As an engineering leader, mentioning that you track lines of code (LOC) is often met with immediate pushback. "We deliver so much more value that producing code!” "Lines of code don't measure quality!" "You'll incentivize bloated code!" "The best engineers delete code!" “Outcomes over outputs!”. All valid comments in some contexts, but they miss a crucial point: quantitative metrics, when used appropriately alongside qualitative data, provide valuable insights into team performance and health.

Cross-functional teams have become the backbone of modern product companies, bringing together product managers, engineers, and designers to tackle complex customer problems. But while these teams promise better decisions and greater autonomy, many organizations struggle with fundamental questions: How should teams be structured? What problems should each team own? How do you ensure they maintain long-term customer focus rather than getting lost in feature delivery? Team Charters offer a powerful solution to these challenges, providing teams with clarity of purpose and the foundation for true customer obsession.

It can be hard to know where to start when defining a strong organisational culture for a product business. One thing is for sure though, great product and tech businesses all share on thing in common: a culture that seeks to achieve product, engineering and operational excellence for its customers. Depending on what your teams do, these customers may be internal or external, but the goal is still the same: ensuring customer success.

Last week the world celebrated International Women’s Day and over the week many female leaders shared powerful stories. One pleasing change I've seen over the past few years is a shift from a focus on Equality to Equity for Women in the workforce. Where once quotas were a big discussion point, we’re actually talking about the real stuff – how workplace culture and sexism tends to just make it challenging for females to succeed to the same levels as men.