logo
episode-header-image
Sep 12
19m 33s

Problems vs. Solutions: The Great Produc...

Vasco Duarte, Agile Coach, Certified Scrum Master, Certified Product Owner
About this episode

Bernie Maloney: Problems vs. Solutions: The Great Product Owner Distinction

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.

The Great Product Owner: The Strategic Problem Solver

Bernie describes an exemplary Product Owner from a stealth program sponsored by a CTO, where the company needed to create new intellectual property. This Great Product Owner understood that Agile operates in three dimensions: most organizations only focus on outputs and delivery (first dimension), some reach outcomes (second dimension), but the truly great ones operate in the third dimension of strategic or business agility - defining problems worth solving. This Product Owner knew that high-performing teams need to understand what problem is worth solving rather than just receiving solutions to build. They embraced the Mobius loop approach, focusing on discovering the right problems rather than jumping straight to solutions.

In this segment, we refer to the Mobius Loop, and to Steve Blank’s work on the job of a startup

We also refer to the episode with Elliott Parker on the critical importance of the “startup mindset” to foster innovation in larger organizations. 

The Bad Product Owner: The Backlog Jockey with Authority Issues

Bernie identifies the anti-pattern of Product Owners being treated as mere "backlog jockeys" by their organizations, which forces them into solution-building mode rather than problem-solving mode. These Product Owners don't understand the importance of saying "no" and lack clarity about intent and goals. The worst case Bernie encountered was a team manager who also served as Product Owner, wielding positional authority that shut down team communication. This person would interrupt daily scrums, causing teams to revert to waiting for direction rather than self-organizing. The combination of unclear intent and positional authority creates a toxic environment that destroys team autonomy and psychological safety.

Self-reflection Question: Is your Product Owner focused on defining problems worth solving, or are they primarily managing a backlog of predetermined solutions?

[The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

🔥In the ruthless world of fintech, success isn’t just about innovation—it’s about coaching!🔥

Angela thought she was just there to coach a team. But now, she’s caught in the middle of a corporate espionage drama that could make or break the future of digital banking. Can she help the team regain their mojo and outwit their rivals, or will the competition crush their ambitions? As alliances shift and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear: this isn’t just about the product—it’s about the people.

🚨 Will Angela’s coaching be enough? Find out in Shift: From Product to People—the gripping story of high-stakes innovation and corporate intrigue.

Buy Now on Amazon

[The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

About Bernie Maloney

Bernie Maloney has helped teams grow businesses to beyond $4B / year, delivering products from consumer electronics to network infrastructure to services & payments. He helps clients achieve performance breakthroughs with their teams, organizations and themselves, and believes that leads both to outrageous effectiveness, and a whole lot more fun.

You can link with Bernie Maloney on LinkedIn, and visit Bernie’s website and YouTube Channel

