Doc Norton

New episode of SVPG Product Therapy: Christian Idiodi and Marty Cagan discuss one of the most talked-about, and often misunderstood topics in product: product strategy. If you care about alignment, outcomes, and building products that actually move the needle, this one’s worth a listen. Links to episode: Youtube https://lnkd.in/gCB5HCix Apple Podcasts https://lnkd.in/gZqhTvuz Spotify https://lnkd.in/g5VV-j9w

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"𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁" 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗻. It’s how I learned to influence without authority As a mid-level QA woman in tech. Waiting for permission wasn’t going to cut it. A colleague who was great at this stuff shared the basics: 🔸 Understand what’s really bugging them 🔸 Bring solutions that help the business 🔸 Show up prepared (always) 🔸 Do what you say you’ll do 🔸 Pick your moments to speak up But here’s what really moved the needle: 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. Coffee chats with devs. Checking in on product managers’ side projects. Remembering what stressed people out. So when crunch time hit, I wasn’t just “that QA person” I was someone they trusted. And it worked: ✅ I heard about issues early ✅ Devs shifted priorities when I asked ✅ My meetings actually worked because I’d already invested in listening 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱... A critical customer project. I had to convince leadership to shorten a risky freeze window. They said yes, not because of my job title Because of the trust I'd earned. And because I was clear about the risk and the business impact. 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁. People who influence without authority: 1️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 – They invest in people, not just projects 2️⃣ 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 – They understand what matters to others 3️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 – No jargon, just clarity 4️⃣ 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀 – They know when to push and when to pause They’re not tricks They’re how real leaders show up. Keep showing up this way, and people will start listening. 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻? Start with coffee chats - not PowerPoints. Drop a 👍 if you're trying it. Go book that chat this week.

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"It won't work in the real world," or why do we still need ideals. I’ve noticed a pattern that worries me. Practices we know, and are proven to be valuable, like continuous integration and delivery, TDD, TBA, pairing, sync reviews, and more, too often get dismissed as “dogmatic”, "religious", "absolutists"... The argument goes: "That’s nice in theory, but the real world doesn’t allow for it. Deadlines, pressure, trade-offs…" you know the drill. While ideals also change, and a better approach is inevitably coming down the line (Although XP just keeps reincarnating 😄 ), once we start letting go of those ideals, even in small ways, the baseline shifts. "Good enough” becomes the best we strive to, and then "good enough" slowly turns into barely holding together. For me, ideals aren’t about rigid rules. They’re the compass. They remind us what “better” looks like, even when reality forces compromise. Dismiss them, and you’re just sprinting toward nowhere faster.

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Work that bounces between teams rarely flows smoothly. Every handoff introduces delay, misalignment, and more coordination overhead. If a team can’t deliver a complete outcome without coordinating with others, it’s not really owning the value stream, it’s managing dependencies. The goal isn’t just shipping tasks, it’s delivering outcomes end to end. A few patterns I’ve seen shift this dynamic: - Rewire team boundaries around value streams, not functions - Split teams by capability focus when flow breaks down - Assign clear capability ownership so decisions don’t get orphaned When teams are structured to own the whole outcome, you get fewer dependencies, clearer accountability, and faster delivery. Where is ownership fragmented in your organization? --- If you’re looking at how to reduce handoffs and increase team-level autonomy, happy to talk—DM me. #fastflow #endtoendownership #teamtopologies

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A little more detail on my AI in QA workshops: Please reshare to help get out the word. These are free and I want to keep doing them if there is interest. The goal is largely meant to inspire and encourage learning. They will point you in the right direction. 1. An intro to Cursor, Playwright & LLMs This hour-long session will focus on getting you comfortable with Cursor and the tips and tricks that are key for QA engineers using it. I’ll walk you through model selection, how to set context, how to use rules, and more. This is great for anyone who is fairly new to Cursor and wants to start using it. Calendly: https://lnkd.in/gJthqa7b 2. Using Cursor to build your POM This session will leverage Cursor to build out a basic page object model. I’ll show you how to do this using both the DOM and code. Additionally, we’ll cover adding test IDs to the codebase and look at strategies for handling test data. Calendly: https://lnkd.in/gp9M6Gn9 3. Directors only: How can Cursor help your team? These are ad-hoc sessions any manager, director, CTO, etc., can book. I’ve already done several and really enjoy them. They tend to be conversations about your current approach, with me demoing whether or not Cursor can be helpful. They are often fascinating discussions about QA and usually offer a nugget or two that people take away. Calendly: https://lnkd.in/guRf6Cu2 #qa #ai #cursor #learning

