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The Tardis

Quintessential Thought

A Product Owner needs to be like Dr. Who - living in all the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff - past, present, and future. (Credit our dear friend Summer Lawrence for the analogy).

The past - did what we deliver add value? What can we learn from what we’ve done and replicate our successes or limit our shortcomings?

The present - am I collaborating effectively with my developers? My stakeholders? My customers? Does everyone understand the why of what we’re doing?

The future - am I working to discover value? Where do I want our product to be in the future? Are our goals and vision clear and inspiring? Are we refining effectively to come to a shared understanding?

By being in all three time horizons, a Product Owner can continue to test assumptions, collaborate effectively, and deliver more value to their customers in their organization. Be like Dr. Who!

Quotes

“People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... timey wimey... stuff.” - Dr. Who

“Be stubborn on vision, but flexible on details.” - Jeff Bezos

“The value is in what gets used, not what gets built.” - Kris Gale

Quick Step

One for each time horizon:

Past: take an hour this next month to analyze how something you built recently is being used - is it what you expected?

Present: try something different with your collaboration - ask for feedback on how you collaborate.

Future: ask three members of your team (developers or stakeholders) what your Product Vision is. Listen for differences in the answers.

Question

Where does your Product Owner need to live more - past, present, or future?

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