» The art of influence is the highest-leverage skill remaining for product leaders
» AI agents require the same strategic clarity as humans do
» Building fast necessitates more human selectivity and expert judgement
» Bare facts by themselves are not persuasive; they must be “storified” in a way that triggers people’s sense of self
» A smaller initial ask can increase the likelihood of agreement to a larger, related ask
» There’s a balance between motivating people to a goal and killing their enthusiasm with the gory detail
» Just as with users and customers, we need to meet our peers where they are
» In most complex organisations, product supports the organisation’s goals, not vice versa
» A prototype expresses a product concept far better and quicker than a product requirements document (PRD)
» People good at doing a thing themselves are not always good at building a system to do it
» Work is craft: theoretical knowledge and practical experience combined
Ross Webb and I have been chatting about product management career progression.
We cover topics including:
» Thinking of visibility as a strategic competency, not self-promotion
» Controlling your narrative through regular updates
and more!
I’m chatting with Voxgig’s Richard Rodger about common challenges in product management and DevRel:
» Why learning by soundbite gives a superficial understanding of the craft
» Why we’re finding it hard to communicate value to our bosses
+ more :-)
» 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
» 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
» 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
» When negotiating, don’t pitch, listen
» To minimise residual influence, negotiate each point independently
» When trust is low, consider making a concession contingent on the other party reciprocating
» Conceding because you don’t want to upset the other party is a losing scenario
