In September 2016, teams across enterprises were grappling with unclear product ownership. The post described how, in the absence of a clear Product Owner, roles blurred and confusion reigned. Engineers, designers, and even Scrum Masters took on product decisions without the context, authority, or alignment needed to do so effectively. The piece argued that without one accountable voice, product leadership became a negotiation, not a direction. It made the case for explicit roles, transparent prioritization, and decision boundaries that enable real collaboration instead of chaos.
By 2018, some organizations began restoring clarity to product roles by embracing dedicated triads — PM, Design, and Engineering leads — with clear responsibility splits. Proxy roles faded, and focus returned to having a single accountable owner for prioritization.
Today, high-performing product teams balance shared ownership with clear decision rights. The product owner role is now better defined and rarely overlaps with delivery or design leadership. Teams that still distribute prioritization without structure tend to ship slower and miss customer signals.
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