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If you work in or with a team or teams who build things, read on. In my experience as a product manager, consultant, and leader, these are five tried and tested tips for amplifying product management adoption. For those of you who read my previous blog and are wondering how to get product management into your organisation, consider the following “guerilla tactics” that might help lead the charge.

As a former product manager, management consultant, agilist, and self-confessed questioner of all things, I sometimes catch myself thinking about big, hairy questions scraped straight from the very bottom of the “too hard” basket. On sensible days, I catch these thoughts, acknowledge their existence, and move swiftly on to the next shiny thing in my vicinity. On less-than-sensible days, I latch onto them — give them attention, time, space, and explore them.

Outside Context Problem

Ian Banks defined an Outside Context Problem as “a problem that hits you not only because no one saw it coming, but because it was so far outside your context that no one could have possibly predicted it.” In business, we see this all the time, we call it a “disruption”. Disruptions are the primary business model for aggressive tech-focused startups. They hit organisations hard because they just can’t see it coming. Not that they don’t see it coming, but they can’t.

Over the last few posts we have been looking at how to set up and fund business technology teams – teams that are directly linked to business functions and provide the technology component of the business as an integral part of the business rather than something provided by a separate IT group. These teams are funded by the business on an ongoing basis in order to deliver business outcomes.

Ditch IT

While the idea of an IT department feels quite modern, the actual idea is pretty old. In the 60s and 70s, these systems were big and complex. Fast-forward 30 years and things are different.

We still talk about “business” and “IT” but that’s no longer really the case. Everything you do in your business relies on IT to happen. IT no longer supports your business. IT is your business.