PRODUCTHEAD: The demented game show
i am a wicked product
Posted on Monday, 5 December 2022
tl;dr
Some people think about problems directly; others think through the problem via potential solutions
Organisations often jump straight into action without establishing a foundation for coping with uncertainty
If one group has all the decision-making power, others cannot properly contribute
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hello
As a loose theme for this week’s edition of PRODUCTHEAD, we’re looking at the organisational dysfunctions we typically encounter as product people. Thankfully, each contributor also suggests remedies.
Janna Bastow interviews Matt LeMay, who talks about the realities of being a product manager, and how it doesn’t always make sense to apply the received wisdom. I particularly like his description of the theatre of product managers pitching a product idea to senior executives as a “demented game show”. That struck a painful chord for me.
John Cutler describes how organisations often dive right in to action without first establishing a firm foundation of strategy, culture and behaviour, which acknowledges uncertainty, rather than ignores it. Without that firm foundation in place, almost all “big-bang” plans will fail, and this in turn can create a vicious cycle.
Emily Webber gave a talk recently at Lean Agile Brighton on her concerns about professional specialism at the expense of collaboration. She argues that when organisations start to describe themselves as led by a particular discipline (sales-led, product-led, engineering-led, and so on), it tends to create a hierarchy biased towards that discipline. Emily also suggests some approaches that instead encourages collaboration across disciplines at the organisation, team and individual levels.
Speak to you soon,
Jock
P.S. You can now find me on Mastodon at @jock@mas.to
what to think about this week
Product management in practice with Matt LeMay
What does the day-to-day life of a successful product manager look like? How do you avoid burnout? What does the role now look like in the era of remote and hybrid work?
In this month’s webinar, we explore product management in practice — none of this in theory malarky, but actually getting into the nitty gritty of what the day-to-day life of a product manager actually looks like.
Stop playing the demented game show
[ProdPad / YouTube]
Shaky foundations (and planning escalation)
John, my company seems to be in a terrible cycle. We are so reactive. Nothing is stable. Nothing lasts. There’s so much churn and pivoting. I want a sense of stability.
In my experience, this signals a shaky foundation. Without a strong foundation, humans create *certainty* by either:
1. Going into exploration mode to discover the foundation
2. Manufacturing big-bang plans (on top of no foundation)
Don’t manufacture artificial certainty
[John Cutler / The Beautiful Mess]
Why can’t we all just get along?
I’ve noticed an increasingly worrying trend in the industry of focus on specialisms at the expense of collaboration, shared responsibility and valuable outcomes.
There might be many reasons for this, from organisational structures, changing workforces or uncertainty in the world. However, this trend can create silos across departments, between roles, and even in teams.
These silos mean that all the value from a multidisciplinary team is lost, people get pigeonholed, and we lose focus on creating valuable outcomes for our users.
Avoid being led by any one discipline
[Emily Webber]
Product management coaching
Whether you’re new to product management or have been a product manager for years, a coaching session can help you to step up your career.
We’ve coached people wanting to get into product management, product people with nobody in their organisation to manage them, and experienced product managers preparing to apply for a promotion.
We can help you prepare for your product manager interview, including mock interviews.
A proportion of the fees from every coaching session is donated to charity.
“Jock has been a great product coach! He is a great listener and provided me tangible feedback and strategies for sharpening my PMing skills. I would highly recommend his newsletter and product coaching services.”
Product Manager, TIER Mobility
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can we help you?
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PRODUCTHEAD is a newsletter for product people of all varieties, and is lovingly crafted from tiny, bite-size mince pies.
