Welcome to my blog. You may want to filter posts by your role for your convenience. Click here if you are an individual contributor in product (aka. PM) and here if you are leading a product organisation (aka product leader).
Exciting news in the world of product: Marty Cagan and the SVPG team have just released a new book, TRANSFORMED: Moving to the Product Operating Model. This book is slated to “bridge the gap between where most companies are now and where they need to be” by introducing the concept of the product operating model and sharing detailed case studies of successful transformations and product innovation made possible as the result of product operating model transformation.
Read MoreIn any role, your manager has the ability to make or break your experience. But perhaps this is especially the case for product managers because your job involves so much cross-functional collaboration and influencing without authority, so even more than other roles, you need a leader who will support and empower you.
Whether you’re interviewing for a new product job or your company is hiring a product leader and you’ve been asked to participate in the interview process, you will occasionally find yourself in the position of choosing your new boss.
I recently began working with a new client eager to start a product Community of Practice (CoP). Our initial workshop, a leadership team outcome session, delved into the core question: "Why a CoP? What do we hope to gain and what would be the ideal impact on our company?"
Read MoreAs the year winds down, many of us find ourselves immersed in personal retrospectives (I just published one myself!), reflecting on our current roles, jobs, and the paths we tread. It's a time when questions about career trajectories and the value of our work come to the fore. This moment of introspection often leads to pondering one of the most critical yet overlooked aspects of professional life: the true nature of the trade-off we're making in our jobs.
Read MoreAs we see 2024 on the horizon, I've decided to use some time to reflect and plan ahead. The annual ritual of penning this blog post helps me align my goals, and I hope it inspires you in your professional journey, too. Here's a look back at 2023 and a glimpse into what 2024 has in store for me.
Read MoreIs your company ready for a Product Operating Model transformation? This article introduces three essential pillars to assess your readiness: pain, urgency, and help. If you're a product leader grappling with misalignment and inefficiencies, this guide offers a practical framework to evaluate whether your organization is prepared for meaningful change.
Read MoreI’m thrilled to announce that my new book, Strong Product Communities is now out! If you’d like to just go ahead and grab your copy, you can do so here. But if you’d like to learn a bit more about the story behind the book and what to expect from it, you’ll find that information below.
Read MoreNot too long ago, I posed a question here on my blog and on social media: What exactly do we mean by “product leaders”? I shared how I’ve recently noticed a trend where people seem to use the title “product lead” or “product leader” when describing an individual contributor product manager. The argument seems to be that the title “product manager” doesn’t do a good job of encompassing all of the responsibilities the product person holds.
Read MoreAs this summer draws to a close, I’m celebrating a major milestone: I’ve now completed ten years of running my own business. Whether I call myself a freelancer, solopreneur, coach, or consultant (and I’ve pretty much used all those labels at one point or another), I think it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the past decade.
Read MoreWhen one of your direct reports comes to you with a problem, is your first instinct to step in and help them solve it? If that’s the case, I totally get where you’re coming from. As product people, we naturally fall into the role of problem solvers. But if you’re regularly focused on solving all these problems on a one-off basis as they pop up, I have some tough news: You’re probably not being as effective a leader as you could be.
Read MoreI’ve recently noticed a trend within the product world that’s a little unsettling to me. We’ve typically created a distinction between product managers or product owners, the individual contributors who are responsible for product discovery and delivery, and product leaders or product leads, the people in a leadership role who manage product managers or product teams.
Read More“You’re the most offline person I know while on holiday.” This was a comment one of my coachees, a product director, heard from their manager. As we dove into the conversation, it became clear that this comment was not intended as a compliment. In fact, it was the manager’s not-so-subtle way of saying, “Maybe you should be a bit more available online during your time off.”
Read MoreStorytelling is a critical skill for product people. And it’s often not enough to tell your story one time in one format—you need to experiment with sharing it many times in many formats to find what works best for your company and stakeholders. This is why I love this story from my coachee, Matthew Arnold, Director of Product at Brain in Hand. Matthew knew that he needed a way to communicate his product vision and strategy—or “stratevision” as he calls it—and he landed on a solution that’s both simple and effective: a comic.
Read MoreIf you’ve been following my blog or social media accounts lately, you probably already know that Product at Heart took place from June 28–30.
Since I wrote a few weeks ago about why I was bursting with excitement in the lead-up to the event, I figured I couldn’t leave you hanging. In this post, you’ll find a quick recap of how it all went. Spoiler alert: It was an exciting, exhausting, inspiring, and overall amazing experience.
Over the past few years, I've noticed a growing visibility of product coaches in our industry. They're at the conferences, they're prominent on social media, and their influence is making waves in the business world. As a result, many companies are beginning to recognize the potential value that a product coach can bring to their organization. This is a good thing!
Read MoreI know it’s been a minute (okay, slightly longer than that) since I’ve offered a glimpse into what I’ve been up to. Of course I’ve shared news about the Product at Heart conference and my Communities of Practice research, but I haven’t shared any updates on my actual product leadership coaching for a while. But that all changes today!
Read MoreHow did those of us in the northern hemisphere find ourselves in summer already? It’s hard to believe, but somehow we’re here! Speaking of summer, it was such a thrill to see so many of you curious product people at the Product at Heart conference this June. Definitely a new favorite "summertime" ritual!
But the purpose of this blog post is not to remark on the seasons or the passage of time, but to share that I’ve been continuing to have thought-provoking and engaging conversations (which I hope you’ll agree is the case!) on various podcasts and speaking engagements.
Read MoreThe countdown is on: Product at Heart is right around the corner! And while I generally try to restrain myself when talking about this event, I hope you’ll allow me a few moments of pure excitement. Here’s what makes the 2023 event especially thrilling.
#1 We’re going indie: Have we run this conference before? Yes. Arne Kittler and I have co-organized this conference in its previous incarnation as Mind the Product Engage Hamburg since 2017. But 2023 is the first time we’re running it on our own. It’s a MAJOR change for us, starting with creating a brand-new company, Cultivate Curiosity GmbH.
Read MoreAs a coach for product leads, I've noticed an interesting phenomenon: Some of my coachees make much more progress than others. And as a naturally curious person (and someone who’s invested in my coachees’ success), I started trying to get to the bottom of this. Why do some people make progress in leaps and strides while others only improve gradually? I’ve come to the conclusion that while there are several key personality traits that can help someone become a great product manager—emotional intelligence, adaptability, and intellectual horsepower—there's another skill that's often overlooked: cross-disciplinary learning.
Read MoreShould you run a product maturity assessment for your product org? This is a topic on the minds of many product leaders, but it’s not as simple as a yes or no answer. There are reasons why you might want to conduct a product maturity assessment as well as risks for doing so.
In this post, I'll provide a comprehensive (and admittedly opinionated) overview of various assessment tools and approaches available in the market. My goal is to help you decide whether an assessment is really the right step for your product org, and if so, to give you a few ideas of how to move forward.
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