#184 – The Product Owner and the Business

If you’re in an organization that’s holding on to the traditional split between “the business” and IT/R&D/Engineering/Digital, it’ll be a struggle to get the real benefits out of working agile, unless the Product Owners come from Business and are sufficiently empowered (i.e., able to adapt the product based on feedback from users, internal stakeholders and the Scrum Team).

Even though Business sends over a “representative” to join the Scrum Team, they still have to make internal changes to the way they think and act. Their whole plan-driven approach to product development, funding, governance and understanding of Product Management need to be revisited and refreshed. But, if you really want your business to go agile together with your Developers, break down the current silos and organize around Value Streams or products–and stop talking about “the business”, because everyone is the business.