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Being a PO without any domain knowledge

Last post 01:55 am August 24, 2017 by Ian Mitchell
2 replies
Jörg Häcker
08:15 pm August 23, 2017

Just a short thought experiment

Do you think being a PO for a product without having any domain knowledge but having very good PO skills can work? Assume that the domain knowledge is available by experts and stakeholders. For the PO it doesn't make sense to adopt the knowledge for various reasons.

Do you have experience with a PO more being the coordinator than being the domain champion? If you have the alternative of a domain champion and teach him PO skills or a PO champion and tell him who has the domain knowledge, what would be your choice?

Timothy Baffa
09:57 pm August 23, 2017

What does the Scrum Guide say about the responsibilities of the Product Owner?   Ask yourself if a person without knowledge of the product can be an effective Product Owner.

 

I would perhaps draw an analogy to a Project Manager who has little to no knowledge of the project they are "managing".   How trusted and effective do you feel someone like that can be?

Ian Mitchell
01:55 am August 24, 2017

Would the Product Owner be able to account for product value, and maximize it, without any of the domain knowledge you refer to?

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