The shift from talking about what we want to build to talking about the problems we want to solve is easy to understand, but can be difficult to do well. We have to make decisions about which problems we will solve first. We have to make decisions about how grand […]
Expert systems / Process Flow / Product Management / Product Ops
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Vibe Coding Into the Gale
Vibe coding, as a faster way to tell people what to build is penny-wise, but pound-foolish. Too many people are latching onto a “show don’t tell” metaphor for making it easier and faster to tell their teams what to build. The same forces which make this possible are making this […]
Design / Product Management / Requirements / Software development
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Reaching Consensus on How
How do you debate how to build something you’ve been asked to build? There are several constraints which affect choices – non-functional requirements (NFRs), cost, capacity, and capability are easy ones to discuss. And while all of those are relevant, an altogether different factor has dramatically more impact on your […]
Kano Analysis / Product Management / Requirements Models / ROI
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The Secret of Diminishing Returns
How you define ‘good enough’ is contextual – but not in the way you might think. Almost all problem solving has an implicit nature of diminishing returns. Progressively more investment results in progressively less benefit. How do you know when to stop making those investments? The best way is to […]
Product Management
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When Clocks Aren’t Reliable
In the early modern period clocks worked through an engineering miracle of pendulums and springs. You would wind a clock, to tighten the spring, which provided the tiniest of nudges to keep a pendulum swinging. This regular, periodic swing of the pendulum is what allowed clocks to tell time. People […]
Product Management
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Coherence, Outcomes, and Dictation
What we want from our leaders is for them to set a direction. To inspire us to advance a strategy or realize a vision. What we get too often is dictation, where they tell us what they want us to build. Changing this relationship requires us to change how we […]
Product Management / Product Ops / Product Strategy
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Problems in the Solution
“I don’t get to set the direction. Leadership tells us the big projects they’ve decided to do, it’s up to us to elaborate and execute.” This is a common situation for a lot of product managers. They’ve been told that some big initiative is happening, and it’s up to them […]
Product Management / Product Ops
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Being Wrong vs. Being Late
Which is the bigger risk for your product right now? Shipping with a feature your customers don’t value? Or delaying your release in order to ship with something they do value?
Prioritization / Product Management
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Sequencing the Solving of Problems
Most people and teams conflate prioritizing and sequencing of work. Prioritization is the process of deciding what is important to do, and sequencing is deciding what order to do it in. Shaping a product strategy involves both. First you decide which problems are important to solve. Then you decide which […]