Presentation about effective product development culture as an evolution of Spotify Engineering Culture for the Bosch internal Community of Practice Agile conference
12. Basic underlying assumptions are
usually not mentioned for the same
reason we don’t typically mention
that gravity exists.
They are core beliefs that are
taken-for-granted.
12
27. 27
Theory X Theory Y
Workers are selfish,
lazy, dumb, and work
only for their
paycheck
Workers enjoy their
work, are motivated,
intelligent, and
trustworthy
Management is all
about rewards and
punishment, that is,
extrinsic motivation
Management is
about coaching and
removing obstacles
to intrinsic
motivation
39. REMINDER: Guiding principles are
chosen, not assumed. There may be
other ways to do things, but we
choose these principles because we
believe they’re more effective.
39
40. Consent over consensus
01
02
03
9 guiding
principles
(I’ll only
expand on 3)
The basic unit of product development is the team,
not the individual
04
05
06
07
08
09
Autonomy is enabled by clear intent and
technical excellence
Cross-pollination over imposed standards
Developing products is about developing people
Think big, work small
Speed generates quality
Limit the “blast radius”
Don’t just borrow wisdom; think for yourself
48. 48
TBM 4/52: Think Big, Work Small (Part 2) - by John Cutler (substack.com)
Think Big/Small Think Small
AKA high
alignment, low
autonomy
AKA aligned
autonomy
50. “Stop trying to borrow wisdom and think for
yourself. Face your difficulties and think and
think and think and solve your problems
yourself. Suffering and difficulties provide
opportunities to become better. Success is
never giving up.”
Taiichi Ohno
50
Stop trying to borrow wisdom and think for yourself | by Jason Yip | Medium
52. “Models are for the obedience of fools and
the guidance of the wise.”
Jason Yip
52
(Spotify) Models are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of the wise - Jason Yip - Medium
54. REMINDER: Key practices are the
observable consequences of our
core beliefs and guiding principles.
These are the most likely to evolve
as we learn of better options.
54
57. 1. All the skills needed;
2. Assigned/sign up for a problem to solve,
not a list of features to build;
3. Accountable for outcomes (aligned to
broader strategy) not just outputs
57
Empowered Product Teams - Silicon Valley Product Group : Silicon Valley Product Group (svpg.com)
66. “The lesson is that a good or right
culture is a function of the degree to
which shared tacit assumptions
create the kind of strategy that is
functional in the organization’s
environment.”
Edgar Schein
66
67. There is no universally good or bad product
development culture, just culture that is
more or less useful to achieve your goals.
67