From Discovery Theater to Strategic Impact: Coaching Insights with Chantal Otenot

Why do so many teams do ‘discovery’ but still ship the wrong thing? In this episode of Product Founder, product discovery coach Chantal Botana shares how she helps product teams go from surface-level practices to transformational impact.

Chantal has over 25 years of experience leading product in large enterprises and now works directly with teams and leaders to improve how they build products before they even write a single line of code.

What Real Product Discovery Looks Like (And What It Isn’t)

“Discovery theater is when teams check boxes, not challenge assumptions.”

Chantal sees many teams fall into the trap of discovery theater:

• They say they talk to users, but just validate pre-decided ideas.
• They build MVPs, but never throw anything away.
• They treat frameworks like scripts, not tools for learning.

Real discovery means:

• Being willing to throw away bad ideas.
• Testing both problem space and solution space.
• Measuring “done” by impact on OKRs, not just shipped code.

Tip: Ask yourself, “When was the last time we killed a feature idea before delivery?”

Discovery Isn’t a Phase. It’s a Culture.

One of Chantal’s core teachings is that discovery isn’t just a task you assign.
It’s a mindset teams build.

That means:

• Leaders need to stop hoarding decisions.
• Teams must be empowered to talk to customers without permission.
• Discovery needs to happen continuously, not just pre-project.

Pro tip: Use a framework like the Lean UX Canvas or Opportunity Solution Tree but don’t follow it blindly. Focus on the principles, not the performance.

Breaking Out of the Feature Factory

Chantal shares the telltale signs of a team stuck in a “feature factory” mindset:

• Shipping 100% of the items in the idea backlog.
• Measuring success by releases, not outcomes.
• Rarely revisiting shipped features.

Her fix?

• Teach teams the concept of “continuous discovery and delivery.”
• Shift “done” from “code in production” to “problem meaningfully solved.”
• Encourage hypothesis writing, experimentation, and iteration.

“Done-done isn’t shipped. Done-done is when it moves the metric.”

Transformation Drama: The Cost of Big-Bang Change

Chantal introduces the concept of “transformation drama” theater at the leadership level:

• Companies invest in big consulting projects.
• Transformation teams are expected to have all the answers.
• There’s little experimentation or learning applied to how the org changes.

Instead of big bang rollouts, she recommends:

• Creating transformation hypotheses, not mandates.
• Letting teams pilot new practices before scaling.
• Repeating the why of the change constantly, across all levels.

Quote: “You can’t just steal someone else’s culture. You have to build yours.”

Leadership Alignment is the Missing Ingredient

“We ask ICs to collaborate cross-functionally, but execs don’t talk to each other.”

In nearly every organization she coaches, Chantal sees the same problem:

• Product, design, and engineering leaders aren’t aligned.
• Middle management reverts to functional silos.
• OKRs are split by department and often contradict.

How to fix it:

• Ensure OKRs ladder up from company strategy, not departmental targets.
• Create shared goals across product, design, and engineering.
• Have execs meet regularly as trios not just their own function.

Example: Shared OKR for product, design, and engineering:
“Increase checkout conversion rate from 35% to 50% in Q2.”

Dual Track Agile: Misunderstood, But Powerful

Dual Track Agile often gets misused. Chantal explains it simply:

“It’s not discovery first, then delivery. It’s a constant ebb and flow.”

What it should be:

• Continuous discovery and delivery, happening in cycles.
• Teams swapping between learning and building.
• Anchored in shared goals (like OKRs).

What it’s not:

• An excuse to run 5 initiatives at once.
• A reason to split engineers across unrelated projects.

Red flag: Using “dual track” to justify overloading teams is anti-focus.

How to Choose the Right Discovery Framework

Chantal encourages teams to start with frameworks as training wheels, not crutches.

Recommended:

• Lean UX Canvas (Jeff Gothelf)
• Opportunity Solution Tree (Teresa Torres)
• GIST (Itamar Gilad)
• Testing Business Ideas (David Bland)

Over time, adapt them to your org:

• Mix and match for different parts of discovery.
• Don’t feel the need to memorize every step.
• Focus on learning, not perfection.

Product Ops and Framework Fads: Proceed With Context

Chantal reflects on how product trends come and go:

• Product Ops was everywhere two years ago, now it’s quieter.
• Dual Track Agile is resurging but misunderstood.
• AI is the current hot topic but many are still not using it meaningfully.

Her advice?

• Use trends as signals, not mandates.
• Every organization has a different maturity and need.
• Tools and frameworks are only helpful when paired with clear goals.

Learn More From Chantal

Chantal teaches live workshops on:

• Product Discovery
• OKRs
• Lean Product Management

Hosted via Sense & Respond Learning dates updated quarterly.

She also posts actively on LinkedIn with hands-on product coaching advice.

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2) Mastering AI Evals: The missing skill in AI product management | Hamel Hussain

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