The Two Domains of Leadership: Product and Approach
Leadership must take responsibility for both what we deliver and how we deliver it. You can’t focus on one and ignore the other. They work together, not in isolation.
Leadership isn’t just about having a vision. It’s about owning two key areas: the product and the approach. These aren’t separate silos. They’re connected. You need to manage both if you want the organisation to thrive.
This is right at the heart of why the Practiqual approach exists. It gives leaders a clear way to look at both sides of the equation, the thing we offer to others and the system we use to bring it to life.
Let’s walk through them.
Product: What We Deliver
When we say "product", we’re talking about anything you offer to others that they find useful. That includes physical products, like something you manufacture. It also includes digital products, like apps, platforms, tools. And it includes services, like consulting, support, healthcare, education or delivery.
Practiqual treats services as products because they’re still designed and delivered to create value. They might look different from physical goods, but they still need leadership, structure and continuous improvement.
Now here’s the thing. It’s not enough to build something. It has to matter to someone. And if you're running a commercial business, it has to do more than matter. It has to generate revenue. It needs to keep the business afloat.
If customers aren’t using it, paying for it, renewing it, or recommending it, then you have a problem. The product may not be viable. It doesn’t matter how passionate you are about the idea. If it doesn’t solve something meaningful and return value back to the business, you’re in dangerous territory.
And if you’re a startup, it’s even more serious. You don’t have a real product until someone pays for it or chooses to use it. Before that, it's just an idea. Vapour. The only validation that counts is when real people interact with it and get real value from it.
This is exactly why Practiqual puts such a strong emphasis on product effectiveness as a leadership responsibility. It’s not just something for the team to worry about. It’s a strategic concern.
So as a leader, ask yourself:
Is our product effective, really?
That doesn’t mean "Did we ship it?" or "Do we like it?" It means "Is this delivering value? Is it keeping the business alive? Would our customers miss it if it disappeared tomorrow?"
You need systems that track:
Customer behaviour
Market feedback
Revenue and renewals
The real-world outcomes of using the product
Whether the problem you’re solving still exists
Because if your product stops delivering, your business won’t be far behind.
Approach: How We Deliver It
If the product is what you offer, then the approach is the machinery behind it. It’s your engine room.
That includes team structures, planning cycles, governance, funding, coordination, and all the rhythms and routines that move things forward.
Even the best product can fail if your internal systems are messy, outdated, or too slow. You could have something truly valuable, but if your delivery system is clunky, reactive, or over-complicated, you're going to struggle to get it to market. Or you’ll burn out your teams trying.
So here’s your next question:
Is our approach effective? And is it fit for what we’re trying to build?
Too many organisations are using delivery systems that no longer suit their reality. Maybe they’ve outgrown them. Maybe they’ve layered on too many fixes over time and created complexity without clarity. Or maybe they’ve copied someone else's framework that never really worked in their context to begin with.
That’s why Practiqual includes a practical, structured approach to delivery. It’s not one-size-fits-all, but it gives leaders and teams a clear way to design a delivery model that fits their product, their scale, and their environment.
When your approach isn’t working, you feel it:
Delays pile up
Teams misfire or go in circles
Coordination falls apart
Quality drops
Momentum slows down
Your product might be fine. But if your system is broken, the results won’t show up. That’s the hidden cost of delay, confusion, and churn.
Product and Approach Work Together
Here’s the big point. Product and approach shape each other. They’re not two separate streams. They’re constantly influencing each other. We deliberately draw this in a yin-yang style to show the interconnective and influence.
The kind of product you’re building affects how you should work. A digital platform built in a fast-moving market needs a very different approach than a one-off client service.
Likewise, the way you work affects the quality of the product. If your approach is slow, vague, or chaotic, your product won’t improve fast enough to stay competitive.
In Practiqual, we treat both domains as leadership responsibilities. They’re two sides of the same system. You can’t optimise one and ignore the other.
So you need to keep asking:
Is our product delivering real, sustaining value?
And is our approach helping or getting in the way?
This Is Leadership Work
Practiqual helps leaders focus on three things:
Lead with clarity. Know what you’re offering and why it matters.
Deliver with intent. Make sure your systems are fit for purpose.
Adapt with integrity. Keep reviewing and improving both sides of the equation.
This is not about firefighting. It’s not about theory. This is the real work of leading a business that has to survive, grow, and serve real people.
Use the BEEEE Cycle™ to improve effectiveness
To help with that, Practiqual includes the BEEEE cycle. This is a structured way to reflect and reset at regular intervals.
It gives you space to ask:
Is this working, both product and approach?
The BEEEE cycle walks through:
Expose what’s unclear or underperforming
Examine the root causes
Explore new options
Experiment with safe-to-try changes
Boost what works, and keep going
It’s designed to help you spot drift early, stay honest, and avoid big surprises. Whether you're a team lead or an executive, this reflection loop helps you see what’s real and act on it.
Summary
Products include physical goods, digital tools, and services
A good product must create value and generate income, or the business won’t survive
The approach is how that product is built, supported, and improved
Product and approach must work together. They constantly influence each other
Practiqual gives leaders the mindset and structure to assess both areas and make meaningful improvements
Use the BEEEE cycle to reflect regularly, course-correct, and raise the bar
Keep asking:
Is our product effective?
Is our approach enabling that success or holding it back?