PRODUCTHEAD
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.
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Recent editions
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» Thinking purely in problems to solve can limit you » The words you use to describe your proposition are really a test of how well you know your target users’ needs » Find ways to ‘tilt the umbrella’: small considerate features for your users
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» Too often, ‘building’ becomes the default state for a product team, at the expense of other valuable ways of working » An product team should not be so rigid that it cannot cope with the occasional mandate from above
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» Extreme work as a product leader is a systemic issue, not a failing of individuals to set boundaries » Define performance expectations for your product team clearly using customer value, velocity and quality
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» 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
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» Delegate the same kinds of task to an AI agent as you would to an intern » Generative AI won’t help you find product differentiators » Evals are a way of checking the quality and effectiveness of your LLM and AI tools
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» Learning their skills hands-on is the best way to appreciate specialists’ roles » A good roadmap can be a valuable way of showing reliability and building trust » CEOs fall on a spectrum of ‘only assigning work’ and ‘collaborating with staff’ » Master the genAI tools relevant to your skillset before someone less experienced makes you redundant
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» Services are inherited, messy, and rarely a clean slate » There are different types of prioritisation, and we should consider them in combination » The knowledge economy is being upended by genAI
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» Why is it so hard to forecast return on investment (ROI) for a product? » ROI is not the only measure of product value » You can take account of uncertainty in your estimates in a systematic way
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» Defend against short-termism by making your team’s strategic thinking visible » People are increasingly working to live, not living to work » Teams should only split their Decision Stack when their answers to “How?” diverge » Repetition and reward are intrinsic to behaviour change in teams
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» Rank stacking has fallen out of favour because it breeds internal sabotage and mediocrity » Orgs drift between varying degrees of horizontal and vertical ‘coupling’ » We are arguably in 3 AI bubbles: speculative, infrastructure and hype » Better methods than roadmaps exist when there’s a broad gap between vision and execution
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» Product managers have to fill the gap when strategy is absent » When taking a decision, first consider how reversible it it is » Communities of practice evolve through different stages, which need different approaches
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» Fight enshittification by encouraging interoperability and openness in your product ecosystem » You can prove a concept by building something janky and cheap that shows it working for real » OKRs do not exist in isolation – context, strategy and culture set the scene
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» People are rarely idiots — assume they’re rational actors with good intent » Sometimes you have to compromise on finding the ideal job » What truly differentiates you from the rest of the market when anyone can build anything?
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» A PM’s vibe coded prototype is just another way to dictate requirements to the team » Just because you can build features more quickly doesn’t mean you should build them » Greater strategic discipline than ever is needed to build worthwhile products
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» AI may help you ship faster, but validating what you shipped still takes time » In large complex organisations, transparent, written communication helps to avoid misinterpretation » A strategy is just a wishlist if you never actually follow through on a decision
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» There may be multiple ‘truths’ about the work depending on how different people frame it » Different groups of people will adopt strategy in stages, and have differing information needs » Fostering collaboration is the necessary first step for an organisation to work with more agility
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» What are the factors that lead us to trust someone (or an AI tool)? » Vibe coding is great for prototyping; but for production code, dev teams still rule
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» To keep forward momentum, frame discovery around decision making, not just insight » Product people fight for the users, our teams and the business’s overall health
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» If you think product management is dead, you may not understand what it involves » Human connection is what really knits organisations together, not process and artefacts » Product roadmaps reflect the dysfunction inherent in your organisation
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» What happens when anyone in your org can build and ship product? » GenAI is creating a productivity disparity between companies using it by default and those which are not » Investors are increasingly valuing companies based on ‘revenue per employee’ (≈ efficiency)