S2:E5 - GovTech, Outcomes & Impact: Building Meaningful Products in High-Stakes Environments

In this episode of Practical Product Management, we talk with Rob Monroe, Practice Lead at Rise8, about the complexity and nuance of building products in high-stakes environments like GovTech.

Rob shares how his experience spans sectors like defense, finance, and internal platforms, and how he consistently brings teams back to what really matters: outcomes, not just output. Together, we unpack how to shift mindsets inside large bureaucracies, coach teams through real transformation, and meet people where they are while guiding them toward better ways of working.

We explore how product managers can lead change without burning out, why it’s essential to focus on behavior change instead of flashy launches, and how to create a safe-to-fail environment where experimentation is possible. Whether you're in the public sector or not, this conversation is packed with real-world insight into how we can do meaningful product work in complex systems.

Key Takeaways

1. Start with the first experiment by shipping something safely to production. Getting even a simple application into production builds confidence, creates momentum, and helps develop the muscle for continuous delivery.

2. Behavior change is the real outcome. It’s not about how much we ship, but what shifts in behavior we create for users, teams, and leadership. That’s how we know the work is making an impact.

3. Context matters more than frameworks. We don’t need to be purists about methods. What matters is using language and tools that resonate with the environment we’re in and getting to meaningful outcomes however we can.

Questions for PMs to Reflect On

1. Are we building features just to ship something, or are we aiming for meaningful change in how people work or interact?

2. How can we make space for small, low-risk experiments that help our teams build trust and learn faster?

Check out our resource page for a list of all the books and talks Rob mentioned.