The Death of the Feature Factory: Building Truly Empowered Teams

The Problem with Feature Factories

Too many agile teams are stuck in a delivery treadmill — cranking out features, hitting deadlines, and meeting velocity targets. They follow the Agile rituals, have sprint reviews, and even celebrate “successful” releases. But there’s one problem, no one is asking if these features are actually creating value.

As Marty Cagan famously puts it in his book Empowered , “The best product teams don’t just build features; they solve problems.”

This is the core problem of what he calls the “Feature Factory” — a systemwhere teams are reduced to order takers,

this article is for you.

Here are some telltale signs to know If You’re in a Feature Factory

• The roadmap is just a list of features handed down by leadership, without any real validation.

• Success is measured by delivery (Did we ship it on time?) rather than impact (Did it solve a problem?).

• Teams are focused on velocity and output, not learning or outcomes.

• Product managers are project managers in disguise, merely tracking timelines.

• Engineers are order takers, not problem solvers.

• No time for discovery — the team is always in execution mode.

Sound familiar? If so, the good news is there’s a way out.

From Feature Factory to Empowered Teams

The best product teams don’t just build features; they solve problems. And they do that by shifting their mindset in three key ways:

1. Stop Working on a Backlog. Start Working on Outcomes.

Most teams treat the backlog as a to-do list — an endless stream of work handed down from leadership. The problem? It assumes the solution is already known.

What to do instead:

• Shift to an outcome-driven approach. Rather than asking, “What features should we build?” ask, “What problem are we solving?”

• Use OKRs (Objectives & Key Results) to align teams on impact, not just tasks.

• Validate before building — every backlog item should be linked to real customer problems.

For example: Instead of “Develop a new radar interface for tracking enemy aircraft,” a better approach would be:

Outcome: Improve real-time threat detection and response for air defense units.

Hypothesis: An AI-driven automated alert system might be more effective than a traditional radar UI.

Test: Conduct simulations with defense operators, prototype an AI-assisted interface, and validate before full-scale development.

This shifts the focus from simply building a radar UI to actually solving the real problem — enhancing threat detection and response efficiency.

2. Give Teams Real Autonomy

In a Feature Factory, teams execute what they’re told. In an empowered team, they own the problem and decide the best way to solve it.

What to do instead:

• Shift from output-focused leadership to outcome-based leadership.

• Let teams experiment — not every idea needs to be fully built before being tested.

• Encourage engineers and designers to participate in discovery they bring valuable insights beyond just coding or UI.

For Example, Instead of saying, “We need to deploy more surveillance drones,” leadership should say, “We need to enhance battlefield situational awareness.” The team can then explore various solutions (AI-powered drones, satellite imagery, sensor networks) to find the best approach.

3. Make Discovery a Continuous Process, Not a One-Time Activity

Many teams do a bit of research upfront but then get trapped in execution mode. The best teams keep learning, even after launching a feature.

What to do instead:

• Continuous discovery — always be testing, learning, and refining.

• Embed product analytics — track how users interact with features and iterate based on real data.

• Celebrate learning, not just shipping.

For Example: Instead of launching a feature and moving on, teams should ask:

Did the customer love it ?, Will it change user behavior?, Did it drive business outcomes? If not, pivot or kill the feature instead of letting it become digital clutter.

Killing the Feature Factory Mindset

The best product teams don’t work from a feature roadmap; they work from problems to solve.Measure success by impact, not delivery. Give teams autonomy, not orders. Make discovery an ongoing habit, not a pahse. By doing this, agile teams can escape the Feature Factory trap and truly empower themselves to build products that matter.

Are you working in a Feature Factory? What’s stopping your team from becoming empowered? Let’s discuss!