Olivia: Most companies are actively designed to kill innovation. It’s not an accident; it’s a feature of their operating system. They hire the smartest people they can find and then put them in a system that prevents them from doing their best work. Jackson: Whoa, that's a heavy accusation. Are you saying they're doing it on purpose? It sounds like corporate self-sabotage. Why would any company intentionally stifle its own best ideas? Olivia: That is the central question, isn't it? And it’s the puzzle at the heart of a fantastic book for leaders called EMPOWERED: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products by Marty Cagan with Chris Jones. Cagan is a legend in the product world—he was there in the early, formative days of the internet at places like Netscape and eBay. Jackson: Okay, so he's seen a lot. He's not just an academic. Olivia: Exactly. He wrote the classic book INSPIRED, which is the bible for product managers. EMPOWERED is the sequel for their bosses—the leaders. And he argues that most companies aren't malicious, they're just built on a fundamentally broken model. They don't understand the true source of value in the modern world. Jackson: A broken model. That sounds big. Where does the crack in the foundation start?

Olivia: It starts with how they view technology. Cagan says there's a great divide. On one side, you have most companies, who view technology as a necessary evil. It's a cost center, an expense on a spreadsheet that needs to be minimized, like the electricity bill. Jackson: I can see that. The IT department is often seen as the place you call when your printer is broken, not the place you go for brilliant new business ideas. It’s a support function. Olivia: Precisely. On the other side of the divide are the great product companies—the Apples, the Googles, the Netflixes of the world. They view technology as the business itself. It’s the core of how they create value. It’s not a support function; it is the main event. Jackson: That feels a little abstract. Can you give me a real-world example of what happens when a company is on the wrong side of that divide? Olivia: I can give you a tragic one. Cagan points to the Boeing 737 MAX crisis. For decades, Boeing was the pinnacle of engineering. But somewhere along the line, their perspective on technology shifted. Jackson: What happened? Olivia: They needed to update the software for the plane's flight control system. Instead of treating this mission-critical technology as their core competency, they saw it as a cost. They decided to outsource the work, thinking they could save a few dollars. They put the people building the software in a separate building, gave them a list of requirements, and essentially told them to get it done as cheaply as possible. Jackson: Oh, I think I see where this is going. That sounds like a terrible idea for something that keeps a plane in the air. Olivia: It was catastrophic. The software, which was at the very heart of the aircraft's control system, malfunctioned. This led directly to two fatal crashes and the deaths of 346 people. The entire 737 MAX fleet was grounded worldwide, costing the company billions and shattering its reputation. Jackson: Wow. That's horrifying. It reframes it from a simple business mistake into a profound moral failure. All stemming from viewing a piece of software as a line item instead of a core responsibility. Olivia: Exactly. It’s the ultimate negative case study. Now, for the positive side. Think about Tesla. For a century, cars were mechanical objects that started depreciating the second you drove them off the lot. Jackson: Right, my car is definitely not getting better with age. Olivia: But a Tesla does. Because Tesla doesn't see itself as a car company that uses technology; it sees itself as a technology company that happens to make cars. The car is essentially a sophisticated computer on wheels. They use over-the-air software updates to constantly improve the vehicle's performance, add new features, and even increase its range. The product gets better over time. Jackson: That's a complete paradigm shift. The value is in the software, the technology, not just the hardware. Olivia: That's the mindset. But here's the question I know you're thinking. Boeing and Tesla are these massive, industrial giants. Does this idea really apply to a mid-sized insurance company, or a regional bank, or a retail chain? Is this just a lesson for Silicon Valley?

Olivia: That is the perfect question, and it leads us right to the second core idea of the book. Because this isn't just about technology; it's about the people who build it. Cagan loves to use a quote from the famous venture capitalist John Doerr, who said, "We need teams of missionaries, not teams of mercenaries." Jackson: Missionaries versus mercenaries. I love the sound of that, but break it down for me. What's the actual, day-to-day difference? Olivia: A team of mercenaries is what most companies have. They are skilled professionals, and they are paid to execute a plan. Leadership comes up with a strategy, product managers create a roadmap of features, and they hand this list to the engineers and designers. Their job is to build what's on the list. They are mercenaries, paid to follow orders. Jackson: So they are a feature team. Their job is to deliver output—the features they were asked for. Olivia: Exactly. Now, a team of missionaries is different. They are not given a list of features. They are given a problem to solve. Leadership doesn't say, "Build a button that does X." They say, "Our customer churn rate is too high. Figure out how to reduce it by 15% in the next six months." Jackson: Ah, so it's the short-order cook versus the creative chef. The cook gets a ticket that says 'one burger, no pickles,' and they just make it. The chef gets a goal: 'Create an amazing new signature dish for our summer menu.' One is about following instructions, the other is about solving a problem. Olivia: That's a perfect analogy. The missionaries—the empowered team—believe in the cause. They are obsessed with the customer and the problem. Their job is to deliver an outcome, not just an output. They have the autonomy to discover the best solution. Jackson: I can see how that would be way more motivating. You’re a problem-solver, not a cog in a machine. Olivia: It's everything. This is why the book is called EMPOWERED. It draws on the wisdom of the legendary Silicon Valley coach Bill Campbell, who coached the founders of Apple, Google, and Amazon. He said, "Leadership is about recognizing that there's a greatness in everyone, and your job is to create an environment where that greatness can emerge." You can't just hire smart people; you have to unleash them. Jackson: Okay, but this sounds… well, a little chaotic. And maybe scary for a manager. If you just give a team a problem and let them run, don't you risk them going off in a totally wrong direction? How does leadership ensure they're solving the right problem for the business and not just building something cool that nobody will pay for?

Olivia: That's the critical point. Empowerment is not anarchy. It actually requires stronger leadership, not weaker leadership. The leader's job isn't to dictate the solution, but to provide crystal-clear context and strategy. They have to define the problem space, articulate the vision, and set the objectives. They give the team the "what" and the "why," and they trust the team with the "how." Jackson: So the guardrails are the strategic goals. The team has freedom, but it's freedom within a very well-defined playground. Olivia: Precisely. And this is where Cagan drops another truth bomb. He says, "Our customers, and our stakeholders, aren't able to tell us what to build." They can describe their problems, their pains, their needs. But they don't know what's possible with modern technology. The job of the empowered product team is to go beyond what the customer is asking for and discover a solution that they will love. Jackson: That makes so much sense. It's like that famous quote often attributed to Henry Ford: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." Olivia: That's the essence of it. A feature team would have been tasked with engineering a faster horse. An empowered team would have been tasked with solving the problem of personal transportation, and they might have invented the car. Jackson: So it's a paradox, then. To get more control over your business results, you have to give up control over the specific process. You have to trust your team not just to build the thing right, but to find the right thing to build in the first place. Olivia: That is the leap of faith that separates good companies from great ones. The real shift is from viewing people as a resource to be managed, a cost on a spreadsheet, to seeing them as the primary source of solutions to be unleashed. It’s a fundamental change in how a company values its own employees. Jackson: And the cost of getting that wrong isn't just a mediocre product or a boring workplace. As the Boeing story shows, in some cases, the stakes can be life and death. Olivia: They can be. It's a powerful message for any leader in any industry. Jackson: For anyone listening right now who feels more like a mercenary than a missionary in their job, maybe the first small step is to just start asking "why." Not just "what do you want me to build," but "what problem are we actually trying to solve for our customer?" Olivia: Exactly. Start the conversation. That's how change begins. Jackson: This is Aibrary, signing off.