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I approach quality and completeness from frameworks and multiple directions of review. So it only makes sense I'd advocate that quality assurance proponents need to be in the middle of every technical initiative. Preferably sitting right next to security people. Here's my latest article: The QA Function Is a Missing Piece in Digital Transformation - on Elnion. https://lnkd.in/gdPEeRxU

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Even in 2025, Mike Cohn’s User Stories Applied remains a must-read for anyone in Agile development. Why? Actionable Insights: Practical tips for writing user stories that drive value. Bridges Gaps: Helps developers and stakeholders communicate effectively. Timeless Advice: Concepts that still apply, even in today’s evolving Agile landscape. If you haven’t read it yet, do yourself a favour and pick it up. It’s a classic for a reason. #Agile #Scrum #UserStories #SoftwareDevelopment #ProductManagement

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In today’s Substack post from the Plan of Record series, I walk through the operational frameworks I’ve relied on to build high-performance product development teams and why they’re essential for diagnosing and fixing what’s broken. I also explain why we had to create the PoR Prioritization Framework to address a critical gap no other model could fill. Here’s the link: https://lnkd.in/ek9J_cqq #SaaS #ProductManagement #EngineeringLeadership #R&D #Prioritization #Execution #CPO #CTO #CPTO

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The big question regulated teams are asking is "How do we release faster?" Most teams in regulated industries feel stuck in release cycles that stretch for months, weighed down by manual documentation, rigid approvals, and review processes that take longer than the development work itself. But the reality is that faster cycles are not only possible—they’re already happening. Many teams cling to “best practices” that aren’t required by regulation but drag down speed. Teams that want to release biweekly (or even faster) must ask themselves: are we doing this because it is required, or because it is tradition? In this blog, medical device Quality expert Lee Chickering provides 12 concrete ways that teams can move to biweekly release cycles. Link in comments ⬇️

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<rant based on insight of systems thinking> Systems thinking tells us the behavior we get is a reflection of the design of our system. This design may or may not have been intentional. But it causes the behavior we get. This implies that the behavior we're getting from the Manifesto For Agile Software Development is a derivative of how the MASD is designed. I understand how this happened, but I've mentioned it so many times and been rebuffed (as has people like @tom Gilb and other premier thought leaders) that I'm not going to go into this again. Part of this, however, is how it is designed to be defended by some. I'm sure I'll see some of that in response to this. I put this out there as a question for you - look at your problems. Sure, if people understand that results are based more on the interactions of people rather than the improvement of a team. Also, look to see when something goes wrong, who do agilists blame - the system or roles. Ask yourself if "people over process" regardless of how intended has resulted in a lack of appreciation for good workflows. <end rant>

