Marty Cagan’s Inspired: Empowered Teams vs. Feature Factories

In this episode of The Product Handbook, we unpack the impact of Marty Cagan’s Inspired — the book that launched a thousand product managers and sparked debates across tech orgs everywhere.

You’ll learn:

• What Cagan really means by empowered product teams — and why most companies struggle to get there

• How Inspired draws the line between real product discovery and glorified delivery work

• The clash between Cagan’s vision and traditional, top-down org structures

• Why many PMs feel stuck in “feature factory” mode despite best intentions

• How to apply the book’s principles in environments that aren’t (yet) ideal

Whether you’re a Cagan disciple, a skeptical realist, or someone just trying to build better products without losing your mind — this one’s for you.