Up next
Yesterday
Pachinko Coding—What They Don't Tell You About Building Apps with Large Language Models | Alan Cyment
AI Assisted Coding: Pachinko Coding—What They Don't Tell You About Building Apps with Large Language Models, With Alan Cyment In this BONUS episode, we dive deep into the real-world experience of coding with AI. Our guest, Alan Cyment, brings honest perspectives from the trenches ... Show More
46m 17s
Oct 7
Agile Meets AI—How to Code Fast Without Breaking Things | Llewellyn Falco
AI Assisted Coding: Agile Meets AI—How to Code Fast Without Breaking Things, With Llewellyn Falco In this BONUS episode we explore the practice of coding with AI—not just the buzzwords, but the real-world experience. Our guest, Llewellyn Falco, has been learning by doing, explori ... Show More
49m 13s
Oct 6
Beyond AI Code Assistants: How Moldable Development Answers Questions AI Can't | Tudor Girba
AI Assisted Coding: Beyond AI Code Assistants: How Moldable Development Answers Questions AI Can't With Tudor Girba In this BONUS episode, we explore Moldable Development with Tudor Girba, CEO of feenk.com and creator of the Glamorous Toolkit. We dive into why developers spend ov ... Show More
41m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2025
How to build a team that can “take a punch”: A playbook for building resilient, high-performing teams | Hilary Gridley (Head of Core Product, Whoop)
Hilary Gridley is the Head of Core Product at WHOOP and a passionate thought leader in leveraging AI to elevate product teams and management practices. With extensive experience tackling challenging problems in regulated industries and high-stakes environments, Hilary emphasizes ... Show More
1h 54m
Oct 2024
Becoming more strategic, navigating difficult colleagues, harnessing founder mode, and more | Anneka Gupta (Chief Product Officer at Rubrik)
Anneka Gupta is the Chief Product Officer at Rubrik, a leading B2B cybersecurity company. She previously spent 11 years at LiveRamp, where she was the President and Head of Product and Platforms leading product development and go-to-market operations and strategy. Anneka also sit ... Show More
1h 8m
Jun 2022
The Co-Creator of the iPod and iPhone on Radical Innovation (with Tony Fadell)
How do you talk about a product before anything like it exists? How do you guide the engineers building it and the marketing department who has to sell it? As co-creator of the iPod and iPhone, founder of the learning thermostat Nest, and with over 300 patents to his name, Tony F ... Show More
45m 53s
Apr 2025
Inside monday.com’s transformation: radical transparency, impact over output, and their path to $1B ARR | Daniel Lereya (Chief Product and Technology Officer)
Daniel Lereya, the Chief Product and Technology Officer at monday.com, shares how he and his team realized they were being outpaced by competitors and how that realization completely transformed how they operate and allowed them to build a global powerhouse, doing over $1 billion ... Show More
1h 32m
Feb 2025
Scaling AI: Building the Right AI Team
You’re smart. You know your business. But do you know how to build the right AI team? It’s harder than it looks, and the old playbook won’t cut it. In this episode, host Courtney Baker is joined by CEO David DeWolf, Chief Product & Technology Officer Mohan Rao, and NordLight CEO ... Show More
33m 21s
Sep 21
From managing people to managing AI: The leadership skills everyone needs now | Julie Zhuo (Facebook VP, Sundial CEO, The Making of a Manager author)
Julie Zhuo is the former VP and Head of Design at Facebook (now Meta), author of the bestselling book The Making of a Manager, and co-founder of Sundial, an AI-powered data analysis company. Also, my first-ever podcast guest over 3 years ago!In our conversation, we discuss:1. The ... Show More
1h 36m
Feb 2024
How to Build a Technical Strategy That Solves Business Problems | CircleCI CTO, Rob Zuber
It doesn’t matter if you have an innovative technical strategy if you’re not solving problems the business cares about…  This week, host Conor Bronsdon sits down with Rob Zuber, CTO at CircleCI. They delve into the evolving role of engineering leaders, and the importance of build ... Show More
58m 45s
Sep 11
$46B of hard truths from Ben Horowitz: Why founders fail and why you need to run toward fear (a16z co-founder)
Ben Horowitz is the co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, Silicon Valley’s largest and most influential venture capital firm, with over $46B in committed capital across multiple funds. He took Loudcloud public with just $2 million in revenue (dubbed “the IPO from hell”), sold it for ... Show More
1h 37m
Nov 2024
How to Do Product Discovery Right with Pawel Huryn, 175K+ on LinkedIn, Senior PM and Author
This episode is a masterclass in modern product management—featuring cutting-edge frameworks, actionable strategies, AI integration, competitive edge tactics, and aligning product goals with overarching business objectives.In today's episode, we cover:Junior PM Roles Are Done – 0 ... Show More
1h 32m
Sep 7
How AI is reshaping the product role | Oji and Ezinne Udezue
Ezinne and Oji Udezue have over 50 years of combined product leadership experience at Microsoft, Twitter, Atlassian, WP Engine, Typeform, and Calendly. They’ve witnessed every major shift in product management, and, despite their seniority, they’re taking beginner AI courses and ... Show More
1h 18m