EMPOWERED

CHAPTER 77Meaningful Transformation

Inevitably, once you realize the scope and scale of what is necessary to work the way the best companies work, it raises the question of how to change from the way you're working today to the way you believe you need to work tomorrow. And this is essentially a question of transformation.

What does it really mean to transform to empowered product teams?

The prerequisite for this transformation is getting your senior leaders—typically starting with the CEO—to understand the necessary role of technology as the key enabler of the business, and not just a necessary cost of doing business. Without this understanding, your chances of success are low.

But assuming your senior leadership understands why this is essential, and is willing to take the actions required, then we can get to work.

At the highest level, there are three major steps. And as a general rule, they need to happen in the following order.

First, you'll need to ensure you have strong product leaders in place. Without this, you won't be able to recruit and coach the necessary staff for the product teams, you won't have a solid product strategy, and you won't earn the trust of the leaders and the stakeholders. So this is really the first and most critical step, which is why it has been the main topic of this book.

Second, you'll need to give those strong product leaders the ability to recruit and develop the staff required for empowered product teams. This almost always means raising ...