On the Continuous Improvement Mindset

The only way OKRs are going to work is if you’re continuously learning and improving them. It is important to create an evidence-based statistics culture from the top all the way down in an organization.

Rob Bayley is currently the senior product manager at Auvik Network Inc., he was previously the director of product at Roadmunk and a senior product manager at NetSuite. He has 10 years of experience in product management. He talks about the importance of setting workable objectives as a team and for the organization.

Listen in to learn why the agile method is popular when setting goals in product development. You will also learn about the focuses that lead to the success of products in the market and how it starts with the team.

“The more mental energy and emotion that somebody has invested in something the harder they take it when it doesn’t work out.” — Rob Bayley (39:20)

Show notes

• (0:38) Intro
• (2:24) The role of a product manager explained - influence without authority versus influence with authority
• (5:39) How to align the team with a roadmap strategy when the landscape changes at the top level
• (8:54) He describes the OKRs at Roadmunk as a single responsible individual strategy and the weakness of that method
• (14:52) Why agile method has become very popular in product development due to the unpredictability of goals
• (18:33) The importance of having individual-level goals and department-level goals in an organization
• (20:57) How to figure out the type of software to design and who to design for
• (23:54) The process of making your OKRs work by continuously learning and improving
• (27:21) How to be data-driven or evidence-based culture statistics across the organization from the top by building infrastructure
• (34:36) The three focuses that lead to product success in the market and the benefits of having a measure of how the product is doing
• (39:19) The three things you need to do to help your team stay motivated
• (42:24) The advice he would give to team leaders driving objectives in an organization