Stop calling them agile retrospectives or post mortems. Just start talking about the real stuff.
Read moreONE THING on Product Hell
What is your job? Slave to the process or architect of the outcome. Most product leaders are trapped in Product Hell, measured by tickets instead of impact. It is time to reclaim your agency as a builder.
Read moreONE THING on the George Lucas Problem
"Nodding does not mean yes. It means the real conversation is happening somewhere else without you."
Read moreONE THING on Product Builders
Most product leaders are drowning in the details of requirements and backlogs. It is time to reclaim your agency.
Read moreONE THING on Listening
Stop staring at your camera lens. Real eye contact happens when the technology disappears.
Read moreONE THING on The Optionality Trap
Too many options dilute focus. Product leaders often design meetings for every edge case instead of optimizing the one conversation that matters most.
Read moreONE THING on Reading the Room
We as product leaders spend all day trying to read the room through a screen. You cannot build real trust when you are staring at your own face.
Read moreONE THING on Radical Agency
Leadership is not agreement. It’s ownership. The difference between nodding and taking responsibility.
Read moreONE THING on Shallow Alignment
Shallow alignment looks like agreement with no discussion. Real alignment requires the hard conversation before the “yes.”
Read moreONE THING on Controlling Your Workspace
"I deleted Microsoft Teams so I could make a phone call. It’s easily the best decision I’ve made for my workflow this year."
Read moreONE THING on Stakeholder Amnesia
Executives forget past agreements unless you reinforce them. Anchor roadmap commitments in economics before the next shiny object shows up.
Read moreONE THING on on Meetings People Want to Attend
If a meeting is unavoidable, you have an obligation to make it productive. Here are three rules to turn “dreaded” meetings into outcomes.
Read moreONE THING on Fewer Bullshit Meetings
Before you accept a meeting, ask what decision or result it’s meant to produce. If there isn’t one, don’t go.
Read moreONE THING on Connecting the Dots
“The CPO’s unique role is to align the executive team on strategy and objectives.”
My challenge to you this week: Be the connector for your organization.
Read moreONE THING on OKRs Resolutions
New Years resolutions suck. They are usually either vague (“I’m going to get fit”) or overly specific (“I’ll go to the gym every day”) — and both tend to fail.
What if we OKR’d this?
Read moreONE THING on How the Price Stole your Product
When customers get grinchy about your price, it’s rarely about the price.
It’s usually because they don’t need half the features you’re bundling in. Strip those out and suddenly the same customer says, “Yes! That’s exactly what I want.” ..
Read moreONE THING on Manipulative Gardening
If you want your roadmap approved, don’t ask for approval.
Just plant a seed.
Then wait.
Like a patient, manipulative gardener.
ONE THING on Roadmap Amnesia
The minute somebody dangles a $3M deal, everyone forgets everything we told them in the last year. To prevent this one-off deal from derailing your entire roadmap, you need to pre-sell your roadmap before the deal hits the table.
Read moreONE THING on Managing vs. Leading
Rich Mironov was right: Most CPOs are managing when they should be leading. You were probably promoted for your product management skills — customer discovery, prioritizing, and executing roadmaps. But leading at the CPO level requires different skills entirely.
Read moreONE THING on Honest Tension
Executive teams often seem set up for conflict. How to deal: name the tension, acknowledge the reality openly, and work together to navigate it.
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