Coaching Team Topology
Coaching Team Topology  
Podcast: Product Therapy
Published On: Thu Aug 07 2025
Description: Christian sits down with Marty Cagan to decode team topology: one of the most consequential yet misunderstood levers in product organizations. Learn how great leaders design product teams for maximum autonomy, clarity, and customer impact.–Today’s discussion unpacks:How team topology is different from org structureRed flags that indicate a broken team structureThe brutal trade-offs in optimizing for outcomes vs. velocityHow cognitive load, chemistry, and trust affect team performanceHow to approach team design in growing or transforming orgs–References:Amazon’s Two Pizza Team: https://aws.amazon.com/executive-• insights/content/amazon-two-pizza-team/Factors in Structuring a Product Organization by Marty Cagan: https://www.svpg.com/factors-in-structuring-a-product-organization/High Integrity Commitments by Marty Cagan: https://www.svpg.com/managing-commitments-in-an-agile-team/Pierre Omidyar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierre-omidyar-bb10687b/Team Topologies by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais: https://www.amazon.com/Team-Topologies-Organizing-Business-Technology/dp/1942788819–Where to find SVPG:SVPG’s newest book, TRANSFORMED: https://www.svpg.com/books/transformed-moving-to-the-product-operating-model/Other books: https://www.svpg.com/books/Articles: https://www.svpg.com/articles/Workshops: https://www.svpg.com/Videos: https://www.svpg.com/videos/–Where to find Christian Idiodi:LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/cidiodi/⁠–Where to find Marty Cagan:LinkedIn:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/cagan/–Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(0:46) What is team topology?(1:56) Top-down vs. bottom-up approaches(3:01) Team topology ≠ org structure(5:26) Optimizing for outcomes vs. throughput(10:20) 3 signs you have a topology problem(15:24) Who should own team topology?(17:17) The surprising value of platform teams(18:14) How do you define a product?(20:36) The first step in a topology project(22:23) The cost of scaling teams(24:52) What high-performing topology requires(25:13) Balancing resources and ratios(32:36) Rolling out team topology changes(33:34) Dismantling bureaucratic team bloat(40:42) Addressing legacy teams and bureaucracy–Disclaimer:While this podcast is named “Product Therapy”, it is not hosted by licensed therapists or mental health professionals, and it is in no way a substitute for professional mental health services. We recognize the importance of mental well-being and encourage anyone facing personal difficulties to seek support from qualified professionals. See https://findahelpline.com/–Production:Production by ⁠supermix.io