I Manage Products blog
& PRODUCTHEAD newsletter

» Services are inherited, messy, and rarely a clean slate » There are different types of prioritisation, and we should consider them in combination » The knowledge economy is being upended by genAI

» Why is it so hard to forecast return on investment (ROI) for a product? » ROI is not the only measure of product value » You can take account of uncertainty in your estimates in a systematic way

» Defend against short-termism by making your team’s strategic thinking visible » People are increasingly working to live, not living to work » Teams should only split their Decision Stack when their answers to “How?” diverge » Repetition and reward are intrinsic to behaviour change in teams

» Rank stacking has fallen out of favour because it breeds internal sabotage and mediocrity » Orgs drift between varying degrees of horizontal and vertical ‘coupling’ » We are arguably in 3 AI bubbles: speculative, infrastructure and hype » Better methods than roadmaps exist when there’s a broad gap between vision and execution

» Product managers have to fill the gap when strategy is absent » When taking a decision, first consider how reversible it it is » Communities of practice evolve through different stages, which need different approaches

» Fight enshittification by encouraging interoperability and openness in your product ecosystem » You can prove a concept by building something janky and cheap that shows it working for real » OKRs do not exist in isolation – context, strategy and culture set the scene

» People are rarely idiots — assume they’re rational actors with good intent » Sometimes you have to compromise on finding the ideal job » What truly differentiates you from the rest of the market when anyone can build anything?

» A PM’s vibe coded prototype is just another way to dictate requirements to the team » Just because you can build features more quickly doesn’t mean you should build them » Greater strategic discipline than ever is needed to build worthwhile products

» AI may help you ship faster, but validating what you shipped still takes time » In large complex organisations, transparent, written communication helps to avoid misinterpretation » A strategy is just a wishlist if you never actually follow through on a decision

» There may be multiple ‘truths’ about the work depending on how different people frame it » Different groups of people will adopt strategy in stages, and have differing information needs » Fostering collaboration is the necessary first step for an organisation to work with more agility

» What are the factors that lead us to trust someone (or an AI tool)? » Vibe coding is great for prototyping; but for production code, dev teams still rule

» To keep forward momentum, frame discovery around decision making, not just insight » Product people fight for the users, our teams and the business’s overall health