Business Analyst to Product Owner: Making the Leap

November 2, 2011

Jason Novack Brian Bozzuto BigVisible Solutions

What is a Product Owner?

•  Responsible for the business value of the project (scrumalliance.org)

•  Responsible for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Development Team. (scrum.org)

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What do we know about PO’s? •  Responsible for defining product vision •  Has to be able to articulate a strategy to achieve the vision •  Defines and prioritizes the product backlog •  Makes decisions on product direction •  Maps the product vision to development stories •  Accepts work results •  Responsible for ROI •  Voice of the customer •  Stakeholder funnel which all requests flow through •  Has to make decisions to move things forward with limited

information

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Where do good PO’s come from?

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Technology Experience

•  Flow of development •  Appreciation for details •  Understanding of team dynamics

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Decision Making

•  Decisive •  Willing to make

mistakes •  Rarely have all the data

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Domain Knowledge

•  Knowledge supports speed •  Shortens feedback loops •  Builds trust with customers/users

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Story time….

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Question: Can an airplane fly powered only by the pilot’s body power?

Kramer Challenge: £50,000 for the first person to build a plane that could fly a figure eight around two markers one half-mile apart AND £100,000 for the first person to fly across the English Channel.

How would you approach winning this challenge? Keep in mind the tools of the day…

Exercise

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The Kramer challenge: • Build a human powered plane that can fly a figure eight around two markers one half-mile apart • Build a human powered plane that can fly across the English Channel

Break into groups of 3 – 4 and spend roughly 5 minutes discussing how you would approach winning this challenge?

Keep in mind the tools of the day…

Here’s what happened

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18 Years

Many attempts

All Failed

Source: wikipedia

Source: http://weblab.open.ac.uk/firstflight/

Another angle

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Question: Can an airplane fly powered only by the pilot’s body power?

Question: How can you build a plane that could be rebuilt in hours not months?

12 Gossamer Condor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossamer_Condor

13 Gossamer Albatross http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossamer_Albatross

•  When you are solving something hard, re-ask the problem so your solution helps you learn faster

•  Failure is part of innovating

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What are the lessons?

http://www.azarask.in/blog/post/the-wrong-problem/

PO Archetypes

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The Stenographer

Key Behaviors

•  Limited autonomy •  Documents requirements

from other (usually one) source

•  Limited strategic thinking

Growth Opportunities

•  Build Expertise •  Engage a broad range of

stakeholders

The Decider

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Key Behaviors

•  Decisive prioritization •  Iteratively build &

evaluate product

Growth Opportunities •  Learn about

domain •  Engage more

stakeholders

Techniques for Deciders

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Small Bets

Big Hairy Goals

Value Stream Analysis

The Genius

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Key Behaviors

•  Deep product domain expertise

•  Able to develop novel new solutions

Growth Opportunities

•  Convey complex problems simply

•  Continue to learn •  Engage stakeholders

The Diplomat

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Key Behaviors

•  Multiple stakeholder engagement

•  Work prioritization

Growth Opportunities

•  Go beyond zero sum negotiations

•  Establish a common vision •  Bring disparate groups

together

Techniques for Diplomats

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Success Criteria

Humanized Customers

Rapid Feedback

The Alchemist

Key Behaviors

•  Actively engage numerous stakeholders

•  Identify 3rd way solutions

Growth Opportunities

•  Build further product expertise

•  Identify opportunities for innovation

PO Archetypes

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To re-frame

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Responsible for maximizing the

value of the product and the

work of the Development

Team.

Responsible for building better and innovative

products that are simple and make

users actually want to use.

So, how do you make the leap?

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By looking at the problem differently, you can start to see different patterns and solutions emerge.

Emphasize learning as a key way of being. Don’t be afraid of being wrong. Learning gives PO’s real empirical data that can be used to iterate quickly.

Being able to make quick decisions with limited visibility is a key trait of a good PO. Waiting for all the info or data results in long lead times and missed opportunities.

Understanding the problem space you are operating in is key to moving quickly and speaking to your customers in a way they can understand, trust and respect.

Re examine the problem

Learn to Learn

Be Decisive

Learn the Domain

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Questions

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Top 10 Products we never knew we needed

1. Smart phones 2. Google 3. Wireless connections 4. Digital photography 5. Supermarket convenience foods 6. Text Messaging 7. Online shopping 8. Flat Screen TV’s 9. On demand movies and DVR’s 10. GPS and iPod’s

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Source: ShopSmart Magazine survey