The product organisation lacks autonomy, with a deeply entrenched top-down approach. In practice, this means decision-making is centralised, limiting teams' ability to move at speed or drive meaningful outcomes, leading to widespread frustration and inefficiency.
Leadership often appears hesitant to advocate for teams or challenge unrealistic expectations. It's not uncommon for mockups or conceptual ideas (developed without any product involvement) to be shown to senior leaders or the CEO and subsequently treated as committed roadmap items. These initiatives are then handed down to product teams, who must scramble to deliver under pressure, often without any discovery or clear business rationale.
There is a strong output-driven culture (feature-factory) where delivery timelines are prioritised above quality or customer value. Meeting deadlines, regardless of whether the final deliverable meaningfully solves a problem, is frequently deemed more important than doing the right work in the right way.
The absence of a coherent digital strategy, coupled with frequently shifting priorities, fosters a chaotic and high-pressure environment. Everything is treated as urgent, and teams often find themselves having to escalate simply to get work prioritised. Collaboration suffers, and a political dynamic replaces agile decision-making.
There is no clear career progression framework. Advancement often depends on roles becoming available, and the only path for growth within product appears to be through line management, there are no established individual contributor pathways.
Business travel has been significantly reduced (or eliminated) due to ongoing cost-cutting measures, which has made it increasingly difficult for globally distributed teams to build trust and strong working relationships.
