Green screen looks fake. In my experience, virtual backgrounds simply don’t look real. Maybe it’s the angle — like you’re sitting on the floor in the background’s “pretend office.” And really, is anybody’s room so neat and tidy? And is that a subtle green glow around the edges of your…

As a product manager, I really appreciate design. I know I’m not good at it myself, but I notice poor design literally everywhere. You’ve heard about “stupid doors” that require a sign to tell you whether to push or pull. Ever gone to the airport? Signs are everywhere. Signs are…

When you dictate the scope, resources, and date, your team has no choice but to deliver sub-par quality. — Have you heard the metaphor of the three-legged stool? Quality sits on the legs of scope, resources, and time. If you reduce any of these, you have a wobbly seat. There are four aspects of any project: scope, resources, time, and quality. They’re all connected. Scope is the work to…

Product and portfolio roadmaps are key deliverables in any product planning process. A roadmap looks beyond what you’re doing now. It explores not where you’ll be soon but where you could be a year or more down the road. When my kids were young and still in car seats, my…

“First, do no harm.” The European Union has proposed a legislative framework for regulating the development and deployment of AI within the EU. The European Parliament plans to vote on adopting the regulation by the end of 2023. In April 2023, tech leaders including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak signed an open letter published…

Many companies today are engaged in some form of transformation. They’re called different things: agile transformation, digital transformation, transition from project to product, product-led transformation, adopting “product thinking.” You can almost tell what books and articles your leadership is reading based on their proposed transformation. No matter what you call…

How to make time for the strategic role of product management As a product manager, your days often fill up with responsibilities to support other departments. Strategic product management requires focusing on your duties, not everyone else’s. If you are your company’s subject matter expert that’s called into every product emergency, you know better than anyone that your company could benefit…

I created this simple 10-question technique after attempting to use Moscow, RICE, WSJF, and many others. Simply answer “Yes” or “No” for every feature request or idea: Innovation: A new way of solving a customer problem (yes/no) Customer need: Most of our customers need this New revenue: This will enable…

I realized this weekend that home automation is still in the early adopter stage. How do I know? Two things. One, there are multiple standards. You must be sure you’re getting something compatible with your system: Apple or Google or Amazon. …