Soul

A product, just like a person, has a soul.

Just like a person, it has opinions. It has its ideas and ideals. It has a viewpoint about the world it’s in. It has its quirks, its idiosyncrasies. It has things it’s brilliant about and things about it that are frustrating. Things that it is fastidious about and things it shrugs off as unimportant. It can aim to please or it can be obtuse. It has a memory of the past. It has hopes and an outlook about the future.

A product leader’s job is to hold, maintain, evolve and communicate about the product’s soul. To recognize feedback about it, to interpret it and to talk about it all the time.

When you build a product team, find people that understand this and that love getting to know a product intimately, make decisions that are coherent with its worldview, and of course, help develop it into new directions.

When you make a decision based on what makes sense for the product’s soul, make sure to put it in words. It’s important that the team is comfortable discussing things at this level. Talking just about data and user stories will only get you part of the picture.

And don’t limit this to just your product team. Talk about it with everyone. Make it part of your roadmap, your all-hands meetings, your presentations, your documentation even. Mention it in a panel. Everyone should know about it. The more micro decisions made that take it into consideration, the better.

When you see someone make a good decision, make sure to tell them, and tell them why you’re proud. Ask them about what made them do it that way. Make a point of it to others.

When you give feedback, drill deeply and explain, specifically, what you don’t like and why. If it’s a gut feeling, say so and try to word it in a way that they understand. If you disagree, make sure they at least have all the information.

You can ask why bother with this whole “soul” business? Do customers notice it? Can you build a great company without it? What’s the upside? The downside? Is there even a way to measure it at all?

My answer is that it’s not a rational thing. Not sure there’s any solid data for or against it. It’s a feelings thing. Emotional. You either get it or you don’t. But I can tell you that if you do get it, and you work with a team that gets it too, there’s really no going back from that. It’s so rewarding that I can’t imagine managing a product any other way.