By Teresa Torres · producttalk.org · @ttorres on X · LinkedIn
This podcast episode introduces "trash can tracking," a technique where teams place trash can symbols on discovery and delivery boards to make the work they deliberately discard as visible as the work they ship. Host Teresa Torres and guest Petra Wille argue that discarded ideas reveal the health of a team's discovery process. An empty solution-space trash can suggests the team isn't comparing options, while an empty problem-space trash can is ambiguous, possibly indicating an innovation gap or a healthy strategic filter. The conversation also covers psychological safety as a precondition for problems surfacing, and the "golden trash can" debate over whether abandoned shipped features are learning or waste.
01Key takeaways
- Track discarded work as deliberately as shipped work so your 'no' decisions are visible and intentional.
- An empty solution-space trash can likely means your team is not comparing multiple options before committing.
- Saying no to certain customer problems can be evidence that your product strategy is working.
- Check whether people across the org feel safe bringing problems forward before judging an empty problem trash can as healthy.
- Use the trash can to formally retire zombie opportunities that keep resurfacing across the organization.
02Key sections
- Introducing trash can tracking
- Petra Wille presents the idea of adding trash can symbols to discovery and delivery boards so discarded work is tracked alongside delivered work. The aim is to make deliberate "no" decisions visible and worth celebrating.
- Empty solution and problem trash cans
- An empty solution-space trash can signals a team isn't comparing alternatives, a clear warning sign. An empty problem-space trash can is more nuanced, reflecting either an innovation gap or a strong strategy filtering problems well.
- The golden trash can debate
- The hosts debate whether removing code from a flopped shipped feature belongs on the delivery board as wasted effort or on the discovery board as learning worth celebrating.
- Psychological safety and problem surfacing
- Whether problems reach the board depends on whether support agents, salespeople, engineers, and customers feel safe raising them. Without that safety, the trash can stays artificially empty.
- Retiring zombie opportunities
- The trash can also serves as a ritual for formally retiring problems the team previously rejected but the organization keeps resurfacing, closing those loops explicitly.
03From the post
“Listen to this episode on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts What if the ideas you throw away tell you more about the health of your product process than the ones you ship? In this episode of All Things Product, Petra Wille introduces trash can tracking — a deceptively simple technique for making”
04Frameworks mentioned
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.