Getting started

Ship It helps you build better products faster. It helps you to transform your product development with proven practices from leading tech companies.

Ship It comes with 62 battle-tested solutions in an innovative card format, helping teams solve their biggest product, design, and engineering challenges step by step.

There are two type of cards:

Challenge cards (Red border):

Slow delivery

One of the most common issues in product teams. Teams are moving too slowly, causing frustration inside and competitors to catch up. If you’re not going to fix it, You’re going to have a bad time.

challenge

Challenge cards provide a detailed guide to challenges you may be facing.

vs

Solution cards (Colorful border):

Team Topologies

Team Topologies is an approach for organizing people in tech companies into effective teams. Most known for introducing four team types and three interaction modes, it aims to reduce team dependencies and manage cognitive load.

people

Solution cards provide guides on solutions that fix challenges.

How to use cards?

Your main quest is to find the right solution to adopt. To find it, you can use this 6-step loop:

0 Believe You Can Change Things

1 Choose Your Biggest Challenge

2 Choose Solution to Fix Your Challenge

3 Learn the Solution

4 Adopt the Solution

5 Let it stick and repeat

Below you will find a more detailed breakdown of this process.

Using cards step-by-step

Here's how the process could look like in practice:

0 Believe You Can Change Things

You don't need to be a director to change things.

You're probably staring at all these broken processes, watching your team struggle with technical debt, seeing customers get frustrated, and thinking, "I'm not a big boss to change things. I'm just an (engineer / designer / product manager) - what can I really do about any of this?"

I'd argue that in most cases, you can drive a significante change. That was the case for me. I was just an engineer who believed things could improve. And I did something about it. Long story short—that's the biggest reason why I got promoted to CTO.

You don't need permission to make things better. Pick a challenge card, grab a solution, talk to your team, and start making changes. Your future self (and your team) will thank you for it.

1 Choose Your Biggest Challenge

Pick the problem that hurts the most.

You can't fix everything at once. Your job is to find that one burning issue causing the most pain right now. You know, the one that makes your best people want to quit, your customers angry, or your delivery painfully slow.

Talk to your team, your boss and stakeholders. Look at your metrics. Trust your gut. Show them the challenge cards and have a discussion. The right problem usually isn't hiding - it's screaming in your face every day.

It's probably on the list below - pick one that is causing you the most pain right now:

  • FREE
  • FREE

Not sure which card to pick? Try our checklist

2 Choose Solution to Fix Your Challenge

Pick the solution linked to that problem.

Let's say you've picked . Now it's time to pick the solutions to solve it.

You will find these solutions in the form of solution cards.

Pick one that interests you.

You've picked as a challenge to solve. Here are potential solutions you can use:

  • FREE
  • FREE

3 Learn the Solution

Read no-bullshit guide on how to solve the problem.

You've picked to overcome

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Click on the card below to get:

An article on Team Topologies
Advanced topics for more experienced practicioners
Step-by-step instruction how to adopt Team Topologies in your team / company
Evolving Topologies Board Template in miro format Template
Arguments how to convince your boss
Challenges & solutions linked to it
Books and articles to become expert on Team Topologies
... and more!

Team Topologies

Team Topologies is an approach for organizing people in tech companies into effective teams. Most known for introducing four team types and three interaction modes, it aims to reduce team dependencies and manage cognitive load.

people
Read on Team Topologies

4 Adopt the Solution

Fix the problem with a solution card.

Adoption (implementing the solutions) is where most transformations die.

First, use the step-by-step guide in your solution card. It's there because it works. Each step builds on the last one, and skipping steps is usually a disaster.

Second, use the provided templates. Don't just stare at them. They're there to save you time. Adjust them to your needs, but trust the formula that worked for others.

Lastly, watch for the warning signs listed in the pitfalls section. They're real issues that have killed transformations. When I see a team hitting walls, it's usually because they ignored the warnings, thinking, "That won't happen to us."

Remember - if you're not seeing some resistance, you're probably not pushing hard enough for real change. But if you're seeing too much resistance, you might try to force too much too fast. Finding that balance is key, and it's different for every team.

Read on example solution → Product Strategy

5 Let it stick and repeat

Happy? Move on to fix other problems.

Now that you've started to adopt the solution, here's what you need to do:

  1. Give it time. Real change needs time to become a habit.
  2. Measure the impact. Did delivery speed up? Did customer complaints go down? Are your teams happier? If you're not seeing results, you might need to:
    • Tweak your current solution.
    • Try another solution card that's linked to this challenge.
    • Make sure you're solving the right problem.
  3. Listen to your teams. They'll tell you if the change is working and what's hurting next.

Now you must decide - has the pain coming from this challenge decreased? Is there something else that hurts more now that this challenge is taken care of?

  • If yes, pick your next challenge to tackle starting from step 1.
  • If not, don't worry - try another solution linked to that challenge.

Remember - this isn't a race. I've seen teams transform in a year by solving just 4-5 problems the right way. And I've seen teams solve nothing by trying to fix 20 problems at once.

Need help? I've got your back

Ship It is designed to give you the knowledge and tools to drive change independently. But every company is different, and sometimes you need more than just cards to navigate your specific challenges.

Here's how I can help:

  • Team and Company Audits: Get a clear picture of where you stand. I'll help identify your biggest pain points and opportunities - no sugar coating, just honest insights that show you where to focus first.
  • Coaching and Mentoring Calls: Sometimes, you need someone to bounce ideas off of or get unstuck. Think of it as having an experienced leader on speed dial.
  • Transformation Support: Want someone in your corner while you change things up? I'll help you navigate the transformation, avoid common pitfalls, and keep things moving forward.
  • Ship It Workshops: Get your whole team aligned and energized. We'll work together to pick the right challenges, learn the solutions, and create an action plan that works.

Who's behind Ship It?

Hi, my name is Piotr, and I'm a founder of Ship It.

Luckily for you, I'm not just a talking head. The contents of Ship It are a result of my 20+ years of commercial experience working as a maker, leader, CTO, CPO, board member for companies like:

I'm advising small and mid-size tech companies and individual leaders.

Besides loving my work, I'm a proud father, loving husband, successful cat-negotiator, and ex-DJ.

I keep my fingers crossed for you!

Piotr Kacala signature