How Internal Hurdles Can Obscure Customer Problems, According to Melissa Perri

In a recent LinkedIn post, Melissa Perri discusses a common pitfall within large organizations: product teams becoming so adept at navigating internal processes that the actual customer problem fades from view. Perri highlights how this can inadvertently happen, even when customer focus is ostensibly a priority.

As Melissa Perri notes:

“Inside large organizations, product teams can get very good at clearing internal hurdles while the customer problem quietly drifts out of focus.”

The Challenge of Internal Complexity

Melissa Perri points out that in environments with stringent regulations or complex approval chains, the focus can shift inward. The pressure to comply with regulations, manage legacy systems, and adhere to internal processes can make these internal complexities the primary concern, pushing the customer’s needs to a secondary position.

When Understanding Slips Away

Perri references insights from Amber Brestowski on the Product Thinking Podcast, emphasizing the critical link between customer understanding and positive outcomes. According to Perri, quoting Brestowski:

“Outcomes follow when teams deeply understand the customer problem.”

Perri elaborates on this by explaining that in regulated industries, this deep customer understanding is often the first casualty. The sheer weight of internal requirements means the customer can become just one variable among many, rather than the central focus.

Reframing Constraints

Despite these challenges, Melissa Perri offers a hopeful perspective, highlighting leaders who successfully steer their teams back toward customer-centricity. She points to examples at companies like Vanguard, where leaders are not ignoring the inherent constraints but are actively refusing to let these constraints dictate the scope and nature of the work.

In Perri’s view, these leaders demonstrate a crucial leadership skill: maintaining customer focus amidst internal pressures. They ensure that the work remains defined by solving customer problems, rather than by the internal mechanisms required to get there.

Identifying Distractions

Perri prompts readers to reflect on their own team dynamics, asking what factors might be pulling their focus away from the customer, even when customer centricity is stated as a goal. This self-reflective question encourages leaders and team members to identify the specific internal hurdles that might be obscuring the customer problem in their own contexts.

Ultimately, Melissa Perri’s post serves as a valuable reminder for organizations to continuously assess their internal processes and ensure they do not inadvertently create barriers to genuine customer understanding and problem-solving.