Behind the Craft
Real Talk about Empowered vs. Feature Product Teams | Chris Jones (SVPG)
Aug 4, 2024
Chris Jones, a partner at Silicon Valley Product Group and co-author of the bestselling book Empowered, shares his insights on product teams. He discusses the crucial differences between empowered and feature teams, explaining how the latter can lead to disconnection and lack of focus. Chris emphasizes understanding organizational goals and avoiding bureaucratic pitfalls. He also highlights the importance of building trust with leadership and taking control of your career in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
43:22
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Quick takeaways
- True empowerment means leadership actively defines problems for teams to solve, fostering accountability and alignment with organizational goals.
- The difference between empowered and feature teams lies in the focus on problem-solving versus merely delivering prescribed solutions, impacting team engagement and customer outcomes.
Deep dives
Understanding Empowerment in Teams
Empowerment in teams is often misunderstood as simply allowing team members to work freely on their preferred tasks. In reality, true empowerment involves leadership actively defining and allocating problems for teams to solve, ensuring alignment and coherence in objectives. This approach fosters accountability, where teams are responsible for delivering solutions that effectively address the specified problems, rather than merely meeting deadlines or requirements. When this leadership responsibility is absent, teams may produce outputs that lack meaningful impact, resulting in disconnection from broader organizational goals.
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