I think Spotify, Airbnb, and Zappos illustrate three very different approaches to organizing product teams. Spotify’s famous squad model emphasizes autonomy. Squads are cross-functional teams organized around a product area, while tribes coordinate related squads and chapters connect people with similar skills. This puts a lot of day-to-day product decision-making close to the team.
Airbnb takes a more functional approach which I like the most, while maintaining strong influence from design and senior leadership. Its teams bring together functions such as product, engineering, design, research, and data science. Brian Chesky has also emphasized Airbnb’s design-driven approach to product decisions. This means PMs work collaboratively across functions, but product direction can be more strongly shaped by leadership.
Zappos experimented with Holacracy, where authority is attached to roles and circles rather than traditional management positions. Instead of simply asking a boss for permission, people are expected to act within the responsibilities of their roles.
I would like to work in a Spotify and Airbnb style organization. I like the combination of autonomy and collaboration. A PM can work closely with engineers and designers while the team has enough independence to make decisions quickly. At the same time, tribes and chapters provide some structure and coordination, which seems useful as an organization becomes larger.
