Shifting from Delivering Features to Driving Outcomes

published date Dec 18, 2024

Why do 80% of product launches fail to meet their goals? Because they focus on outputs, not outcomes.

Indeed, “80%” and “fail” are daunting. This statement concludes easily more that it could induce understanding.

A product mindset empowers teams to deliver scalable solutions that align with user needs and business goals.

Just imagine you are visiting a book store, seeking personal development books.

… The attendant scours through the book store and comes back…

surprise.. surprise.. “The 7 Habits of Happy Kids”.

The attendant got you a book but not the one you were seeking. The outcome is, this store probably does not have good suggestions.

A product mindset prioritizes delivering values continuously over simply completing tasks or delivering features.

Why a product mindset is essential for scalable growth?

• Adapts to evolving user needs:

“Businesses that adapt to changing needs are more likely to retain and grow their customer base.”

• Drives long-term innovation:

“A focus on outcomes fosters innovation, as teams aim to solve real problems rather than just check off tasks.”

• Supports scalable solutions:

“By focusing on user value and feedback loops, you create solutions that scale with demand.”

Best practices for cultivating a product mindset

A. Align teams around a shared vision

Teams need clear understanding of what success looks like. Start with:

  1. Defining your product’s mission and goals.
  2. Sharing user stories and pain points to keep teams user-focused.
  3. Using OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to align teams around measurable outcomes.

B. Embrace cross-functional collaboration.

Breaks silos between product, engineering, design, and business teams. Start with:

  1. Encouraging open communication and shared ownership of outcomes.
  2. Centralizing collaboration

C. Embrace cross-functional collaboration

Output-driven teams focus on deliverables, but outcome-driven teams focus on solving problems. Start with:

  1. Defining metrics tied to user success (e.g., customer satisfaction, retention rates).
  2. Prioritizing features based on their impact on these metrics.

D. Build feedback loops

Feedback ensures that you’re solving the right problems and improving iteratively. Start with:

  1. Regular communication with users.
  2. Creating rapid iteration cycles to incorporate feedback into your product.

E. Cultivate growth mindset in teams

A growth mindset encourages teams to view challenges as opportunities for learning. Start with:

  1. Celebrating experiments and learnings, even when they fail.
  2. Investing in training and workshops on user-centric design and product management.

F. Retrospect

Retrospect ensures a team communicate their successes as well as their challenges, thus, building trust. Start with:

  1. Meeting regularly (You decide what “regularly” means).
  2. Being constructive about processes, collaboration, and performance.
  3. Ensuring you are addressing insights or improvements from the past retrospectives.
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