Assessing Product Maturity

A Health Check for Sustainable Growth

Even Superman goes to a health check

Let’s face it - building exceptional products isn’t easy. It’s not just about shipping code or meeting deadlines. It’s about delivering real value, aligning teams around shared goals, and doing it all in a sustainable way over the long haul.

After working with countless teams, I’ve realized something: product maturity isn’t about ticking process checkboxes or using the latest frameworks. It’s about how well an organization actually solves real problems for real users. If that’s not happening, all the best tools in the world won’t help. The real shift isn’t in what you do, it’s in how you think about products in the first place.

Many organizations believe transformation happens by implementing a process here or a framework there, all powered by fancy (and expensive) tools like Jira, Power BI, or Aha. But tools alone aren’t the answer. They’re just one part of the puzzle. At its core, this shift is about mindset, strategy, and culture.

So, what does it take to go from “getting by” to “thriving”? And how do you ensure teams focus on products, not just projects? Let’s dig in.

What is product maturity?

Product maturity is like a health check for your organization's ability to build and manage products effectively. It involves assessing multiple dimensions that contribute to how well your organization delivers value through its products. These dimensions can include strategy, processes, culture, metrics, people, organizational design, and tools. The more dimensions you explore, the clearer your organization’s real strengths and weaknesses become.

From my experience, I often start with a simplified version focusing on four key areas: strategy, processes, technology, and culture. This approach makes it easier to map the general landscape and identify key opportunities for improvement. As the process progresses, additional dimensions can be added, especially when the initial results reveal gaps or raise more questions than answers.

Most organizations progress through five levels of product maturity:

• Initial → “We’re winging it.”
  Teams operate without clear processes or a product strategy.

• Repeatable → “We’ve got some structure, but it’s inconsistent.”
  Processes exist but aren’t standardized across teams.

• Defined → “We have a solid system in place.”
  There’s a clear and standardized approach to product development.

• Managed → “Our processes are aligned with our goals, and we track progress.”
  Teams work in harmony with a shared focus on outcomes.

• Optimizing → “We’re continuously improving across the board.”
  The organization actively pursues innovation and refinement in every aspect of product management.

Each level represents progress, but here’s the thing: It’s not about being perfect, it’s about knowing where you stand and what steps will move the needle.

A Real-World Example: A Life Sciences Company’s Maturity Journey

To bring this to life, let’s look at a life sciences company. Historically, their IT department built software for researchers and clinicians, focusing on “delivering software on time.” But as the industry evolved, they realized software wasn’t just software anymore → it was a product. Clinicians and researchers relied on it to make critical decisions. Real people with real problems needed real solutions.

At this stage, their organization was stuck in the Repeatable phase. Basic processes were in place, but they were IT- and project-driven, not product-driven. Here’s how this played out across the four dimensions of product maturity:

1. Strategy

Current state: Strategy was reactive, focused on what IT could deliver rather than what researchers and clinicians truly needed.

What changed? A product mindset required a clear mission and vision. Instead of asking, “What features do stakeholders want?” they shifted to, “What problems do we need to solve for our users?” They set goals like “Reduce the time researchers spend analyzing data by 20%,” ensuring the software delivered real impact.

2. Processes

Current state: Processes were project-based. Timelines were fixed, and once a project was “delivered,” the team moved on.

What changed? Adopting agile principles introduced iterative workflows and a feedback loop where researchers tested early versions of the software. Over time, they focused on delivering continuous value rather than meeting one-off deadlines.

3. Technology

Current state: The tech stack was functional but outdated. Deployments took days, and there was little automation.

What changed? They modernized their stack with cloud infrastructure and CI/CD pipelines. This allowed teams to experiment more freely, rolling out updates without disrupting workflows.

4. Culture

Current state: The culture was top-down. Teams felt like cogs in a machine, executing tasks instead of owning decisions.

What changed? A culture of ownership emerged. Teams gained autonomy to make product decisions based on user data. Wins were celebrated not just for meeting deadlines but for achieving meaningful outcomes.

Moving forward: A roadmap to transformation

Transformation doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a long journey that needs patience and commitment. But with a clear roadmap, an organization can transition from an IT-driven approach to a product mindset.

Here’s how the life-sciences organization might approach this transformation:

Taking the first step 

Shifting from an IT-driven approach to a product mindset isn’t just about changing processes, it’s more about rethinking how you deliver value —> understanding where you are today, defining where you want to go, and charting a clear path to get there.

That’s why a product maturity assessment is so important. Think of it like a health check—it helps you diagnose your current state, identify strengths and weaknesses, and set a direction that makes sense for your organization.

But here’s the thing: transformation shouldn’t happen just for the sake of it. I’ve seen companies jump into “big change” initiatives without first taking stock of where they really are. The most successful teams I’ve worked with didn’t start with everything, they started with clarity. When you truly understand where your organization stands today, every decision becomes easier, and every step forward is intentional.

To make this process even more actionable, I’ve developed a Product Maturity Assessment tool that automatically assesses maturity levels based on a structured questionnaire. It provides insights into strengths, weaknesses, and risks while also presenting a transformative roadmap journey. I’ll be diving deeper into this tool in a separate article, stay tuned!

Where Do You Stand?

So, where does your organization stand right now? Are you seeing gaps between strategy and execution? Are teams struggling to break out of project-driven thinking? Maybe you’ve already started this shift but hit roadblocks along the way.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Have you assessed your product maturity recently? What challenges have you faced in shifting from project-based to product-led development? Drop a comment or reach out → I’m always up for a conversation about real-world product challenges. Let’s navigate this journey together.