Culture and Product Strategy is Truth Seeking and Truth Telling
If product strategy is essential in a world where raw execution is getting eaten by automation and mimesis; and if culture (yet to be defined with more clarity), eats culture (also to be further defined, but going to hold this for now), what is the 'essence' that brings them together?
One of those things is seeking the "Truth" as it applies to the business and people. And providing space for this.
The challenge is that "truth" has become relative; and efforts to find that truth are often undermined by either free-for-all opinions, or dictatorship.
None of these are the same as seeking the truth.
Jeff Bezos' quote has so much wisdom (and I wish there were someone more obscure and yet still successful to attribute it to):
"I very frequently get the question: 'What's going to change in the next 10 years?' And that is a very interesting question; it's a very common one. I almost never get the question: 'What's not going to change in the next 10 years?' And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two -- because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time...
In our retail business, we know that customers want low prices, and I know that's going to be true 10 years from now. They want fast delivery; they want vast selection. It's impossible to imagine a future 10 years from now where a customer comes up and says, 'Jeff, I love Amazon; I just wish the prices were a little higher.' Or, 'I love Amazon; I just wish you'd deliver a little more slowly.' Impossible.
And so the effort we put into those things, spinning those things off, we know the energy we put into it today is still going to be paying off dividends for our customers 10 years from now. When you have something that you know is true, even over the long term, you can afford to put a lot of energy into it."
-- Jeff Bezos, 2017 Amazon Spheres Opening Event
A good strategy understands a truth -- ideally one that the team, the leadership, believes AND that is actually a truth AND that no many others believe or can execute on.
A truth that the leadership (CEO/founders/executive team) believe wholeheartedly to be true, but is actually wrong, can lead to death.
A truth that is commonly held and that most people can execute is competed away; it's a commodity and more likely a "truism" than a truth.
A truth held only by the leader and no one else and is wrong is a death march.
A truth held only by the leader, no one else, and is right could be the making of something great, but it would depend on why there is no buy in. There's huge risk in this combination.
And the best is a truth held by both the leader and the rest of the team that is right can be an exhilarating ride.
What's shared in all of these scenarios is that the actual truth matters. There's a llimited set of winning outcomes if what's believed to be true is actual false.