Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about SAFe and the product owner role | Melissa Perri (author, founder of Product Institute) | Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career (private feed for websong16@gmail.com) | Podwise
This episode explores the rapidly growing product owner role in tech, particularly within large, non-tech companies undergoing Agile transformations. Against this backdrop, the discussion reveals that the product owner role, originating from Scrum, often lacks the strategic depth of traditional product management. More significantly, the guest, a product management expert, strongly discourages the use of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), citing numerous instances where companies adopting SAFe ultimately abandoned it for more tailored approaches. For instance, the guest details a case where a bank's product owners spent excessive time writing user stories, neglecting crucial customer interaction. The conversation then pivots to the challenges faced by product owners seeking career advancement, highlighting the need for clear career paths and the importance of showcasing value-driven accomplishments rather than process-oriented tasks on resumes. Ultimately, the episode emphasizes the critical need for skilled leadership and a focus on customer value, rather than rigid adherence to frameworks, for successful product development at scale.
