At Interlock we believe that clear guiding principles are the best foundation for building product and keeping teams aligned.
Our engineering principle “shape the solution” allows us to deliver better customer value and maintain a team of highly engaged, aligned and motivated individuals. Shaping the solution means that we never blindly execute on requirements defined by others. We deeply understand the value of our work, and help design solutions which efficiently deliver that value.
This is the sixth post in a series exploring our product principles. Here, Levent discusses our engineering principle “Shape the solution”.
Engineers are involved from the outset
In a lot of companies, the product development process is based around negotiation. A product owner, business analyst, or product manager articulates the customer’s requirements and passes them on to the engineering team. The engineers provide feedback, generally in the form of pushback, and the parties negotiate towards consensus.
“A truly high-performing, self-organizing team would never organize itself into silos”
Not only does this guarantee that, by design, only one person is empathetic towards the customer ’s needs – but it’s the opposite of a culture of collaboration. A truly high-performing, self-organizing team would never organize itself into silos in this way.
At Interlock, our engineering team values mark out the qualities that we think make for great engineers. Engineers that shape the solution from beginning to end:
Truly care about what they’re working on.
Want a say in the outcomes they work towards.
Understand the role collaboration plays in building great products.