Nov 8Member-onlyAccidentally Incompetent: Cycling Around the Four Stages of CompetenceI’ve recently been reading about the four stages of competence, reflecting on how you move between one and the other, and thinking about how this process is not linear at all, but rather a circular path. To celebrate my new (off-brand) Apple pencil, I started doodling. There’s some ambiguity over…Product Management5 min readProduct Management5 min read
Sep 15Member-onlyProduct Managers Aren’t Responsible for the Delivery of their ProductsThere has been a lot of talk recently about the role of product managers in companies, and the value that they bring to the table. Part of this is a continuation of an age-old debate, and part of it has been brought into focus by moves such as Airbnb and…Product Management9 min readProduct Management9 min read
Aug 19Member-onlyThe Perils of Product Re-PlatformingThe Release Train at Re-Platform 9¾ (Years Until It’s Complete) — If there’s one word that sends shivers up the spine of any product person (as well as most of the rest of the organisation), it’s RE-PLATFORM. What does that mean? Well, here’s my definition: Re-platform (verb): To spend months or years migrating software from one technology stack or infrastructure to…Product Management7 min readProduct Management7 min read
Aug 2Member-onlyWhy Product Management is HardThe Best of Product Managers, The Worst of Product Managers — a Tale of Two Pities — I have given a few talks where I describe product management as (despite what some commentators might have you believe) a “uniquely hard job”. This might not be a fashionable opinion after the (much misunderstood) AirBnB repurposing of the PM role, but I stand behind the assertion. The problem with…Product Management8 min readProduct Management8 min read
Jun 16Member-onlyWhy Product Managers Should NEVER Divide by Effort When PrioritisingI was recently chatting to a product leader about the perennial topic of product prioritisation. Prioritisation is, of course, one of the key parts of a product manager’s job. It’s also one of the hardest, so it’s no surprise that there have been various attempts to provide frameworks to make…Product Management4 min readProduct Management4 min read
Jun 9Member-onlyThree Mindsets that Can Cripple Product ManagersOne thing I touched on in a recent talk, and has come up a few times recently, is the concept of the mindsets that product managers and product leaders can adopt in their work, and how these can hinder their effectiveness. These mindsets are pretty common, but I’m not just…Product Management4 min readProduct Management4 min read
May 27Member-onlyWho SHOULDN’T the Product Management Team Report To?A while ago, I ran a poll on Twitter as I’ve spoken to a few people unhappy with how product management is treated in their company and I wanted to see what other people thought. …Product Management5 min readProduct Management5 min read
May 15Member-onlyHow Product Managers Can Work with Subject-Matter ExpertsA little while ago, I Tweeted about subject-matter expertise and how it can impact your product decision-making in a B2B startup. I broadly bucketed people into 4 categories on a quadrant. Let’s recap what these buckets mean before discussing some more general ways to approach dealing with subject-matter experts, who…Product Management4 min readProduct Management4 min read
Published inStartup Stash·May 2Member-onlyThe Interview Questions That PMs Should Ask to Find Out What They’re Getting Themselves IntoAvoid the career death spiral by making an informed choice — Sometimes, product managers go into the wrong jobs for the wrong reasons and they regret it afterwards. Sometimes they go into the wrong jobs for the right reasons, but they missed something important in the interview process and had no idea there was something wrong. In any case, job hunting…Job Hunting6 min readJob Hunting6 min read
Apr 30Member-onlyCan ChatGPT get you your first job in Product Management?You don’t have to look far on social media or online communities to find a common question… I’m trying to get into product management but am not having any luck. How can I get my first product management job? Now, I have my own thoughts on this, but I thought…Product Management9 min readProduct Management9 min read
