I recently led a 45 minute session called The ReFocus Loop with our engineers, product, QA, and operations teams. The goal was simple yet powerful. I wanted every engineer to start with one customer outcome, translate it into measurable success criteria at both the business and engineering levels, and finish with one demo that a customer would feel confident using. I call this the 1:2:1 framework.
Culture is not something you hang on a wall. It is what people do when no one is looking. At ReFocus AI I focus on embedding our number one value, Customer Focus, into how engineers think, decide, and deliver. Every line of code, every story, every release begins with the customer in mind.
The ReFocus Loop makes that mindset tangible. Engineers shift from thinking about tickets to thinking about the customer moment they are trying to improve. Decisions become faster. Rework decreases. The team begins to internalize the connection between their work and the impact it creates.
I teach engineers to ask three questions at the start of every story: What does the customer gain if this works perfectly? How do I measure success both from a business and technical perspective? Would this look great in front of the customer?
These are small questions. They are simple. Yet they create alignment, clarity, and a shared language across teams. They help engineers see beyond their roles and think about outcomes not outputs.
This framework mirrors what the best technology companies do. Amazon has its Working Backwards process. Stripe embeds user centric thinking into every engineering decision. Airbnb shows how engineers can build with the guest experience in mind. I borrow these lessons and tailor them for ReFocus AI. It is not a copy. It is a mindset translated into a repeatable practice that shapes high performing teams.
One small change with big impact is how engineers now explicitly state the customer outcome they are targeting and the technical conditions needed to achieve it whenever they implement a feature. This habit keeps everyone focused on outcomes, not just output, and ensures that every line of work is connected to real customer value.
I have seen the power of culture in action. When engineers think like customers every day and measure their work against real impact they deliver faster. They make better tradeoffs. They innovate confidently. High performance is not about working harder. It is about aligning what you build with what the customer values most.
The ReFocus Loop is more than a training. It is a promise. Every feature, every release, every story is an opportunity to build something customers love. Customer focus is how I measure success. It is how I build high performing engineering teams that consistently deliver outcomes that matter.
At the heart of great technology organizations is one question: are you solving for your customer? I ask it every day. It is the filter I use to guide strategy, architecture, hiring, and execution. That question drives clarity. That question drives excellence. That question drives teams that win.
I hope sharing the ReFocus Loop inspires other leaders to embed customer focus into their engineering teams. I am happy to share the framework and examples for anyone interested in operationalizing outcomes for their customers.