The Subject Matter Expert (A Misunderstood Product Owner Stance)

Find out why you shouldn't be a Subject Matter Expert.
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The Subject Matter Expert Product Owner

The Subject Matter Expert or SME is the expert in telling you how stuff works. Product Owners that favor this stance are a blessing and a curse. When you bring relevant domain knowledge to the Scrum Team, they can make more informed decisions and create a better plan to achieve (Sprint) Goals.

It can also lead to a single point of knowledge, and rather than taking the stance of the Story Writer and forgoing discussion, this stance manifests itself as micro-management and spoon-feeding the development team. In many organizations, it seems to be expected that the Product Owner is also the Subject Matter Expert.