Welcome back to The Lens, my newsletter on Product Management.
Risk Reduction
One of the core lessons from Lean Startup and MVP thinking is to launch early and learn from the field. But this principle extends well beyond initial launches — it should shape how you prioritize features throughout the product lifecycle.
SAFe's prioritization framework includes "risk reduction / opportunity enablement" as an explicit factor. Features that reduce future risk or establish foundations for further development deserve priority even when they don't deliver immediate user-visible value.
When testing, resist the urge to simply validate what you already believe to be true. The most useful hypotheses are the ones that can surprise you — "what if" scenarios that reveal user or business truths you didn't anticipate.
A useful methodology: list the potential failure points for your product or project, then execute tasks that reduce those risks as fast as possible. Calculate a "risk reduction rate" to track progress. Teams that do this ship with more confidence and fewer late-stage surprises.
Working with the Technology Team
The product team's job is delivering superior customer value faster than competitors. Engineering is not an execution arm — they're partners in that mission.
Two principles matter here:
Share context, not just requirements. When engineers understand the problem context and how users actually interact with the software, they imagine alternative solutions. Often better ones. "Download your brain" into theirs — over-communicate intent, constraints, and user reality. Connect developers to actual users. Directly. Not through summaries or ticket descriptions. When an engineer has seen a user struggle with something they built, they become emotionally committed to fixing it. Emotionally committed teams deliver measurably more value.Bring engineering in early — before solutions are defined. The best technical insights come when there's still room to change direction.