What It Takes to Modernize Without Breaking Trust

Last week, we dropped a brand-new episode of Build to Succeed, featuring Michael Harker, former VP of Product Management at Ritchie Bros. 

‍

Here’s an overview of our conversation with Michael, where you can find key lessons on product leadership and transformation, along with stories that illustrate how curiosity and clear principles can drive meaningful, lasting change.

‍
Balancing Innovation and Reliability

‍

Ritchie Bros. is the world’s largest marketplace for used commercial construction equipment, connecting buyers and sellers through live and online auctions for heavy machinery, trucks, and industrial assets. For many of its customers, the platform isn’t just a tool; it’s their livelihood. As Michael puts it, “When your customers are betting their retirement on your platform, modernization isn’t about shiny new tech—it’s about not breaking their trust.”

‍

That mindset defined Ritchie Bros.’ approach to transformation. Modernization became less about introducing cutting-edge technology and more about ensuring that every change made the experience faster, more stable, and more reliable for the people who rely on it daily.

‍

Set a North Star You Can Actually Steer By

‍

At the heart of Ritchie Bros.’ transformation was a clear goal: to modernize without disrupting the customers who relied on them. The team focused on three core principles to make that possible: speed, stability, and continuity. These guided every decision, from which features to prioritize to how fast to replatform core systems. Rather than aiming for a perfect redesign, the focus was on delivering tangible improvements that customers would feel immediately.

‍

Michael describes this as the art of balancing momentum with mindfulness. Great product leaders, he says, stay relentlessly curious—about users, systems, and tradeoffs. “The best product leaders don’t just chase features, they chase understanding. Infinite curiosity is how you find the problems worth solving,” he reflects.

‍

Replatform First, Polish Later

‍

When Ritchie Bros. began its modernization journey, the team focused on rebuilding critical foundations before tackling surface-level redesigns. They went API-first to improve performance, reliability, and scalability—saving UX refinements for later phases. This disciplined sequencing kept the project lean and avoided scope creep, ensuring the team didn’t “break what worked” in the name of progress.

‍

“For our customers,” Harker explains, “this isn’t just a transaction—it’s their livelihood, sometimes even their retirement. That means modernization can’t just be about a new UI or shiny features; it’s about delivering stability without breaking trust.”

‍

Communicate Early, Often, and in Writing

‍

Transformation at scale is never smooth, but clear communication can make it manageable. Ritchie Bros.’ team over-indexed on written documentation—everything from stakeholder one-pagers to early design mockups—to align decisions and reduce ambiguity. This practice made it easier to “disagree and commit” when tradeoffs inevitably surfaced, keeping the entire organization rowing in the same direction.

‍

Practical Takeaways For Product Teams

‍

If you’re leading digital transformation, here are a few lessons from Ritchie Bros. you can apply right away:

‍

• Define a North Star that emphasizes continuity and customer trust
  
  
• Sequence your work: Prioritize platform stability before design polish
  
  
• Create a simple yes/no framework (e.g., time-to-market, stability, impact) to prevent scope creep
  
  
• Document decisions so future teams understand the “why”
  
  
• Encourage curiosity and collaboration between PMs and engineers to uncover hidden dependencies and legacy logic

Listen to the full conversation with Michael Harker on Build to Succeed to learn how trust, clarity, and speed can fuel modernization without losing sight of what matters most: your customers.

‍