Discovery / Shaping's Ability: Product Discovery

Being able to understand a problem, dream big on how to solve that problem, consider how might we work backward to the first small steps in that direction, and most importantly helping everyone (stakeholders and teammates) all of the way through this journey.

This ability will focus on two perspectives and five pillars of value:

Perspectives

• Discovering Opportunities
• Discovering Solutions

Five Pillars of Value

• Desirability
• Feasibility
• Usability
• Viability:Cost
• Viability:Benefit

I have observed this person showing a consistent, comfortable, continuous, and clear positive impact to a squad when wielding this ability, and therefore I would put them in situations where they can employ this ability with only a small amount of guidance

You've read a couple of the most influential books on Product Discovery, including, but not limited to Continuous Discovery Habits, Inspired, Sense and Respond, Lean UX, Lean Startup, Escaping the Build Trap, Outcomes over Outputs, Competing Against Luck, Sprint, or any of the other great books on myriad of ways to discovery the best opportunities and the best solutions to those opportunities. The list is long, because the craft is important... the point is that you are actively pursuing the craft of product discovery. You have incorporated a few techniques in helping your squad think differently about how to pursue a solution. The outcome of you speaking up and stepping up to help is that the squad made better decisions about smaller initiatives because of your insight and participation.

Perspectives

• Discovering Opportunities
  • At this Milestone, you are likely not yet focused on opportunity generation, grooming, or prioritization. You may be aware of the opportunity tree, canvases, or one-pagers, but most begin their discovery journey in solutioning.
• Discovering Solutions
  • At Milestone 1, you are following along as your Shaping Crew shapes smaller initiatives, such as Ops and Value enhancements.

Five Pillars of Value

You've heard of the following, and can discuss each. However, you haven't spent much time evaluating or building evidence that supports the assumptions and hypotheses that are baked within each.

• Desirability
• Feasibility
• Usability
• Viability:Cost
• Viability:Benefit

I have observed this person showing a consistent, comfortable, continuous, and clear positive impact to a squad when wielding this ability, and therefore I would put them in situations where they can employ this ability, with no assistance as well as being a trusted active or passive mentor to others

You've demonstrated that when given a small initiative, like a potential Ops or Value enhancement, you are able to use product optimization techniques, product prototyping techniques, and/or qualitative/quantitative research to provide evidence to support the path that was chosen. This is an Ability that is best demonstrated in concert with a few others (like aforementioned quant/qual research). You are starting to blend those Abilities together such that your squadmates seek you out and it is agreed that you'll take a little time to resolve a debate about a path that could be taken in solution shaping.

Perspectives

• Discovering Opportunities
  • At this Milestone, you have actively contributed to the evidence portion of opportunities that your squad has been tasked with exploring. You have contributed to breaking down the big-bet-sized opportunities into the sub-opportunities that exist within them.
• Discovering Solutions
  • At Milestone 2, you are actively contributing to the shape of all sizes of initiatives.

Five Pillars of Value

You are not only aware of each, but you are known for suggesting discovery techniques specific to your specialty. For instance;

• If your specialty is design, you bring the thunder on usability and have experience helping to identify desirability
• If your specialty is a form of engineering, you are phenomenal at feasibility and have a keen eye for Viability:Cost
• If your specialty is product marketing, you have a myriad of tools that help us understand desirability which often goes hand-in-hand with Viability:Benefit

• If your specialty is product delivery and operations, well you likely lean towards one of the specialties above, but you bring ways for us to understand both sides of Viability.
  These are likelihoods, not prescriptive edicts. The point of this is to say that you are familiar with some discovery techniques.

• Desirability

• Feasibility

• Usability

• Viability:Cost

• Viability:Benefit

I have observed this person showing a consistent, comfortable, continuous, and clear positive impact to multiple squads when wielding this ability, and therefore I would put them in situations where they can employ this ability as well as being considered an expert within this discipline

You are a Product Discovery expert. Meaning, you have shown tremendous value in helping guide us towards the best opportunities, using customer-focused, data-influenced, and continuously improving methods. Meaning, you have been vital in your squad's solution shaping such that members of other squads have been known to reach out to you for assistance with their shaping needs. Optimization, generative, evaluative, all evidence techniques dance at your whim. You may not be huge into alternative techniques and philosophies, and tend to rely on a few tried and true methods, but at this point that does not seem like a hindrance to the impact you make.

Perspectives

• Discovering Opportunities
  • As a person at Milestone 3 of Product Discovery, your influence on the Opportunity Solution Tree is evident to all. The Betting Table often asks "what does <your-name> think" when making strategy and ToV decisions.
• Discovering Solutions
  • When there is a testing party, and folks realize you were a part of the solution shaping, when folks ask questions they often begin with "I'm certain you thought of this, but what about X"... because you are synonymous with thinking holistically about brining solutions to market.

Five Pillars of Value

Which ever has the riskiest assumption tied to it, you are in the center of the discussion around how we are going to better understand the assumption. The pillar and your specialty does not matter... you have shown competence in all 5 pillars.

• Desirability
• Feasibility
• Usability
• Viability:Cost
• Viability:Benefit

I have observed this person showing a consistent, comfortable, continuous, and clear positive impact to a squad when wielding this ability, and therefore I would put them in situations where they can not only employ this ability but where they set the tone for this at the company level

You set the stage for how we do Product Discovery at CareerPlug. You have made clarifications, improvements, and assessments on those on the Milestone 1, 2, & 3 journey of this Ability. You've explored and alternative techniques and philosophies, and incorporated pieces of them into how we approach Product Discovery. You study other organizations that have novel ways to think about and approach the craft of Product Discovery (orgs like Intercom, influencers like John Cutler, and even consultancies like SVPG, Leading Agile, and Strategyn. At this Milestone, you lead CareerPlug in the philosophies, strategies, and tactics of how we do Discovery.

I have observed this person showing a consistent, comfortable, continuous, and clear positive impact to not just internal teams but the community/industry in general when wielding this ability, and they are recognized by the community/industry as an expert