By Marty Cagan · svpg.com · LinkedIn
Marty Cagan proposes a simple taxonomy for the types of product coaching, since no widely accepted vocabulary exists yet. He distinguishes product-related coaching (delivery, discovery, product leadership, and transformation) from adjacent specialties such as OKR, CEO, growth, marketing and sales coaching. Each type is defined by its typical focus, the client who usually hires it, and the background coaches need to be credible. He notes the categories overlap, but coaches often prefer one level. The goal is to give coaches and the companies that hire them a consistent way to describe help they offer.
01Key takeaways
- Use a shared taxonomy (delivery, discovery, product leadership, transformation) to describe coaching help clearly to clients and coaches.
- Delivery coaching builds the foundation of continuous deployment, telemetry and experimentation infrastructure before product work can succeed.
- Discovery coaching is the most in-demand type, and effective coaches are usually former PMs, designers or tech leads.
- Product leaders new to empowered teams often need help with vision, strategy, team topology and their own staffing and coaching skills.
- Transformation work requires a coach who has led large companies and can hold a trust-based relationship with the CEO.
- Coaches can work at several levels, but most have a clear preference for where they spend their time.
02Key sections
- Purpose of the taxonomy
- Cagan explains that coaches kept re-explaining the same distinctions, so he offers a shared vocabulary. He admits the ideas are not new but have been used informally for years.
- Delivery coaching
- Focuses on moving from infrequent releases to small, frequent, reliable, uncoupled releases with the instrumentation and A/B testing needed to prove outcomes.
- Discovery coaching
- Described as the foundation of product coaching and the most common demand, helping teams learn to find solutions worth building. Successful coaches are typically former PMs, designers or tech leads.
- Product leadership and transformation coaching
- Product leadership coaching helps new product leaders with vision, strategy, team topology and staffing, usually for CPOs or CTOs. Transformation coaching guides CEOs through the funding, staffing and go-to-market changes needed to become product-based, which requires deep senior-leader experience and trust.
- Adjacent coaching types
- Lists specialty coaches such as OKR, CEO, growth/retention, marketing and sales coaches, and notes that coaching other coaches is likely a niche.
03From the post
“A partnership dedicated to teaching best practices to product teams and product leaders”
04Frameworks mentioned
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.