PRODUCTHEAD: Slow down

palo product #

every PRODUCTHEAD edition is online for you to refer back to

---

tl;dr

Dysfunctional overwork has been rebranded as a desirable attribute in some organisations

Working at a slower, more natural pace actually increases productivity

Continuous accesibility via mobile devices has eroded autonomy and increased stress

AI means every organisation is facing their ‘Kodak moment’ right now

---

hello

More often than I care to admit, I lose faith in what I’ve started writing, then sit on the draft until I decide what to do with it. This happened with a long-form article I was working on last week. I could have pressured myself to crank it out, but the quality would inevitably have suffered.

Generative AI makes it awfully tempting just to take a shortcut – we’re wired to avoid cognitive load whenever possible – but as I’m finding from my research for that stalled article, doing so reduces our engagement with the problem at hand, denying us the opportunity to learn. Sometimes it’s better to take a little time with things.

For you this week #

Caroline Clark dissects the rise of the ‘cult of overwork’, questioning how jobs have become so extreme. She explores the effect of cultural norms on creating a vicious cycle, and the danger of equating extreme overwork with identity. When the job market is as cutthroat as it is at the moment, it may feel as though there’s no other option but to work all hours. There are, however, always other options – even if they’re not obvious to begin with.

Next, Cal Newport offers an insightful counterpoint with his concept of ‘slow productivity’, designed to combat the burnout and cognitive overload rampant in workplaces where quantity is valued over quality. Slow productivity boils down to three principles: doing less, working at a natural pace, and obsessing over quality.

In my research for this week’s newsletter, I came across an interesting journal article from 2013 by Melissa Mazmanian, Wanda J. Orlikowski and JoAnne Yates. In short, the advent of mobile devices that allowed us to check work emails and messaging was supposed to give us all greater autonomy to work where and when we pleased. In reality, the tacit expectation that we could be reached and could reply at any time had exactly the reverse effect – it took away our autonomy. The article is paywalled, although you may have access to read it through your organisation.

Changing gears slightly, Martin Eriksson has just dropped another instalment of his writing about the Decision Stack, this time providing a case study about how Fujifilm survived what killed Kodak. (And he notes it’s not just a rehash of the well-worn story about Kodak missing the boat on digital, despite being there at the beginning.)

Speak to you soon,

Jock

---

---

what to think about this week

The cult of overwork

When you hear ‘extreme jobs’, what comes to mind? Possibly roles in the military, police force, even healthcare (and of course, space). These roles are characterised by working in an extreme environment — in terms of danger or threat to life, the round-the-clock nature and number of hours worked, the level of responsibility incurred. Few might think of office work as falling into this category, and yet there is a train of research investigating how ‘normal’ roles in industries like finance and tech are becoming more extreme over time.

How job extremism has risen and killed work-life balance

[Caroline Clark / Liftoff with Caroline]

Why “slow productivity” is the key to great work and happy teams

The dangers of overwork are well-known. Cognitively overloaded employees are prone to make mistakes and are less efficient in completing tasks. Burnout decreases employees’ motivation and sense of engagement — not just at work but across many aspects of their lives — and the constant rush of stress is hardly great for anyone’s mental and physical health.

Do less, work at a natural pace, and obsess over quality

[Cal Newport / The Big Think]

---

---

The Autonomy Paradox: The Implications of Mobile Email Devices for Knowledge Professionals

Our research examines how knowledge professionals use mobile email devices to get their work done and the implications of such use for their autonomy to control the location, timing, and performance of work. We found that knowledge professionals using mobile email devices to manage their communication were enacting a norm of continual connectivity and accessibility that produced a number of contradictory outcomes.

Thanks for nothing, Blackberry

[Melissa Mazmanian, Wanda J. Orlikowski and JoAnne Yates / JSTOR]

The Decision Stack in Action: How Fujifilm Survived What Killed Kodak

In January 2012, Kodak filed for bankruptcy with $6.75 billion in debt. That same year, Fujifilm posted record revenues exceeding $21 billion. Two photography giants faced identical digital disruption. One thrived. One died.

This isn’t just another story about Kodak “missing digital.” They invented the digital camera in 1975. They invested billions in digital R&D. They achieved the #1 U.S. digital camera market share by 2005. Yet they still failed catastrophically.

Reimagine what you could become while accepting that your current business might disappear

[Martin Eriksson / The Decision Stack]

recent posts

Are developers vibe coding themselves out of a job?

And is the increasing reliance by junior developers on AI coding assistants storing up a generational skills shortage for the future – ‘professional debt’, if you will?

So simple, anyone could do it. Wait – don’t fire me

[I Manage Products]

Cloud computing for non-technical product managers

To understand how cloud computing works, we’re going to start with the basic building blocks and work our way up.

And why is it a cloud anyway? (All is revealed)

[I Manage Products]

Navigating your product management career

Ross Webb and I have been chatting about product management career progression.

We cover topics including:

» Thinking of visibility as a strategic competency, not self-promotion

» Controlling your narrative through regular updates

» Building cross-organisational relationships deliberately

» Mapping your stakeholders’ preferred communication styles

A roundtable chat on moving into product leadership

[I Manage Products]

PRODUCTHEAD is a newsletter for product people of all varieties, and is lovingly crafted from being able to sit down again.