Every executive wants digital to create growth, not just deliver projects. Yet most organizations still struggle to turn technology into measurable value. The tools are there, but not the operating model, the shared language, or the culture that makes them work at scale. That’s where the Product Mindset becomes a game-changer: by aligning business, tech, and teams around outcomes, it transforms digital from a delivery function into a true value engine. Elias Ghali, expert in strategy and Product organizations, shares how a global industrial group built this capability across 1,000 people and turned mindset into measurable impact.
Every executive wants digital to deliver growth, not just projects.
Most organizations already have the technology, but not yet the operating model that turns it into value. Doing that at a global scale is hard, and the challenge isn’t new. Industrial companies know how to perfect physical products, but digital obeys different rules: it moves faster, cuts across silos, and depends as much on how people think and collaborate as on the technology itself.
That’s where many organizations stumble. For too long, IT and digital have been managed as cost centers instead of value engines - and that model no longer delivers. As businesses shift toward services, sustainability, and new digital business models, digital must evolve from a delivery function to an enabling capability. Making that shift requires a new foundation: the Product Mindset.
The Product Mindset connects business, technology, and teams through a shared way of thinking. It helps organizations focus on outcomes instead of outputs, make faster decisions closer to the customer, and link delivery to measurable value. Scaling it is what makes digital truly capable of driving performance and growth.
This belief guided a one-year transformation we led with a global industrial group in the automotive sector. More than 1,000 people joined a learning journey designed not just to train, but to build the capabilities that make digital genuinely value-driven.
Turning a mindset into a system
The company had already experimented with Product Management, but embedding it consistently across thousands of people was a completely different challenge.
New roles or processes were not enough. The real barrier was aligning everyone around the same principles: focus on outcomes, take ownership, and measure impact.
Upskilling became the central lever of a broader transformation. Training across the organization aligned diverse teams around a shared vocabulary, clarified roles, and created the foundation for other enablers such as Product Operations and targeted coaching. It turned Product thinking from an individual skill into a collective capability that drives value.
Inside the barriers to scaling the Product Mindset
Interviews across business and tech teams revealed three recurring pain points that slowed progress.
Ambiguous roles and responsibilities
Product Managers, Product Owners, Line Managers, and Business Owners often had overlapping mandates. Accountability was blurred and decision-making slowed down.
Limited understanding of Product Mindset and practices
Modern Product techniques such as discovery, outcome-driven roadmaps, and impact measurement were unevenly applied or unknown to many teams.
Inconsistent maturity
Some teams were advanced in agile practices, while others remained rooted in waterfall approaches. This made it difficult to scale a unified Product operating model.
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Upskilling as a catalyst for change
To tackle these challenges, we designed a structured, experience-based upskilling program built around three key steps.
Step 1: Tailored content and a clear vision
The training avoided generic agile frameworks. It focused instead on strategic alignment, outcome-driven decision-making, and collaboration across functions. The goal was to raise Product maturity by clarifying roles and embedding consistent, value-oriented practices.
Step 2: Practical learning across the organization
More than 1,000 participants joined a global learning journey segmented by role and maturity level.
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Product Managers and Product Owners. Hands-on sessions covered discovery methods such as user interviews and personas, outcome-driven roadmapping, backlog management, and strategy tools like Vision Canvas, Opportunity Solution Trees, and RICE prioritization. Every ten weeks, teams completed a Product Maturity Assessment to identify progress and next steps.
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Line Managers. Their sessions focused on developing leadership behaviors that support Product autonomy. They learned to set objectives, ask the right strategic questions, and coach teams to strengthen ownership and continuous improvement.
Content evolved continuously through feedback and maturity assessments, keeping it practical and relevant at every step.
Step 3: Empowering leaders to lead
Transformation works only when leaders embody it, turning vision into context for teams. Executive workshops helped senior managers define decision boundaries and model the behavior expected in a value-driven organization.
Leaders did not just sponsor the change; they made it visible and credible.
What we learned along the way
Transformations of this scale are never linear. Here are the lessons that mattered most.
Sustaining engagement: Keeping nearly a thousand people engaged across time zones required creativity. Interactive formats, quick wins, and clear communication about the “why” kept motivation high.
Bridging maturity gaps: Teams started from very different places. Simplified assessments and guided discussions helped them reflect on progress and share learning. In some cases, regrouping teams by context made the experience more relevant.
Sequencing the right way: Starting with vision and strategy gave teams the bigger picture before diving into execution practices. It made later steps more meaningful.
Managing resistance: Skepticism and fatigue appeared, as they do in any large transformation. Dedicated Q&A sessions and open discussions helped turn hesitation into constructive dialogue.
Supporting trainers across the organization: Delivering a program of this size required consistency. Shared notes, recorded dry runs, and a master file of lessons learned kept quality and cohesion over time.
Staying aligned with the client’s priorities: Regular steering meetings and feedback loops ensured the program remained tied to real business goals and not just to learning metrics.
Turning Product learning into lasting capability
This close collaboration paid off. By the end of the program, more than 50 percent of teams showed measurable improvement in their Product delivery capabilities, validated through maturity assessments and participant feedback. Teams reported clearer roles, stronger prioritization, and more consistent use of discovery and roadmapping practices. They also felt more confident and aligned on what really drives value.
Beyond these numbers, the biggest shift was cultural and systemic. Digital teams, business leaders, and managers now shared the same Product language and operated on the same principles. The organization had built a system capable of linking Product decisions to business outcomes.
This capability is what will allow digital to scale its impact sustainably. The next step is to link this maturity to measurable business outcomes and prove the ROI of Product teams.
Key takeaways for your organization
If you are considering scaling the Product Mindset, keep these lessons in mind.
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Clarity enables ownership. Define roles precisely and make accountability visible.
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Train beyond the Product team. Include line managers, developers, designers, and business stakeholders.
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Adapt to context. Segment by maturity and business reality, not just by job title.
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Engage leadership deeply. Active leaders turn strategy into traction.
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Communicate relentlessly. Repetition builds alignment and trust.
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Treat your transformation like a Product. Measure, iterate, and improve.
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Leverage external partners. Structure and experience accelerate maturity.
Scaling the Product Mindset is not only about training people. It is about creating the conditions that make digital capable of delivering lasting value.
This company’s journey shows that when strategy, leadership, and Product culture align, digital stops being a support function. It becomes a system for learning, adapting, and creating impact.
With the right capabilities in place, digital can now move from potential to measurable, sustainable performance.
Looking to turn digital into a real engine of growth for your organization? Our consultants support companies in scaling a Product culture and transforming their ways of working for lasting impact. Get in touch to discuss your challenges.
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