Groundwork Foundations
Product Excellence, Built to Last
Is every product team working approaching product building in a different way?
Is AI speeding up the work but not improving it?
Are teams staying busy without moving the metrics that matter?
Is product excellence still the exception, not the standard?
Program Overview
Based on the Proven Groundwork Method ™
6-Week Program
Six weeks. Live, hands-on, and applied to your real products with real customers.
This is a six-week live program where your cross-functional product team builds the customer-led foundations great products depend on, applied to your real products with real customer checkpoints. There are four, 4-hour, live working sessions, with 2 customer checkpoints. Teams collaborate on homework in between to keep the load light and the learning shared. Optional office hours are there whenever the team wants extra help. The section below breaks down how it works.
Rigor, Accelerated by AI
AI lets teams move at any speed, which is exactly why foundations matter more than ever. AI does not fix bad decisions, it scales them. Groundwork builds AI into the work itself, accelerating rigor instead of replacing it, so your team moves fast and builds on solid ground. The prompts and practices stay with them long after the program ends.
Applied to Your Real Products
We apply all the tools and techniques to your business.
We begin with a discovery meeting with you to understand your team’s strengths and opportunities as well as your business needs. Together we identify which projects your team will apply the tools and techniques each week. In the end, see demonstrable progress in the business.
Two Customer Checkpoints
Guided by Tenured Product Executives
We select one of our tenured product executive coaches that best fits your business and needs. This executive coach will provide guidance, feedback, and support the team’s ability to learn quickly and apply the material in an immediately impactful, but also sustainable way.
Leader Check-ins
Lasting change happens in the organization, not just the team. Your coach tracks how the team is progressing and what is helping or inhibiting Groundwork from taking hold, in the practice and in the projects. We check in with you to adjust where needed, identify change champions, and set the conditions for the practice to stick, so you get a real return on your investment and learning that endures.
The Capstone
Here is where the value becomes visible. Each team presents its validated concept, customer findings, and action plan to leadership in a clear, executive-ready narrative. It is your window into how the team thinks and applies what they learned, and a firsthand look at the return on the investment.
Program Details
The Kickoff & Intro
This is where the rubber hits the road!
60 Minute Session
Get an overview of the Groundwork program.
Meet your coach.
Learn what you’ll be doing each week and how much time is expected.
Session Goals: Have clear expectations on Groundwork program outcomes and level of effort.
Kickoff:
Introduction
Expectation Setting
Customer & Problem Obsession
4-Hour Live Session
Great products rest on customer-led foundations, so the team drafts a convergent problem statement and an actionable persona, with AI accelerating the work. We share proven templates and exercises, then teach the team to pull real insight from small samples and script their interviews, so they can validate their assumptions at the first customer checkpoint in week two.
Week 1:
4-Hour Live Session
Customer & Problem Obsession
Customer Checkpoint #1
Gathering Real Insights
No Instruction. Just Interviews
Time to test their thinking with real customers. The team runs the interviews they planned, putting their problem statement and persona in front of the people who matter most. Optional office hours to get coach’s help. They return with real evidence to sharpen the foundations they have begun to build.
Week 2:
Customer Checkpoint #1
Scrappy Research
From Insight to Ideas
Interpreting research for big ideas
4-Hour Live Session
Now the team makes sense of what they heard, using both design thinking methods and AI to interpret the signal from the noise. Real customer insight becomes the anchor for every decision that follows. With the foundations sharpened, the team moves into collaborative innovation, pairing design thinking with AI-augmented ideation to generate strong concepts and prioritize the ideas worth pursuing.
Week 3:
4-Hour Live Session
From Insights to Ideas
Anchoring Outcomes + Concept
Establishing the Outcomes
4-Hour Live Session
The team defines the outcomes that matter, the measurable impact that sets their focus from here on. Paired with the customer foundations, these outcomes anchor what is worth building, now and well beyond the program. With that direction set, the team develops a lo-fi concept, with AI accelerating the build, and frames the hypotheses to test at the second customer checkpoint.
Week 4:
4-Hour Live Session
Outcomes + Concept Development
Customer Checkpoint #2
Gathering Real Insights
No Instruction. Just Interviews
Back to real customers, this time with a concept in hand. The team runs the research they planned, putting their lo-fi concept and hypotheses in front of the people who will use it. Optional office hours for getting the coach’s help. They return with the evidence to refine the concept and sharpen their decisions.
Week 5:
Customer Checkpoint #2
Scrappy Research
Getting Commitment
Thought Leadership Practices
4-Hour Live Session
Great decisions only matter if they stick. The team debriefs their research and locks in decisions on the foundations and concept, then learns to think end to end, mapping the stakeholder ecosystem and the inputs that make or break durable decisions. They build a commitment narrative that drives alignment.
Week 6:
4-Hour Live Session
Getting Commitment
The Capstone
Showcasing the Learning
15-Minute Presentation / Team
The program ends where the value becomes visible. Each team presents to leadership: the validated problem, the proposed concept, the customer evidence behind it, and the outcomes they are pursuing. In a sharp 15-minute narrative, they show how the team thinks and what they learned, giving leaders a clear view of the return on their investment and where to build next.
Grand Finale
15-Minute Presentation/Team
The Capstone
Community of Practice
Post Program Reinforcement
When Groundwork concludes, teams can keep working with their coach through options like:
- An embedded coach for ongoing reinforcement and support
- Monthly community of practice meetings to refresh skills and showcase wins
- Ongoing access to our regularly updated AI accelerator tools
- Periodic leader check-ins for problem solving and progress
Community of Practice
Post Program Support