Debacle Prevention
Here’s a daunting question: Why does damn near every technology project end up as a complete debacle? Of course it never starts out that way...
Expect More
“Ugh, I hate our technology.” How often do we hear this? How often do we say this? Can we really afford that expectation?
You Need a Platform Team
The only way for technology to thrive is with a specialized, holistic and ongoing focus. Without that, organizations predictably lurch from debacle to debacle, with technology as a hindrance to their effectiveness rather than a supercharger.
You Don't Want a Treasure Map
You don’t want a treasure map. You want your own team of ace treasure hunters.
Continuous Investment and Smiley Faces
Our most popular chart boils down the hazards of uneven technology investment into a simple graph of smiley faces, showing the benefits of a continuous investment cycle.
You're a Tech Company
Whatever you do nowadays, you’re also a tech company. Let's admit that, and then put good people on delivering it.
Building Rocketships
When you build a culture of smart technology, you’re building your organization a rocketship. Once you’ve seen this potential, you realize there are corners you should never cut.
You Can't Delegate Caring
You’re an organizational leader. The demands are on you are high and the pace is fast. You simply must delegate things in order to survive, and for everything to get accomplished. But one thing you cannot delegate is caring about your technology. Your organization, all the way to the top, has to care.
Are We Too Small for This?
Does this product team model scale down for smaller organizations? Here’s one way to look at it. Chances are that for an organization or company being founded today -- especially a startup run by younger entrepreneurs -- a technology leader is either a co-founder or the very first hire.
There's a New Layer in Town
There is a new layer of technology in play now -- the platform layer. Platforms give us amazing new potential to do things better. But they require a new core competence within your organization, a new type of management, in order to steer the development of those platforms. Developing, maintaining, and managing the product roadmap is the core responsibility of the product team in general, and of the product manager specifically.
A Stripe in Your Org Chart
A technology accelerator team should be its own department -- its own stripe in the org chart. Critical problems get introduced when the team lives under a “service” oriented department like Operations, a specific purpose-oriented team such as Fundraising, Communications, or Programs, or gets mixed with I.T.…
This is Not Traditional I.T.
There is an important distinction between Products and traditional IT. The Product Team must not be pulled into IT roles, even if they seem to be more "tech savvy" than other people in the organization. Eyes will be taken off the ball, and crucial balls will be dropped...
Two Great Reasons Not to Combine Digital Products and IT Operations
Don’t combine IT and Digital Products. Don’t do it. They are not the same thing. They pull in different directions. Everyone loses. That said, we have seen enough times that this can be a hard separation to pull the trigger on. So here are a couple great reasons to help you marshal your courage and build your case.
You Can't Outsource The Brains
There are some things you can -- and probably should -- outsource. What you can never outsource is the brains of your technology operation.
Dishwashers Don't Need Roadmaps
We use the analogy of a dishwasher to help explain technology that we see as belonging under the purview of traditional I.T., as opposed to digital products. Traditional I.T. products, we say, are like dishwashers....
The Delicious Alignment of Distributed Ownership (The Blue/Gold Divide)
Where you once had misaligned roles that created frustration on all sides, the distributed ownership model presents a far more functional setup, where everyone can deliver on the pieces of work that make the most sense for them.
Everyone Likes to Geek Out On Something
Here’s the key underlying principle of the distributed ownership model: let people focus on their areas of interest and expertise. Let people geek out — productively — on the piece of the puzzle where they can make the most impact. And give people on both sides the trusted allies they need to move the ball forward.
Flight of the Bumblebee
At a high level, this "Flight of the Bumblebee" diagram illustrates the beauty of the system working, when the blue team (tool optimizers) and the yellow team (tool users) work in harmony
Alignment Dissolves Resistance
When roles are well defined — when people get the support they need and digital products like the website and CMS start to hit a new trajectory of quality and utility — turfiness starts to dissipate.
Leadership, Technical, and Human
Technology isn’t just about the technical. Not by a long shot. It starts and ends with people.
Of course technical expertise is required, no doubt. But why do so many technology projects end in disappointment or debacle even when the technical side of the equation is well covered?
The answer is that the technical is only one side of the equation, and — especially internally to an organization — not even the most critical side….