The document discusses building a product mindset in IT organizations. It suggests speaking the language of product using storyboards instead of backlogs, prioritizing based on simple measures, and focusing on a product manager role. It also recommends measuring platform adoption over time, validating ideas with other companies, partnering with risk and compliance teams early, and owning corporate barriers and communication to streamline processes. The overall goal is to help traditional IT organizations shift to prioritizing work in a product-led way and better align with business initiatives.

1. Building a Product
Mindset in IT
Joey Jablonski
VP/Product @ Manifold

2. In Kind
Advocate
Sponsors
SUPPORTERS

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Joey Jablonski
VP/Product @ Manifold
Austin, TX
www.joeyjablonski.com
@jrjablo
jrjablo@gmail.com

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#pca26-orange-channel

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Technology Organizations are “Agile”
Product is what we build, agile is how we build it.

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Lets not forget who pays the bills…..
Technology must be the enabler, not the driver.

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What do we mean when we say “the business”?
- The team with the checkbook.
- Those closest to our revenue stream.
- Teams that understand the market and dynamics.
- Those that understand regulatory boundaries.
- Leadership that must accept risk.
For Product - They are the ones that we must build trust with through
innovation, balance & incremental successes.

8. As practitioners, how do we drive
change?

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Speak the language of product
● Embrace storyboards, avoid
backlogs
● Prioritize based on simplistic
measures that everyone can agree
on
● Product Manager, not Product
Owner

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Measure platform adoption
● Focus on measures of adoption, not
completion
● Measure use over time
● Change metrics as the platform matures
● Evangelize for everyone to act as a
change agent

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Validate your ideas & approaches
● Remember, your approach may be
new but the problem is not
● Use your network, use your vendors,
use other companies “like you”
● Use prototypes! Experiment!

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Embrace teams that must “approve”
● Partner early with Risk,
Compliance & InfoSec
● Leverage them as partners in the
process to prioritize & design
● Propose options that “the
business” is aware and
supportive of the risk

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Own corporate barriers
● Protect the engineers of the churn & uncertainty
of corporate planning cycles
● Use incremental wins to build trust with
corporate processes
● Work diligently to streamline communication
between corporate teams
● Own remediation of tech debt

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Effecting Change in Technology Organizations
● Speak the language of product
● Measure platform adoption
● Validate your ideas & approaches
● Embrace teams that must “approve”
● Own corporate barriers

15. Thank You!
www.joeyjablonski.com
@jrjablo
jrjablo@gmail.com

16. In Kind
Advocate
Sponsors
SUPPORTERS

17. © 2021 Manifold. All rights reserved. | 17
Building a Product Mindset in IT
Technology organizations continue to lag behind other critical business functions in moving to a
product-led mindset for defining high-value work. Many have made the jump too agile for
managing work, but still rely on outdated methods to prioritize and align with key corporate
initiatives. Joey will speak about tools and techniques to use when establishing a product
mindset within traditional IT organizations, how to educate business partners on partnering for
successful product definitions and what organizational structures best enable this shift. Come to
learn more about moving traditional IT organizations to product-led teams.