PRODUCTHEAD: The most popular of 2024
PRODUCTHEAD is a regular newsletter of product management goodness,
curated by Jock Busuttil.
street spirit (product out) #
every PRODUCTHEAD edition is online for you to refer back to
tl;dr
Most read edition: ‘Showing your value’ — why to focus on high impact work
Edition with most clicks: ‘Enough handwringing already’ — let’s not write ourselves off as a profession quite yet
Most clicked article: ‘AI discovers that not every fingerprint is unique’ — upending a long-held belief in forensics
hello
most read editions of 2024 #
It was quite a close run thing this year, with three editions tied for second place. In the end, the edition of PRODUCTHEAD that attracted the most reads was ‘Showing your value’ from May 2024.
It featured a conversation between Matt LeMay and Janna Bastow discussing how to focus on work that delivers high impact for the business; Mirela Mus defining a product person’s value, and how they can start creating value sooner on joining; and Erika Hall giving a keynote on resolving the conflict between delivering value to users and the business.
The top five most read editions were:
1. ‘Showing your value’ (6 May 2024)
=2. ‘Product-led growth product management (wut?)’, 18 March 2024
=2. ‘Enough handwringing already’, 20 May 2024
=2. ‘60 seconds to negotiate’, 10 June 2024
5. ‘Ingredients for alignment’, 13 May 2024
editions in 2024 with the most clicked articles #
2024 was a year in which product managers felt increasingly targeted and vulnerable. Several factors contributed to this sense: tech layoffs in general and a tough job market; being set a very high bar by product management influencers; product managers being seen as ‘the bad guys’ in some organisations.
In the midst of all of this noise, ‘Enough handwringing already’ seemed to resonate with you. It was the edition with the most clicked articles, and was one of the most popular articles of the year.
“The handwringing continues. General sentiment: ‘Everyone seems to be saying product managers suck. Maybe they’re right?’
“Here’s my take: there are always going to be good, bad and meh product managers. Due to a combination of high demand, greater awareness and who knows what else, a ton of people have jumped into product management over the last few years. By definition, the majority of these n00bs are going to suck at product management. That’s not intended as a criticism. WE ALL SUCKED when we started. We have a surplus of suckiness at the moment because of this influx of keen but inexperienced practitioners.
“Here’s the thing: it’s okay. Really it is.”
1. ‘Enough handwringing already’, 20 May 2024
2. ‘Beliefs and uncertainty’, 29 January 2024
3. ‘This too shall pass’, 21 October 2024
4. ‘Personal user manuals’, 15 January 2024
5. ‘Navigating change’, 19 February 2024
most clicked links in 2024 #
The most clicked link in 2024 was an article describing how AI has helped to dispel a long-held belief in forensics that fingerprints from different fingers of the same person are unique. This wasn’t even one of the main featured articles in the edition about ‘Beliefs and uncertainty’, just a reference link in my article that day. Clearly everyone enjoys a good crime show :-)
The remainder of the most clicked links tended to focus on articles that reflected the turmoil and self-examination in the product management profession at the time, with a sprinkling of strategy and OKRs for good measure.
1. ‘AI discovers that not every fingerprint is unique’, Holly Evarts, Columbia Engineering (The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science of Columbia University)
2. ‘Inside the all-hands meeting that led to a third of Basecamp employees quitting’, Casey Newton, The Verge
3. ‘Tiny strategy: crafting a clear, flexible plan with six questions’, Christina Wodtke, Eleganthack
4. ‘What the heck’s goin’ on in tech?’, Corissa Nunn and Tom Kerwin, Trigger Strategy
5. ‘What actually is a belief? And why is it so hard to change?’, Ralph Lewis M.D., Psychology Today
6. ‘Epidemiological impacts of the NHS COVID-19 app in England and Wales throughout its first year’, Michelle Kendall et al., Nature Communications
7. ‘Do we really need product managers?’, Paul Jackson, Oliver Bernard
8. ‘10 things nobody tells you about OKRs, part 2’, Neil Vass, Neil’s Notes
9. ‘Review notes: Shape Up’, John Cutler, Medium
10. ‘Product managers aren’t responsible for the delivery of their products’, Jason Knight, One Knight in Product
2024 has been a tiring and stressful year for many. 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 distinct absence of mince pies so far.
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.