Barriers to Talking Directly with Customers

Many product teams are busy, but not necessarily effective. Brian Milner talks with product consultant Jason Knight about why so many organizations struggle with prioritization, customer insight, and measuring success—and what it takes to build a product organization that actually delivers value.

Overview

What does it really mean to transform a product organization? Brian Milner sits down with product consultant and One Knight in Product host Jason Knight to explore the gap between how product management is described in books and how it actually works inside most companies.

They discuss the reality many teams face: massive backlogs full of competing priorities, pressure from stakeholders, and organizations that say they are customer-focused but rarely talk to customers. Jason shares practical perspectives on prioritization, strategy, and why good product teams must learn to say no—even to good ideas.

The conversation also dives into customer discovery, the barriers that keep teams from speaking directly with users, and how organizations should think about measuring success beyond simply “building the feature.” If your organization is trying to move beyond feature factories and build a stronger product practice, this episode offers a grounded look at where to start.

References and resources mentioned in the show:

Jason Knight
One Knight in Product Podcast
Blog: What Does a Product Owner Do, When, and Why?
Blog: How to Ensure You’re Working on the Most Important Items Each Iteration by Mike Cohn
#124: How to Avoid Common Product Team Pitfalls with David Pereira
#154: The Underpowered PO with Barnaby Golden
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This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is a Certified Scrum Trainer®, Certified Scrum Professional®, Certified ScrumMaster®, and Certified Scrum Product Owner®, and host of the Agile Mentors Podcast training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. 

Jason Knight is a product consultant, coach, and host of the One Knight in Product podcast who helps scaling B2B companies move beyond feature factories and build product teams that deliver real business impact. He works with organizations to connect strategy to execution through fractional product leadership, workshops, and coaching that bring clarity, alignment, and measurable results.