I talk to my five year old about death every day. As my wife’s cancer progressed my son had many questions. There’s nothing like the unvarnished directness of a child’s questions to make you stop and think. “When will mommy die?” “Will she come back from the hospital?” I made…

Before you can heal your pain or master your craft, you must first let go of the shit you’re carrying around. — I give less shits. I started actively letting go in late 2020. There wasn’t another choice. Between my wife’s cancer, being a parent, the pandemic, and general work stress, I was a mess. Revving my internal engine at maximum wasn’t working. I was just burning myself out. If you’re a…

Wanting to be loved is fundamentally human but we don’t know what to do when we get it. — “Thank you.” The only correct response to receiving a compliment is gratitude. There’s no need to counter kind words with a “ugh, I feel gross” or some unnecessary explanation that reverses the intention. Dodging a compliment isn’t a show of humility either. It’s difficult. I know. We’ve been conditioned to…

The fight is over, and it’s just beginning. — “What do you want to do?” We had been walking in the woods. In the woods the reception is bad so they can’t reach you with bad news. The phone rang anyway. It was the doctor. In tears, almost whispering, “I’m so sorry Richard. She’s gone.” I don’t really remember…

Why product creators must hold seemingly contradictory concepts in their heads at all times to manifest their dreams. — When I speak with product teams and their leaders, it’s the topic of prioritization comes up most frequently. Prioritization is hard because there is a constant tension between doing what is immediately urgent versus what’s good for the long-term outcomes of the business. …

Putting yourself in teacher mode forces you outside of your internal monolog and into the realm of understanding. — Jeff Hunter talks about confusion as the moment when you stand at the crossroads of opportunity. When you lean into that feeling and ask “what is this confusion teaching me?” something magical happens. Fear and frustration are replaced with excitement. Confusion is learning. For many of us, the confusion starts…

We’re rushing to the finish line without asking why or how it’ll improve product value or team health. — For years I was focused on how product teams increase velocity. I was wrong. Unlike the “Move Fast and Break Things” mantra of the early internet boom, velocity seemed to be the more mature way to measure team success. Speed is pointless if you’re not heading towards a goal and…

Product management appears to be full of contradictions and conundrums, but it’s not as messy as it seems. — Product management is confusing. Sometimes you need to use the voice of the customer as the source of truth, and sometimes you don’t. One day you’re striving for high-fidelity design perfection, the next day a hand-drawn sketch will do. There’s no single PM recipe because generic answers ignore the context…