• Product Owner

What do the best Product Owners have in common?

The most famous product owner: Steve Jobs

In his heyday, he was the rock star of product innovation. Everyone knew who Steve Jobs was. But hardly anyone knew Jonathan Ive, the designer of the iPhone. After all, Steve Jobs owned his product like no one else. His biography is a must for anyone serious about becoming a product owner. It is a thick book so in this article I have extracted some of the characteristics that made Steve good.

• Vision –Steve Jobs’ vision for the Personal Computer (PC) was that it was a “bicycle for the mind. This powerful metaphor was the basis for many of his innovations. A clear vision not only leads to groundbreaking innovations, it also helps to make quick decisions when not all the information is available- crucial in scrum.

• The highest quality demands– Steve’s drive for quality is legendary. His demands on the people around him and the products they made were extremely high. Perhaps even too high, as it led to many a burnout. Demanding quality is a difficult and dynamic balance. Because customers never tell you what they think quality is. You can only infer it from their behavior. And the trick is not to confuse your own requirements with those of the customer.
• A star on stage –Steve Jobs prepared his presentations to perfection. Indeed, often his choice of certain features was driven by his ideas about presentation. This enabled Steve to generate great desire from his customers and trust from his investors and stakeholders time and again.
• Anything to keep the team full steam ahead– Steve was a tough negotiator. He arranged with the outside world the conditions, technologies and licenses that allowed his team to score.

But Steve wasn’t perfect

After the publication of his first biography, many people learned that Steve could be a huge asshole. Indeed, Steve Jobs’ biography legitimized antisocial behavior in the workplace for many people. But if you read his biography carefully, you learn that Steve actually reached the greatest heights when he got his inner asshole under control. Steve Jobs also almost went bankrupt several times by setting wrong priorities. A good product owner project manager also has some qualities that Steve Jobs lacked.

• Warm and attentive– For a good product owner project manager, it is important to exude warmth. For this, it is important to be able to listen carefully to your team and to your stakeholders. Steve went in hard time after time and made a lot of lumps in the process. With a little warmth, you can motivate the team and give your stakeholders confidence that you are looking out for their interests.

• Setting achievable, realistic goals -The goals Steve set for the Apple III and the NeXT OS system were completely unachievable. Those products never got there and led to layoffs, losses and burnouts. Setting priorities with business goals in mind is an important trait of a good Product Owner. There are always more requirements and wishes than you can meet. The product owner weighs and prioritizes.

• Delegate –Steve Jobs was also a control freak. He compensated by working impossibly hard and long hours. Not all people have that much stamina. It’s smarter to delegate. That way there is no bottleneck when questions go unanswered or feedback is not given. Delegation works best when you develop people. Delegation is also important if you don’t have the expertise yourself.