PRODUCTHEAD: The most popular of 2025
PRODUCTHEAD is a regular newsletter of product management goodness,
curated by Jock Busuttil.
last product #
every PRODUCTHEAD edition is online for you to refer back to
tl;dr
Most read edition: ‘Where does the time go?’ – a developer explains the work around the work
Edition with most clicks: ‘The rift between design and product’ – reportedly designers covet the PM position
Most clicked article: ‘How to structure a product organization’ – John Cutler and Leah Tharin talk product OS
hello
‘Tis the season for tech companies to reveal how much data they gather about you by sending you a borderline stalker-ish summary of your online habits. I was ecstatic to discover that Sony knows which of our PS5 game controllers we used the most this year. Let’s just hope that Kohler, the company behind this implausible toilet cam, has decided to skip the ‘wrapped’ format this year.
In contrast, all I really know about you is that I’ve not managed to put you off reading PRODUCTHEAD this year. There’s still time :-D
most read editions of 2025 #
Only two points separated the top five most read editions of this year. Generative AI inevitably made a showing in the more popular topics covered. Interestingly, both editions ranked equally in second place were about learning about genAI and its limitations. Maybe those of us without PhDs should channel our inner Louise Deason and admit that this genAI stuff is a bit perplexing.
The most popular edition of PRODUCTHEAD in 2025 was was ‘Where does the time go?’ from March. It provided valuable insight into why developer estimates are often so wildly off. In the edition, Dave Stewart analysed a recent software development project he’d completed to figure out where all the time actually went. The results surprised him. To complement the theme, Rory Sutherland wrote about why we should focus on the important over the urgent.
The top five most read editions were:
1. ‘Where does the time go?’, 17 March 2025
=2. ‘I’ve solved the whole genAI problem’, 17 February 2025
=2. ‘Angel Delight’, 13 January 2025
=4. ‘People problems and solutions’, 7 April 2025
=4. ‘What a difference a year makes’, 10 February 2025
editions in 2025 with the most clicked articles #
Last year, product managers felt increasingly targeted and vulnerable. In 2025, despite the concerns that we’re in an AI bubble (or three), there are signs that the product management profession has towelled off the sweat, grabbed a drink of water, and is ready to come out swinging with the Rocky theme tune blasting in our ears. Or at least, based on what you’ve been clicking, it looks like we’re not going to tolerate extreme work, enshittification or vague corporate strategy any longer.
However, the edition with the most clicked articles in 2025 was ‘The rift between design and product’. While product managers may appear to be dispensable at some companies, pour one out for our colleagues in design and user research. They’re often regarded as an unnecessary luxury. And it didn’t used to be that way.
1. ‘The rift between design and product’, 16 June 2025
2. ‘Yanking, coupling, bubbles and massive gaps’, 22 September 2025
3. ‘Celebrating Tomer Sharon’s legacy’, 23 June 2025
4. ‘Rejecting extreme work’, 10 November 2025
=5. ‘Ending the enshittification era’, 8 September 2025
=5. ‘Dealing with handwavy strategy’, 8 September 2025
most clicked links in 2025 #
The most clicked link in 2025 was featured Leah Tharin and John Cutler discussing product operating models. As both are articulate, big-brained systems thinkers, it made for an engaging exploration of many relatable ideas around teams and collaboration that I’ve personally found difficult to pin down in words.
The race for most clicked link was very close run, with several articles tying for places. The other contenders for the title of most clicked link broadly fell into two main categories: generative AI (no surprise there) and ‘articles written by Scott Colfer‘, sitting just outside the top 10.
Clearly Scott’s writing about the intersection of products and services is resonating for you. This gives me ample reason to plug his recent book, Product In Service, a manifesto for pragmatic product management in organisations dealing with real people, legacy systems and power dynamics.
1. ‘John Cutler — How to structure a product organization’, Leah Tharin, Leah’s ProducTea
=2. ‘Blood, sweat and roadmaps’, Maarten Dalmijn, Maartin’s Newsletter
=2. ‘I love generative AI and hate the companies building it’, Christina Wodtke, Eleganthack
=2. ‘Product direction meets revenue: Functional alignment for winning together’, Arne Kittler, The Decision Stack
=2. ‘Deep dive into LLMs like ChatGPT’ (video), Andrej Karpathy, YouTube
=6. ‘Why your OKRs are broken’, Martin Eriksson, The Decision Stack
=6. ‘Vibe coding into the gale’, Scott Sehlhorst, Tyner Blain
=6. ‘Product OS design tips and principles’, John Cutler, The Beautiful Mess
=9. ‘How to be a commercial PM’, Leah Tharin, Leah’s ProducTea
=9. ‘Extreme jobs in product leadership’, Caroline Clark, Liftoff with Caroline
=9. ‘Falling in love with problems is the new trap’, Scott Colfer, Product In Service
2025 has been an endurance race. 2026 is looking more hopeful for our profession. Have a wonderful, restful break this holiday season. I’ll be doing the same, and I’ll be back in the new year with more product management goodness for you.
Speak to you soon,
Jock
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PRODUCTHEAD is a newsletter for product people of all varieties, and is lovingly crafted from a surfeit of mince pies.
Read more from Jock
The Practitioner's Guide To Product Management
by Jock Busuttil
“I wish this book was published when I started out in product management. It gives a really wonderful overview of what product management is and involves on a day to day basis.”
— Keji Adedeji, product leader & coach
Jock Busuttil is a product management and leadership coach, product leader and author. He has spent over two decades working with technology companies to improve their product management practices, from startups to multinationals. In 2012 Jock founded Product People Limited, which provides product management consultancy, coaching and training. Its clients include BBC, University of Cambridge, Ometria, Prolific and the UK’s Ministry of Justice and Government Digital Service (GDS). Jock holds a master’s degree in Classics from the University of Cambridge. He is the author of the popular book The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management, which was published in January 2015 by Grand Central Publishing in the US and Piatkus in the UK. He writes the blog I Manage Products and weekly product management newsletter PRODUCTHEAD. You can find him on Mastodon, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.