How to Introduce Product Thinking to an IT Team: Strategic Session Experience

When Product Thinking Meets an IT Audience

A few days ago, I facilitated a strategic session for one of Rostelecom’s subsidiaries. The core audience was IT specialists — not my most typical crowd.

It turned out to be a fascinating experience: immersing a technical team into a product thinking context for the very first time.

How the Original Plan Shifted

I should be honest — both the client and I had different expectations going in. We thought it would be valuable to discuss the company’s Vision and map out a set of initiatives to achieve it.

But it became clear fairly quickly that IT people aren’t used to thinking in such distant horizons. And there was a second concern: they were immediately worried that “all this cosmic stuff” would be handed to them to execute — with a lot still unclear, especially in the broader company context. Completely understandable, honestly.

Adapting the Strategic Session Facilitation on the Fly

So, right during the session, the client and I pivoted the scenario. Together with the team, we created the concept of a new product and mapped out how to reach the first tangible results within the nearest quarter.

We worked through market analysis, customer profiles, internal processes, and resource planning — and surfaced several genuinely strong ideas along the way.

Product Thinking in IT Teams: What the Session Revealed

One important outcome: the manager got to see a handful of team members who cared the most — in the best possible sense of the word. The kind of people you can bet on when growing a company.

I called this scenario “Product Pants” — the team’s very first steps into wearing the product mindset.