How to guarantee failure by replacing competence with hubris — Create a tech-first solution in search of a market. When asked if you’re solving an existing problem, proclaim “We’re market makers.” Have a mission to be the world’s best for everyone. And I mean everyone. “This thing has a massive TAM.” Start by telling the press and investors that you’re…

Antifragility and the temporary nature of things — Have you wondered what it would be like to start over? Now imagine you had to start over in your 50’s. It’s not something I imagined I would be doing. None of us really ever think your plans will be destroyed when you’re in the autumn of your life. Yet…

Building a new flywheel doesn’t make the existing flywheel spin any faster — For almost two decades I worked with teams to help them innovate. Startups and large incumbents paid us to find breakthrough ideas that would catapult them into success. Yet, almost every workshop or design sprint revealed the same conclusion: Don’t do the wild new thing you imagine you need, instead…

Why throughput in product companies stalls and what leaders and teams can do about it — Several years ago Mind The Product did a survey on what problems plagued product leaders. Top of the list was prioritization. In the 5 years since that survey, not much has changed. On an almost daily basis I hear from my clients that prioritization is painful. …

In the US our lives have been designed to serving the interests of business, in Europe, life is dedicated to serving the self. — The primary difference between the American way of life and the European way of life is the amount of time spent on working. …

Being focused is a privilege that many don’t have, or haven’t earned yet. — Being focused is undoubtably a great answer to getting things done. We all experience it and it’s a game-changer when you find it. But in the search of focus we’re often overlooking the first step: being unfocused. For me, saying no is a privilege. A privilege that comes from having…

Guilt verses shame — This past few years have given me a lot of time to explore the origins and effects of trauma. After fives years of chemo and radiation treatments my beautiful wife died of cancer. It’s been a little over a year since that day. During those treatments we also had to…

A short guide to writing a curiosity inspired book — I’ve co-authored or authored 4 books so far, which is amusing to me because I’m dyslexic and I barely passed English at school. So, if I can do it, then it’s very likely you can too. The intent of this article is to give you a basic roadmap to publishing…

I’d like to suggest an alternative that will recognize the problems we experience but in a way that points to a lighter path forward. — It appears the very terms and conditions of social media platforms require us to complain and argue about everything. Life is apparently awful and we should all make it more miserable by piling on with our comments and opinions. I would like to make a case for something else: optimism.