Archive of the PRODUCTHEAD newsletter, a regular newsletter of product management goodness, curated by Jock Busuttil (@jockbu).
» 6 core concepts of systems thinking will help you start solving complex problems
» Systems thinking complements the more familiar analytical (reductionist) thinking
» It is a way of creating a shared understanding of how something works
» It provides useful tools for surfacing and breaking reinforcing cycles of blame
» Competing execs will sometimes sabotage by claiming features for their own product long before they plan to implement them
» Your product roadmap can reveal symptoms of underlying organisational dysfunctions
» We need to consciously remember that the needs of our users change over time
» Many biases are underpinned by shared psychological mechanisms, such as the desire to feel positively about ourselves
» Coaching allows you to leap ahead — it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you
» Active listening helps you restrain the urge to jump in early with a solution
» Performance management is retrospective; performance development looks forward
» A lack of clear goals and simplistic evaluation are ways performance management goes wrong
» Mind The Product pivoted in 8 weeks, then spent the next 8 months refining the concept
» When working remotely, post information in at least 3 places to ensure everyone sees it
» Pivots that align with the existing corporate vision tend to be more successful
» The shift to digital during the COVID-19 pandemic will not be as sticky as some assume
» Change in your organisation may be inhibited by a small number of constraints
» Your product, your company is always part of a wider ecosystem
» A product strategy needs to be clear on what metrics to focus on and how to move them
» Finding product-market fit is the beginning, not the end
» Identify the key stakeholders whom you need to trust you and collaborate with you regularly
» Understand the real reason for anger – whether in others or ourselves
» Remember where stakeholders’ help starts and ends
» To be trusted, you need to demonstrate your competence
» Problems come and go, but culture is forever
» Psychological safety presents a new set of social norms
» Product managers should be at the forefront of helping organisations to do things better for people
» The corporate vision explains why the company exists
» Open forums and communication lines between teams helps to maintain alignment
» Customers are seeking more value from digital technologies — “liquid experiences”
» Services by nature don’t always fit current organisational structures
» Service design and business analyst roles require a different type of focus and mindset
» Key to becoming a service designer is not finding a new job, but transforming your current job
» “Seamless services” means bringing together people from across professional boundaries
» Product managers must understand the impact of their products on society as a whole
» Now is the time to push for broader product management accountability
» No company, individual or set of activities, yet provides a clear-cut example of ethical best practice
» What we build must not be at the cost of another group’s needs
» Nothing in traditional product training prepares you for making ethical decisions
» Avoid waste by by first researching “shallow” user personas then progressively elaborating as needed
» Product managers can and should conduct user research when demand outstrips the researchers available
» Connect user personas to people’s actual goals for more emotional impact
» Good interviewers listen, not talk
