Marty Cagan’s concept of empowered teams is often misunderstood, especially in Europe. I firmly believe that autonomy doesn’t mean teams can do whatever they want: it means they are trusted to make decisions within the right constraints.At the same time, no leader wants to slow down execution in a scale-up.
Speed matters, but without chaos.
So, how do you enable multiple squads to operate at speed in parallel?
During my career, I’ve led product teams ranging from early-stage startups with just a couple of product managers collaborating with 2 squads to global teams of 65 product managers working with 40 squads.
Over time, I’ve refined a simple approach to balancing autonomy and control as a product leader:
Step 1: Embrace the principle "It's easier to ask for forgiveness not for permission".
This phrase, first popularised by Grace Hopper, is a powerful mindset for high-performing teams, within reason...
Step 2: Define the 5-10 principles that teams can't touch without consulting leadership.
The best teams execute with clarity when they know what’s off-limits.
Here are some examples of 'do not break' boundaries I've used in the past:• You can’t move the paywall to boost SEO.
- Every new feature must have an API version.
- We don’t build new products unless five early customers sign up with a firm letter of intent and pay upfront $100k.
- Any new feature should also gather data that could strengthen future data moats.Within these boundaries, teams had the autonomy to make decisions and ship fast.