I created this presentation for the Mind the Product event in 2021. In the presentation, I talk about the governance challenges product managers face and offer advice about what they can so to help mature digital governance where they work

1. Build it Right
Lisa Welchman

2. “Every bad thing that
can happen in the
real world can now
happen on the
Internet.”
Vint Cerf

3. Governance is about defining ways
for people to work together to
meet shared goals.
Governance

4. What governance is not
• A workflow
• A committee
• A way to make your job harder

5. Clarity about goals

6. Clear values

7. Photo by Jeffrey F Lin on Unsplash
Clear rules

8. Rules are normal

9. They are how things grow and
what holds the world together.

10. Rules are why we
have a job.

11. A digital governance framework
Scope Strategy Guidance Team
Who defines these things?
What is “digital?”

12. Caught in a non-strategic production
cycle that pushes digital teams
towards burn out and the creation of
ill-considered and low-quality product.
Innovation
Hyperbole
Digital Sprawl

13. Strategic
Innovation
Digital Quality & Safety
How do organizations evolve the
product development collaboration
environment so that there is a good
balance of innovation, agility and
safety?

14. Organizations with poorly designed governance
frameworks often produce lower quality, and
unsafe online experiences.
That’s not always a problem for leadership.
A truth

15. What do you do as product managers?

16. Understand where you are and the nature
of what you are doing.
Find opportunities to shift behaviors
towards shared goals and values—you
have those even if they haven’t been
defined.
Context

17. Where are you?
Is your organization immature or only digitally immature?

18. Digitally immature organizations are often
strong on governance—just not digital
governance
Digital-first organization are often strong on
digital and weak on governance.

19. Understand the relative permanence &
impermanence of what you are building and
manage accordingly.

20. From How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built
Stewart Brand, 1994 (after Frank Duffy)
Do your best with things that
have longer term permanence.
They will be harder to change
later.
• Business models
• Architectural models
(data, content,
taxonomies)
• Technology stacks

21. Where is the product and
team—developmentally?

22. the launch
chaos
strategic collaboration
maturity
Product and team growth & maturity

23. Launch | Growth | Maturity
Invention, Research &
Development
You are scaling:
• Team
• Technology
• Users
The product is mature and
mission critical

24. Launch | Growth | Mature
Invention, Research &
Development
You are scaling:
• Team
• Technology
• Users
The product is mature and
mission critical
Who can improve governance?
Founders and Inventors
Product Managers & Makers
Executives & Regulatory Bodies

25. Building alignment around governance

26. 1. Connect silos and finding common ground
with your peers
2. Build a digital community of practice
3. Talk to leadership about a governance
framework (as a team)
Things to do

27. Promote the value that taking the time to build
products strategically and well is of tangible value to
your organization.
Engage with leadership

28. “Companies that deliver more value to
wider society are also more profitable in
the long term.”
Alex Edmans

29. “Every bad thing that can
happen in the real world
can now happen on the
Internet.”
Vint Cerf
“…and, every good thing.”
Lisa Welchman

Thanks!
Don’t give up.
Your work and expertise
are needed—and
appreciated.

30. www.lisawelchman.com
Digital Governance Fundamentals
Online Course
digitalgovernance.com
Surfacing Podcast
thesurfacingpodcast.com