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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» Empowered teams don’t work without alignment » Transparency is a precursor for alignment and trust » A clear area of focus is needed to make OKRs effective
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» With ROI, development estimates may be optimistic; revenue estimates are often more so » Your organisation has an operating system — the way it works — even if it’s not consciously designed
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» Achieving ambitious goals takes years of slog and perseverance — there’s no fast-forward button » Successful companies such as IKEA use time as a strategic advantage » There’s no single ‘right’ strategy — what matters more is choosing a good one and sticking with it long-term
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» Define in an operating model team sizes, roles, and responsibilities » Reduce single points of failure and promote shared accountability » Establish a shared language around team and domain evolution » Stay firm on the chosen operating model and evaluate it within a specific timeframe
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» In time our use of genAI will balance out with the human touch » Learn what genAI can and can’t do, and how far it can be trusted » LLMs will most likely take over the routine writing that holds organisations together
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» Highlights from 2024’s guests on Melissa Perri’s podcast » Office politics isn’t always distasteful » Applying common sense can by stymied by the organisational culture » User research is a discipline — it requires trained practitioners
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» 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
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» “This is what we learned, and here’s how we’re going to adjust our plan” » As with strategy, studying and predicting the future isn’t an innate skill but a muscle you can build » AI will eventually have its “plane crash moment”
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» Product managers need a blend of skills, of which commercial acumen is a part » Which does your company pay more attention to: the immediate or the long-term? » Selling to everybody is selling to nobody
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» Accept that some customers will never migrate to your new platform » Products do not fail in vain if you learn something valuable in the process » In 1979 Intel realigned its 2000-strong company around a new set of objectives in just 2 weeks
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» Balancing opportunity with strategy in the midst of competing distractions is hard » You wouldn’t let genAI write your product strategy without checking it, right? » Product strategy discovery focuses on the problem space
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» Strategy is a coherent set of choices about what we’re going to do to achieve our vision » Negotiating estimates ultimately leads to disappointment — it will still take as long as it was going to » The necessary conditions for any behaviour to be enacted include capability, opportunity, and motivation
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» Product ops is an enabling function that streamlines the logistics of product management » It is particularly valuable in larger organisations with fragmented product practices » Product ops is just as focused on context as product management is
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» Companies hire freelancers because they need to address a specific issue or are not ready to commit to a full-time hire » Excel by being a problem-solver — pay close attention to potential clients’ challenges » Don’t apologise to your client for your (hopefully reasonable) day rate
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» A pursuit of job stability can easily translate into an unproductive ‘inertia’ instead » Self-sealing arguments are no-win situations: every defence you make is co-opted the by other party as evidence you’re wrong
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» The Spotify Model was only ever a snapshot in time at Spotify » It existed in the context of a company whose leadership valued trust, self-organisation and change » As Spotify grew, it failed to strike the right balance between autonomy and collaboration » Alignment to product strategy remains crucial for autonomous teams to deliver valuable work
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» Rather than existing in a bubble, each product team should have core members, collaborators and supporters » How you should divide up teams depends on your product’s overall flow; avoid ambiguous ownership » Teams should have end-to-end responsibility for a part of the user journey with minimal dependencies » One approach is to delineate between teams working on a core problem domain, and on those enabling their work
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» Sonos is working through a major user backlash after launching a flawed app » Pressure from senior management forced the launch to happen before it was ready » Tips for recognising and managing tension as a product manager » Round-up of lessons learned from failed product launches
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» A common misconception is that openly sharing code presents security risks » Keeping code open clarifies ownership and can avoid vendor lock-in
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» Services are best identified as verbs rather than nouns » You cannot have services without products, nor products without services » A service is something that helps someone to do something