Why Should the Scrum Team Help Shape the Product Goal?
While the Product Owner has the final say, involving the whole Scrum Team creates shared understanding and reduces risks, especially technical risks stemming from the Product Owner’s blind spots. Collaboration ensures alignment on the Why, What, and How of the product journey.
A dictated Product Goal is commonly considered an anti-pattern.
Metaphor
Shaping the Product Goal is like planning a road trip with friends—if only the driver decides the route, they might miss that the car can’t handle mountain roads. When the whole group weighs in, you combine local knowledge, mechanical know-how, and shared priorities to avoid breakdowns.
In Scrum, that collaboration makes the Product Goal both visionary and realistic, reducing blind spots and aligning the team around the journey ahead.
Works Consulted
In addition to any sources cited above, the following works informed my thinking:(1)