early career at become.com, and shifting from an IT mindset to a product mindset.
CTOs should foster a product mindset within their organization, recognizing the revenue-generating potential of engineers and encouraging their active participation in the discovery process.
CTOs can empower engineers by providing opportunities for them to have direct contact with customers, enabling them to contribute valuable insights and opinions during the discovery phase.
Deep dives
Shift from an IT mindset to a product mindset
CTOs should be mindful of an IT mindset within their organization and work towards transitioning to a product mindset. This involves challenging the belief that engineering is solely a cost center and instead recognizing the value and revenue-generating potential of engineers. By fostering a culture that embraces product thinking, CTOs can encourage engineers to actively participate in the discovery process and contribute their perspectives.
Encourage engineers to engage in discovery
CTOs can play a crucial role in fostering a mindset shift by encouraging engineers to get involved in the discovery phase. Engineers often have valuable insights and opinions on what to build but may be hesitant to partake in discovery beyond writing code. By emphasizing the importance of customer insights and providing opportunities for engineers to have first-hand contact with customers, CTOs can empower their teams to actively contribute and have a stake in the discovery process.
Address and manage technical debt
CTOs should take responsibility for managing technical debt within their organization. Instead of treating it as a separate issue, technical debt should be integrated into the overall product development process. CTOs can guide their teams in determining the appropriate timing and strategies for paying down technical debt while continuing to deliver revenue-generating products. This ensures a continuous improvement and maintenance of the technology infrastructure.
Focus on outcomes rather than velocity
While velocity metrics can provide insights into team efficiency, CTOs should prioritize focusing on outcomes rather than solely measuring velocity. Velocity alone does not create value for customers or the business. By setting clear outcome-oriented goals and measuring the impact of what is being built, CTOs can shift the focus to the value delivered rather than the speed of delivery. This outcome-focused approach guides the product development process and aligns it with business objectives.
How to do continuous product discovery sustainably and as a team
Find out how to do continuous product discovery with Teresa Torres who has taught over 12,000 people how to sustainably infuse their daily product decisions with customer input. You will find out why product should not be just a job title, but a mindset that the entire C-suite needs to share.
Listen to find out:
What is an outcome-orientated mindset? Do we need OKRs?✅
How to build a continuous feedback loop with customers 🪢
Business success 👔 vs product discovery success 🫶
What mistakes people make with product discovery 🕵️
The pitfalls of founder-led product 🤳 (and how to avoid them)
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