Transformed

CHAPTER 46Objections from Inside Product

Note: For the purposes of this chapter, these objections represent the broader product and technology organization (product management, product design, engineering, product ops, and product leadership).

“How can we be responsible for outcomes if we don't control all the people necessary for delivering on that outcome—sales, marketing, services, and so on?”

This is a very common objection, and it's also very understandable. One way of addressing it is to focus the key results on product outcomes that are largely in your control. But you do need to be careful here because it's important that the product team take some real responsibility for the success of the product. The original motivation for OKRs was to encourage product teams to get out of the office and figure out what needs to change. Is there a problem with the marketing or with the sales? Maybe the sales tools? Or is the problem with the product not doing what it needs to do in the customer's environment?

Think of it this way: Who in the entire company has more of an ability to impact the products than the product teams? Think of the salesperson who depends on selling the product for their livelihood, yet has little to no control of the actual product.

“It is very expensive for us to do a release of the necessary quality. How can we possibly afford to do these releases much more frequently? Throwing more people at the problem doesn't necessarily speed the process up—it can ...