The 53rd Edition - On 30-Year Visions, Good Executive Meetings & 7 Classes of Errors That Destroy Strategic Decisions
Did you know that I'm building a new product just for you?
Do you have to prioritize and roadmap at work?
And do you struggle with it?
I’m building a tool that will help you discover the right prioritization framework for your context, so you can become a prioritization machine.
If you want to get it first, click the link below and help me out with some questions:
📚 Today, Set a 30-Year Vision
It’s planning season for many.
And everyone’s already making jokes about the relative uselessness of such long-term planning.
But of course, it’s crazy to suggest that we shouldn’t plan.
And the first thing every framework will tell you to bring is a thing called “Vision”.
Without it, what’s the point?
So this is the first thing we fail at. (The second are the challenges that we believe we need to overcome.)
So how about you try a 30-year vision instead?
Haha, nice try, you’ll say. We can’t get on the same page even about the vision for the next 2 weeks. How the hell do we make a 30-year vision? What do we imagine?
This awesome article from Ken Norton, a veteran of the Silicon Valley, describes why and how to do it.
So you might as well give it a go. Dream big.
I hope this helps.
👀 The Best Techniques for Executive Meetings
No one teaches or shows how to run executive meetings, so I think you'll like this video. You're just supposed to figure it out as you do other things. So it's rare to get a clear look at what goes on behind the scenes.
Here are the timestamps. I’d start from the problem/solution timestamps in the beginning.
00:38 What was the problem? 00:57 What's the solution? 03:06 Who needs to be at each meeting? 04:45 Handling topics that involve the whole executive team 07:00 How is it working? 08:19 What's still missing? 10:35 Getting people to adhere to deadlines 12:06 Handling team feedback 13:38 Other companies using this system
✍️ Remember
“Product Manager's enemy is always time. If you are doing customer research, you aren't analyzing logs. If you are analyzing logs, you aren't doing competitive analysis. If you are doing competitive analysis, you aren't meeting with peers to get support for an initiative. Partner!”
🧠 Consider
7 Classes of Errors That Destroy Strategic Decisions, ending with the epic-sounding Type VII: Iatrogenesis Cascade.
Pitching Figma In 2013: Figma sold to Adobe for 20B not so long ago. It’s humbling to see where it started. I like to watch this to remind myself that all successful things look different in the beginning.
Is It Working? Do Users Like it? Is It High Quality?
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Who's George?
I’m an underdog product manager.
Product management in New Zealand (where I live) is still a relatively immature discipline. I also came into it late via data science and UX. I may be older than others, but I often feel like a rookie.
To become better at my craft, I learn and explore new ideas relentlessly.
Then I share high-quality, tried-and-true ideas that can be used right away.
How I can help you:
If you’re learning about product as a cross-functional leader, I’ve compiled my best actionable finds in prodmgmt.world.
Get some help via prodmgmt.help. People ask about How to prioritise, How to do market research, how to work with engineers, how to go from a service to a product, how to develop a deep coherent product strategy, what books to read and courses to take on product topics & design systems product management.
See you next week.
— George.