After 25 years of working in software across many different roles, I think I’ve seen a lot.
Many organisations have great aims and ambitions but what is shared in a company town hall rarely converts when everyone gets back to their desks and BAU kicks in.
One company I worked in, as a Product Owner, had a very strong leader in our small, digital team.
A laser focus on getting things done. A North Star that was shared at the start of every meeting. A reminder to all stakeholders of what we’re doing.
Get on board – or get out the way….. or words that that effect!
That clear focus, with an outcome driven mindset was transformational. Finally I was seeing things delivered, features shipped, customer feedback highlighted the differences being made.
The North Star gave us freedom. It was freedom to say NO.
That feature someone wanted – is it contributing to our North Star direction?
No?
Sorry….
But for it to work – it relies on sacrifices. From the top down. A baked in commitment from the business to stick to the plan. To support the team. To accept the No with grace.
It has to be more than a slogan. Rolled out at the appropriate moment…. it has to continue from the town hall – back to the desk.
To the standup. To the refinement. To the retro.
A North Star doesn’t fail because people lose sight of it. It fails because, somewhere along the way, the organisation decides that following it has become inconvenient.
It’s easy to commit to a direction when everyone agrees. The real test comes when the priorities compete, the pressure builds and someone senior wants an exception.
That’s when leadership matters. That’s when the North Star either becomes a genuine tool for decision-making or is exposed as another well-intentioned slogan.
A North Star isn’t freedom from accountability. It’s the freedom that comes from knowing what matters, having the confidence to say no to what doesn’t, and having the backing to see it through.
And perhaps that’s the simplest test of all.
If your North Star can’t survive the journey from the boardroom to the backlog, was it ever really guiding you in the first place?
Coming up next: AI is changing how quickly we can deliver software. But if we haven’t agreed where we’re going, our North Star, are we simply getting better at moving in the wrong direction?
