These fundamentals are not exclusive to the product operating model, they’re foundational principles for any organization aiming to excel in product development. Without them, you’ll face significant challenges in achieving your goals. Even if becoming fully product-led isn’t your ultimate aim, implementing these practices will still provide great value and improve your organization overall.
1. Leverage Data Insights
One of the key principles is leveraging data insights, and this is the first prerequisite. If your organization isn’t collecting and storing data in an easily accessible way, you have some work to do, and it should become a priority.
I often say, “Measure everything,” but I don’t mean it literally. You should focus on measuring what matters. However, gathering as much data as possible is often better because it allows you to uncover new opportunities and insights later on. Ensuring this data is accessible is equally important, it must be available to everyone involved in product development. This inclusivity enables teams to make informed decisions at every level.
Start by gathering data and making it accessible to all stakeholders and this is non-negotiable. I will go deeper into how to work with data in a future post.
2. Enable Continuous Delivery with CI/CD
Another core principle of the Product Operating Model is embracing small, modular components and the ability to release frequently. For this, you need to have a robust CI/CD pipeline that automates and accelerates releases.
The goal should be to achieve release on demand, meaning that anyone who needs to deploy something can do so immediately. While this may seem ambitious for some organizations, aiming for daily or at least weekly releases should be a realistic objective.
Crucially, this isn’t just about releasing a single system or component; it means releasing end-to-end functionality that spans the entire tech stack and is customer-facing. If your organization struggles with frequent releases, this should be one of your top priorities. Fixing this often requires upgrading your tech stack and reworking your architecture—both common steps in organizations where the Product Opreating Model has been successfully implemented.
3. Foster a Culture That Embraces Failure
A culture that embraces failure is a prerequisite for success. As someone once said, FAIL stands for “First Attempt In Learning”. Accepting that not everything will work, and in fact, that most experiments will fail, is essential to finding the right solutions.
If your organization punishes failure or sweeps it under the rug without learning from it, you need to rethink your approach to experimentation. This mindset shift must extend beyond product development to include how the organization itself operates, as changes to processes and ways of working are inevitable.
Equally important is fostering a culture that encourages teams and leaders to change course when decisions prove to be wrong. Too often, I’ve seen managers cling to past decisions out of fear of looking inconsistent. An experimental and learning culture must extend across the entire organization, not just the product teams.
4. Continuously Pursue Improvement
The most important prerequisite, in my view, is a relentless commitment to continuous improvement. There’s no room for complacency, no point at which you can sit back and decide, “This is good enough.” The pursuit of perfection must be a constant effort, touching every aspect of the organization.
In product development, continuous improvement is already expected, but this mindset needs to extend further:
- Team members and developers should continuously expand their technical and business expertise.
- Managers need to evolve their approaches to better support teams on their journey.
- Executives and top management must remain deeply curious about the market and customer needs, setting the tone for the entire organization.
Standing still isn’t an option; your competitors will quickly overtake you if you do. Everything, from products to processes to people, can always be made better.
Final Thoughts
If your organization lacks any of these prerequisites, now is the time to act. Begin making progress toward these foundational changes, and only then will you unlock the full potential of your teams and truly embrace the power of the Product Operating Model.