How to fix broken systems - Kate Tarling (CEO, The Service Group)

Kate Tarling — consultant, trainer, and author of The Service Organization — joins Lily and Randy to discuss what it takes to deliver great services inside large, complex organizations. The conversation covers the distinction between products and services, why transformation so often stalls, how to make the business case for change using existing investment, and how product people can contribute to, and benefit from, a more service-oriented way of working.

Chapters

• 00:01:30 — Introduction and Kate's background • 00:04:00 — Defining services vs. products • 00:07:00 — Product organizations vs. service organizations • 00:09:00 — Why service delivery is hard • 00:11:30 — Transformation in practice: there is no magic process • 00:13:30 — Starting with one area and cutting across silos • 00:15:30 — Common mistakes organizations make • 00:19:30 — Measuring progress and making the business case • 00:22:30 — Redirecting existing investment: a UK government example • 00:25:00 — Triage functions and portfolio management • 00:26:00 — How product people can contribute in service organizations • 00:30:30 — Kate's 12 principles • 00:34:00 — Summary • 00:37:00 — Examples of good service organizations

Our Hosts Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.