PRODUCTHEAD: In search of deeper alignment
» A precursor to alignment is a clear product strategy
» Alignment needs you to tell the same story over and over
» Creating an assumption map can help to verify whether the team is actually aligned
Category: PRODUCTHEAD – Product management newsletter
PRODUCTHEAD is my free curated newsletter of the best articles, videos and podcasts from product leaders and commentators all over the world. All neatly packaged up in a weekly email delivery for your reading, viewing and listening pleasure. Curated by Jock Busuttil (jockbusuttil.com).
PRODUCTHEAD: What if …?
» Scenario analysis frees you to consider how things would be different without limiting constraints
» Innovation can occur when challenging received wisdom on what is possible or not
» Scenario analysis can also help you to consider alternate strategies in a dynamic market
PRODUCTHEAD: Beliefs and uncertainty
» In business, certainty tends to be rewarded, even if artificial
» Beliefs save cognitive effort and so are difficult to dislodge
» The scientific method allows us to constructively try to disprove beliefs
» We can retrain ourselves not to associate uncertainty with negative outcomes
PRODUCTHEAD: A red team mindset
» A red team mindset benefits information gathering, sense-making, decision-taking and planning
» Red teaming is similar to ethical hacking, in which a simulated attack uncovers flaws
» Consquence scanning is a technique for clarifying intended and unintended effects of your product
PRODUCTHEAD: Personal user manuals
» Written well, personal user manuals can build psychological safety
» However, they can also be abused to excuse certain counter-productive behaviours
PRODUCTHEAD: The most popular of 2023
» Most read: Choose your own adventure — discussing better product roadmaps
» Most clicked: How to sharpen up your vision and strategy — a practical set of prompts and worked examples
PRODUCTHEAD: “Hello computer!” – the lure of conversational programming
» Conversational programming changes the nature of the developer job, but doesn’t do away with it
» Describing needs and context is more valuable than giving instructions or requirements
PRODUCTHEAD: Pragmatism is (im)perfectly fine
» There are 3 reasons why a discovery should end:
1. It is purely performative
2. Ignored / unknown context
3. Unconnected to value
» Everything on your product roadmap should have lots of context that is easy to find
PRODUCTHEAD: On OpenAI’s ideological conflict
» By reinstating Sam Altman, OpenAI has chosen financial success over its altruistic principles
» When Steve Jobs left Apple in 1985, the board believed he wasn’t ready to be CEO
» Google was quick to fire ethicist Timnit Gebru when she challenged its lucrative search advertising business
PRODUCTHEAD: Should you do custom features for paying clients?
» Product models are more scalable and have higher investor valuations than service models, but can be more difficult to implement and require a longer sales cycle
» If you find your team is biasing towards delivering custom features (= output), refocus on discovery and problem solving instead (= outcomes)
