For companies attempting to transform *to* the [[Product Operating Model]], the "prior model" is how a company had previously conceived of itself and its effort to build effective products. In [[Transformed (book by Marty Cagan)]], Cagan writes: > A tougher concept to name [than the product operating model] is the model you might be coming from. The main influence on how the company thinks of its previous model is generally this: Who is really in the driver's seat? > > In many companies, you'll hear constant references to “the business” in terms of making requests, and they're running what is commonly referred to as the IT model (as in “IT is there to serve the business”). > > A close cousin of the IT model is the project model, where the CFO plays an outsize role because funding and staffing are typically project based. > > If general stakeholders are in the driver's seat, then it's often called the feature-team model (because each stakeholder drives their roadmap of features). > > If sales is driving, then you'll often hear the term sales-driven product, and if marketing is driving, you'll hear marketing-driven product. > > Throughout this book, we refer to whatever model you are coming from as your prior model, and we refer to the model you're working to transform to as the product operating model, or simply the shortened term product model.[^1] ## Flashcards | Q | A | | -------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | What does Cagan mean by "prior model"? | How the company previously conceived of itself and its effort to build products *before* transformation towards a Product Operating Model | ## Footnotes [^1]: Cagan, Marty. Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model (Silicon Valley Product Group) (pp. 7-8). Wiley. Kindle Edition.