» 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
» The Prisoner’s Dilemma shows us that cooperation is a winning strategy in the long term
» Faciliate more rational decision-making by helping stakeholders to understand the context better
» A mental model is a compression of how something works, keeping key information and ignoring irrelevant detail
» Every decision is a trade-off — deciding what not to do is just as important as deciding what to do
» A good product vision captures customer, user, value proposition and links to organisational objectives
» Interrogate your goals: “For this to happen, what must be true?”, then mark which are facts or assumptions
» Avoid jumping on the first idea — check what problem we think it solves, then ask, “How else could we do this?”
Have you ever wondered why product managers say “it depends” quite so often? The best product managers always have a plan B.
» Decisions should be the result of rational and deliberate reasoning, but not all are perfectly rational
» Almost every decision has associated downsides or compromises
» Avoid trying to please people or to allow individuals to dominate the decision-making process
» It’s easy to conflate transparency on the decision-making process, with transparency on the actual decisions
» Customer research and validation is critical, but it can’t always make decisions for you
» Remedy mistakes quickly and honestly to earn respect
» Use the “rule of 10” to put mistakes in context
» People remember most your small defining moments
I’ve been thinking about decision making. What makes one decision better than another?
If you’d have told me that August’s ProductTank London on analytics and decision-making would be one of the most risqué to-date, I’d have struggled to believe you. Take a look at the recap I wrote over on Mind the Product’s blog.
