There’s a rhythm to a great kitchen. The sizzle of hot oil, the low murmur of orders called out, the sharp clang of metal on metal as knives hit cutting boards. It’s chaos, but it’s a controlled chaos. A brigade, moving as one.
A restaurant kitchen isn’t just a collection of people cooking food. It’s a hierarchy, a system, a way of working that ensures dishes fly out at the right time, perfectly plated, without anyone losing a hand in the process. Auguste Escoffier, the godfather of modern cooking, built the Brigade de Cuisine, a structured way of running a kitchen that has stood the test of time.
And if you think this is just about food, you’re missing the point.
Your product team needs a brigade system. Without it, you are running a kitchen where everyone is making their own dish, at their own pace, with no one making sure the customer actually gets what they ordered.
Why Most Product Teams Feel Like a Bad Kitchen
Walk into a badly run restaurant and you can taste the dysfunction. Orders are backed up, the line cooks are stepping on each other’s toes, the expeditor is losing their mind, and the waitstaff is apologizing for the delay. The food might eventually make it to the table, but by then, it’s either cold or the customer has walked out.
Now think about your product team.
Does your engineering team build features without clear priorities, only to have them sit in backlog purgatory?
Is your design team working in a silo, creating beautiful but impractical designs that never see the light of day?
Does your leadership team keep throwing in last-minute changes, derailing sprints, and frustrating everyone in the process?
Do customer requests pile up with no clear process for deciding what gets worked on?
This is what happens when there’s no system. People step on each other’s work, priorities shift constantly, and frustration builds.
In a great kitchen, everyone knows their role. The brigade system gives structure, discipline, and efficiency. And it can do the same for your product team.
How the Brigade System Works in the Kitchen
Escoffier’s system divided a kitchen into specialized roles, each with a clear function:
Executive Chef – The visionary. Defines the menu, sets the tone, and ensures the restaurant’s success.
Sous Chef – The second-in-command. Keeps everything moving, solves problems, and ensures quality.
Chef de Partie (Station Chefs) – Specialists. Grill, sauté, pastry, garde-manger. They own their station.
Line Cooks – The executioners. They do the work, plate the dishes, and keep up with the pace.
Expeditor – The bridge between the kitchen and the front of house. Ensures orders go out perfectly timed.
This structure eliminates bottlenecks, creates accountability, and ensures that when the rush hits, the kitchen doesn’t collapse.
Now let’s bring it to your product team.
The Brigade System for Product Teams
Your product team needs a similar hierarchy, with clear roles and a flow that moves work forward efficiently.
Chief Product Officer (CPO) / Head of Product – The Executive Chef. Sets the vision, ensures the team is building the right things, and aligns with business goals.
Product Managers – The Sous Chefs. They make sure work is moving forward, priorities are clear, and everyone has what they need.
Designers, Engineers, Analysts – The Station Chefs. Each owns their domain and executes at a high level.
Scrum Master / Project Manager – The Expeditor. Keeps everything on track, removes blockers, and ensures smooth execution.
A good brigade doesn’t mean rigid hierarchy. It means clarity. Everyone knows what they own, who they report to, and how their work fits into the bigger picture.
What Happens When You Adopt the Brigade System
1. Decisions Get Made Faster
Without structure, product teams waste time in endless debate. With a brigade system, authority is clear. The Head of Product sets the direction. Product Managers prioritize. Engineers and Designers execute. Instead of fighting over who owns what, people focus on building.
2. Work Flows Smoothly, Not in Chaos
Bad kitchens are reactive. Good kitchens are proactive. The brigade system ensures your product team isn’t constantly switching gears, dealing with last-minute changes, or building things that never ship. Instead, work moves through a clear pipeline.
3. Accountability is Baked In
In a kitchen, if a steak is overcooked, the grill station is responsible. If a sauce is off, the saucier owns it. In a product team, accountability needs to be just as clear. Who owns customer research? Who is responsible for defining requirements? Who ensures the final product is polished? The brigade system eliminates the finger-pointing.
4. Cross-Team Collaboration Works Better
The best kitchens don’t have silos. Neither do the best product teams. The brigade system forces collaboration between roles. Just as a chef de partie works closely with the expeditor, designers need to work closely with engineers, engineers need to work with product managers, and everyone needs to be in sync.
Why This Matters Now More Than Ever
In 2025, product teams are dealing with hybrid work, AI-driven decision-making, and ever-shifting customer demands. A team without structure is going to drown in noise. But a team with a strong operational backbone? That’s a team that ships great products, on time, without burning out.
The best kitchens aren’t chaotic by accident. They run smoothly because they were designed that way.
My feeling, your product team should be no different.
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