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Most PMs struggle aligning the company with their next feature launch. Launch tiers can help. There’s a strategy to launch tiers, and once you get it right, it changes everything. Here's a break down the 4-tier launch system that the best companies use to align PM with PMM and the rest of the GTM team: — First, let’s talk about what launch tiering really means. Not every product launch deserves a full-scale campaign with press releases and marketing blitzes. But most teams either overinvest in minor updates or underinvest in major ones. The solution? Launch tiers. — Tier 1: Major Launches These are the big ones: New product rollouts, major redesigns, or features that can redefine your category. They need: → Full company alignment (PMs, marketing, sales, PR, support) → A marketing campaign, press releases, and executive support. — Tier 2: Mid-Level Launches These are meaningful updates that improve the product or help expand market reach... But don’t require full-scale efforts. They involve: → Collaboration with marketing, but on a smaller scale → Blog posts, emails, and internal training for sales teams — Tier 3: Routine Updates These are your everyday product improvements. Small design tweaks, bug fixes, or iterative feature updates. Here’s what they need: → Simple announcements like release notes or in-app notifications → Minimal or no involvement from marketing and sales — Tier 4: Silent Releases These updates live behind the scenes... Things like backend optimizations, performance upgrades, or security patches. What they require: → Documentation for internal teams → No external communication or customer-facing announcements — But how do you decide which tier your launch belongs to? Ask these questions: → Business Impact: Will this update drive growth, retention, or revenue? → Customer Impact: Will it significantly change user workflows? The bigger the impact, the higher the tier. — Once you’ve categorized your launch, the next step is creating a playbook for each tier. For each tier, outline: → The key deliverables → Team roles and responsibilities → Lead times and budgets This way, there’s no confusion or last-minute scrambling. — If you treat every product launch the same, you’ll either burn out or miss key opportunities. Learn more about nailing launches here: https://lnkd.in/eB7s6umA And use this tier system to launch smarter, not harder.

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A fun and engaging conversation on quality and giving useful feedback with Anthony Hobday (a product designer) and Katie Langerman (a systems designer) on their excellent “Complementary” podcast. We discussed how to: - Champion quality in distributed teams - Measure quality metrics - Give and receive useful feedback, especially between designers & developers - Balance craft, context, and care in product development Link in comments. Listen on your favorite podcast player (I recommend Pocket Casts!)

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🎙️ What’s really happening inside your engineering org? In this episode of the Mob Mentality Show, we sit down with Philip Borlin, Director of Engineering and advocate for lean thinking, mobbing, and team capability building, to uncover how Gemba Walks, smaller batch sizes, and healthy team nudges reveal the actual state of your tech organization—not just what reports say. https://lnkd.in/gjxEZYF8 https://lnkd.in/gzV9SMRx We explore how leaders can stop flying blind and start leading based on facts from the field. 🔍 Topics Covered: ✅ Gemba Walks (Japanese term meaning “go to the real place”): - Why your assumptions about how work gets done are probably wrong - How spending even one hour a week in the mob or at the code level changes everything - The myth of managing solely through middle managers - Why high-fidelity information beats filtered reporting - Remote-friendly adaptations: mobbing, Lean coffees, and async insight gathering ✅ Mobbing (also known as ensemble programming): - How mobbing surfaces capability gaps and builds shared understanding - Growing capabilities without enforcing rigid standards - Real stories of capability fire drills, single points of failure, and org fragility - “Low and slow” growth as the only sustainable path to true skill development? ✅ Fixing Batch Size and WIP (Work In Progress): - How large batches lead to delivery waste, delays, and bugs - The surprising power of reducing ticket size to unlock flow - Socratic coaching at stand-ups to improve team work slicing - Giving permission to drop non-priority work and focus only on what matters ✅ Building a Learning Culture: - Why capability resilience > retaining every team member forever - Using “nudges” and peer pressure the right way - Investing in bright spots without ignoring skeptics - Cultivating environments where psychological safety and growth feed off each other 💡 Whether you’re a Director of Engineering, Tech Lead, Agile Coach, or Software Engineer, this episode gives you practical ways to lead with clarity, scale team capability, and build resilience into your org’s DNA. Huge thanks to Dave Adsit for recommending that Phil come on the show! Chris Lucian #SoftwareEngineering #EngineeringLeadership #TechLeadership #GrowEngineeringTeams #BuildBetterTeams #LeanSoftwareDevelopment #FlowEfficiency #WorkInProgress #ContinuousDelivery #LearningCulture #KaizenCulture #CapabilityBuilding #OrganizationalResilience #TeamCapability #GembaWalk #ManagementByWalkingAround #Mobbing #TeamCollaboration #GoSeeThinkDo #SystemsThinking #AgileLeadership #RightPeopleOnTheBus #PsychologicalSafety #RemoteCulture

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