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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» 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
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» Dissect your monolithic metrics to drive growth in more easily influenced segments » Don’t kill the golden goose of growth by oversaturating a channel » If growth is your goal, have a sense of urgency
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» Sarah Jeong on why the Pixel 9’s Reimagine feature is the final nail in the coffin for trust in photos » 9 Sept: I’m giving a talk for Product People on lessons about org culture
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» Knowing what kinds of customer you want and don’t want help you to prioritise ‘one-off’ feature requests from sales » “Enterprise customers look at our roadmaps as the starting point for negotiations” » Are feature requests a deliberate strategy or a reactive wild goose chase?
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» The uncertainty of a problem should influence how we respond to it » Misdiagnosis of a problem can compound it » We frame our solutions through the lens of our social predisposition » Wicked problems can only be addressed by collaboration between different social types
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» The only thing you can truly control in life is yourself » Securing buy-in is meaningless if you let people go back on their agreement without challenge
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» At C-level, focus more on “what’s in it for you” and less on “here’s what I need” » Get your strategy, priorities, risk-taking heuristics, and goals straight, and treat allocation as a hypothesis
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» Failure to adapt and iterate on team structures and processes will result in your strongest product people leaving » Accepting that an employee might thrive in another environment is accepting that you (as their manager) could have done a better job
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» Vocal self-confidence in the midst of uncertainty has become a desirable trait in leaders » There must also be space for quieter, more contemplative leadership styles
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» Shape Up is a collection of product development techniques that happen to work for Basecamp » Just because they work in Basecamp’s context doesn’t mean they’ll work for yours » OMG so problematic
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» If context is continually changing, aim for incremental progress and let go of perfectionism » Balance the need for action with the drive to understand both the problem and your biases » Change is like a sledge stuck in the ice: hard to get moving, but easier to keep moving once freed
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» Software is never ‘done’ even if you choose to ignore it for a while » A ‘training wheels’ framework to get a team started should be treated as a throwaway experiment » Clarity is not the same as certainty, although it helps you manage the uncertainty