Jonathon Hensley - Alignment: Overcoming internal sabotage and digital product failure

Alignment

Emerge Interactive, Inc.

www.emergeinteractive.com

www.productalignment.com

For special discounts for bulk orders, please contact the publisher.

Copyright 2021 Jonathon Hensley. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: The publisher and author make no representations or warranties with respect to the completeness or accuracy of this book. The commentary, advice, strategies and tactics discussed in this book may not be suitable for your unique situation. You should seek professional advice where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author will be liable for any monetary or commercial damages including but not limited to consequential, special, incidental or other damages.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted via any means: electronic, photocopying, mechanical, recording or any other format without written permission from the publisher.

Cover and book design: Lieve Maas at Bright Light Graphics

Internal illustrations: Damon Gaumont at Emerge Interactive

Photograph of Dave Jarecki: Rachel LeCrone, rachellecronephotography.com

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-7346604-0-1

Hardback ISBN: 978-1-7346604-2-5

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-7346604-1-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021905722

Printed in the United States

Published 2021, First Edition

Praise for Alignment

Alignment is needed to create powerful product visions and fulfill these visions in nearly every organization. In Alignment, Jonathon Hensley helps show businesses how to effectively get aligned.

Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics

Alignment, replete with logic and garnished with anecdotes, is a how-to for leaders everywhere. It helps drive home lessons around how alignment scales from the individual to the market levels. The book makes its case in the Malcolm Gladwell tradition, and shows that alignment is about creating concentric circles of growth. This material is something leaders everywhere can savor.

Nishant Bhajaria, author, privacy and security leader, digital product architect at Uber

Alignment is a must-read primer for anyone serious about scaling digital products successfully. Read this book and learn to connect all the right dots from one of the best.

Gower Idrees, CEO, rarebrain

Jonathon Hensleys book is long overdue. I wasnt aware of how many digital product transformations fail, let alone why. This book logically and effectively outlines the impact that alignment has on ensuring the success of any digital transformation initiative. The principles apply to any project or group seeking to innovate change in an organization. I recommend Alignment to anyone interested in improving outcomes, especially with development teams.

Kent Lewis, CEO, Anvil Media

In a world where customers are more complex than ever, Jonathan Hensley provides a new and invigorating way to pursue the desirous and audacious path of product development that actually leads to customer benefit. This pragmatic and digestible read will ensure you excel to world-class faster than your competitors.

Hilary Corna, founder, Corna Partners

Having helped develop two successful software products at SAS Institute, and a third product at Corios, when you are lucky enough to be in the flow of bringing something successfully to market, seeing it thrive, and surpassing customers expectations, its a great feeling. But you are left wondering, what are the starting conditions you need, and the ongoing leadership priorities you exert, to repeat this experience? With Jonathon Hensleys new book, Alignment , we dont have to guess anymore.

Robin Way, president and founder, Corios, author of Skate Where the Pucks Headed: A Playbook for Scoring Big with Predictive Analytics

The perspective on the principal factor that determines the success of digital product transformationshuman interactionis simply refreshing. Alignment is not one of the many ephemeral, overstuffed pamphlets that get passed off as books these days. Its a practical, evergreen, and incredibly thoughtfully organized field guide to achieving repeatable success creating digital products.

Mark OBrien, CEO, Newfangled

To create modern products, it takes a village of people with an array of skills. As a result, alignment is increasingly important in order for product teams to be successful. In Alignment, Jonathon Hensley provides a valuable guide on how to ensure your teams are aligned to increase your odds of achieving success.

Dan Olsen, product management trainer, consultant, and author of The Lean Product Playbook

Alignment truly only happens when everyone in an organization has a common understanding of the business value and differentiation for which the team is building towards. This common understanding only happens with time spent together and true empathy for the problem you are trying to solve. In Alignment , Johnathan Hensley lays out how to get your team from why me? to why we?

Randy Young, VP of product, Bugcrowd

I find Jonathon Hensleys book, Alignment , to shine a light on the challenges that many companies face when they want to bring a valuable and sustainable product to market. From his experiences working with teams, he highlights key attributes throughout an organization that lead to a successful outcome. Spend a few hours with his narrative and I know you will see attributes of your organization that could use some attention.

Mike Kruse, senior product manager and co-founder, ProductCamp Portland

Dedication

This book is dedicated to a few important people in my life.

To my sons - If the course of your lives leads you to becoming entrepreneurs and leaders, youll have some of the insights and lessons learned in my life to help guide you.

To my wife - You have supported me in every aspect of my life, and without you by my side, our success in life would not be possible.

To my parents - I have learned so much from both of you, and those gifts have shaped my life. Youve taught me to have a tireless work ethic, and to be committed to helping others, which inspired this book.

To my business partner - I am grateful for our friendship and the incredible business partnership we have built over all these years. Your unrelenting focus on growth, improving personally and professionally, and being a true global citizen are things I treasure. Without our work together and your support, this book would not have been possible.

To the remarkable people I work with - I have been blessed to work with an amazing and diverse group of passionate people. You inspire me. I learn from you every day, and am continuously humbled by your talents.

To the clients we serve - Where do I even begin? Thank you for inviting us to be a part of your incredible journey in the pursuit of creating amazing digital products and services, and providing value to the people that use them.

Contents

INTRODUCTION TO ALIGNMENT

Digital product transformation changes the way business happens, and enhances an organizations ability to bring people, data, and processes together. When you transform a product, you improve lives, and revolutionize the way we interact with the world. Digital product transformation can disrupt entire industries, open new markets, spur growth, empower people, and create opportunities to engage, motivate, and inspire.

Through digital product transformation, companies and organizations can step back and revisit everything they do, from how they invest in internal systems, to the way they handle customer interactions. They can innovate incrementally, or take significant leaps forward. Digital product transformation can involve the next iteration of the iPhone, or the device that replaces the iPhone in the near future.