Transforming the way government works by shifting from projects to products

Transforming how digital public services are delivered doesn’t begin with frameworks or tools, it starts with leadership.  

To move toward product-centricity, leaders must clearly communicate a citizen-focused vision that connects product work to meaningful outcomes like greater accessibility, increased efficiency, or wider service reach.  

It's not enough to promote agile practices by name alone; leaders must actively support iterative thinking and a willingness to adjust. Rather than relying on traditional top-down control, effective leadership in this space aligns people around a shared purpose and creates the space for them to deliver real value. 

High-quality digital services don’t come from tightly controlled teams; they’re the result of empowered teams that have the authority and confidence to make decisions. Leaders play a key role here by enabling teams instead of directing every detail.  

This involves granting real decision-making power to product teams, ensuring they have access to the right tools and support, and fostering a culture where teams feel genuine ownership of outcomes, not just the delivery of features.  

When teams are trusted and empowered, they step up, take responsibility, and build services that are faster, smarter, and more responsive to user needs. 

A thriving product-led culture is one that embraces continuous learning. Progress rarely happens in a straight line, and experimentation is vital. Public organizations need to normalize failure as a necessary part of the process and recognize that small iterations often lead to big wins over time. 

 Feedback should be constant, not just from users, but also from peers and leadership. This kind of learning mindset helps organizations adapt quickly in a digital landscape where user needs and expectations are always changing. 

Product thinking isn’t limited to the product team, it’s inherently cross-functional. To build great public services, product, design, technology, operations, and policy teams need to work together, aligned around shared goals.  

That starts with open communication across departments and continues with breaking down traditional barriers. By sharing stories of both success and failure, teams can build common understanding and alignment. Siloed work slows everything down and disconnects teams from impact. Shared ownership, on the other hand, accelerates delivery and strengthens results. 

Mindset shifts need to be supported by skill development. A true product culture depends not just on process changes but on building the right capabilities within teams.  

This includes offering training in areas like product strategy, agile methodologies, and user research. But it also means carving out time for peer learning, mentoring, and knowledge exchange.  

Investing in people and their growth is not an add-on; it’s a core part of delivering value. When teams build their skills, they boost the organization's overall capacity to innovate. 

Sustaining a product-centric culture requires measuring success in ways that reflect user impact, not just internal activity. That means setting clear, user-focused metrics such as satisfaction, speed of service, or adoption rates. 

It’s just as important to monitor progress regularly and use that insight to make better decisions. By sharing results openly, organizations keep stakeholders informed, aligned, and motivated. The goal of measurement isn’t to control, it’s to inform continuous improvement. 

Culture change starts at the top. Leaders set the tone by showing, not telling. That means keeping user needs at the center of every conversation, embracing change and iteration as part of daily work, and collaborating openly across team and departmental boundaries. 

When leaders consistently model product thinking, it creates momentum and gives others permission to work in the same way. 

Building a product-centric culture in government doesn’t happen overnight, but it is entirely achievable. 

It starts with leadership, grows through trust, and succeeds by putting people and outcomes first. When product teams are empowered, cross-functional, and user-focused, public services become more effective, resilient, and relevant.