I teach teams to write hypotheses but they always end up too big. Here's how I break them down into testable components.
Blog
Revenue isn’t everyone’s goal
Posted on April 15, 2024.An OKR shortcut is to give everyone revenue goals. It doesn’t work. Here’s why.
Why is it so hard to admit there’s uncertainty in our work?
Posted on April 8, 2024.No matter how much technology improves to help us sense and respond we continue to run up against the risky onslaught of prescriptive certainty.
The Mysterious Case of Executive Buy-in for OKRs
Posted on March 25, 2024.Leadership brings in OKRs and then, once implementation kicks in, is quick to push back on the goal setting framework. How do we deal with this?
Avoiding local over-optimization with OKRs
Posted on March 18, 2024.Squeezing out another percentage point towards your key result may not be worth it. Here's how to figure that out.
What is an OKR? — A short, explanatory video
Posted on March 14, 2024.Objectives & Key Results: A simple video explanation of OKRs based in our new book, Who does what by how much?
Want OKRs to succeed? Start with why.
Posted on March 11, 2024.If you don't explain to your teams why you're implementing OKRs you risk the failure of the entire effort.
OKRs Promote—and Help Facilitate—Good Research and Design
Posted on March 4, 2024.OKRs demand good research. They demand good design. If you’re not conducting research with your customers, how can you possibly design features and products that will both help them and achieve the key results you’ve set?
OKRs can extend your startup’s runway
Posted on February 26, 2024.Startups get fewer attempts to build a successful product than big companies. Here's how to use OKRs to make those attempts more impactful.
Use OKRs to focus your release strategy
Posted on February 19, 2024.Our goal is to deliver value to our customers quickly and regularly. OKRs can help focus our release strategies to do just that. Here's how.
OKRs for Transformation Efforts
Posted on February 12, 2024.Transformation efforts need goals too. OKRs can be those goals but they need to focus on the right target audience. And they need an owner.
Prioritizing work with OKRs
Posted on February 5, 2024.Prioritizing product development work is as much art as it is science. A mix of OKRs, product discovery and guesswork can help. Here's how.
The connection between goals and customer centricity
Posted on January 29, 2024.How to tell which companies value design and research based on how they set their corporate goals.
What people say vs what they do
Posted on January 22, 2024.You can ask people to predict future behavior all you want but when the time comes they'll likely do something else. Here's what to do next.
OKRs and AI
Posted on January 15, 2024.AI is all the rage. So are OKRs. With companies dashing to integrate AI into their products, how does that align with their stated goals?
The Tyranny of Transparency
Posted on January 8, 2024.OKRs bring transparency to your organization that reveals where you were wrong. This is terrifying. How do we make it easier to value this?
Stop saying MVP
Posted on December 18, 2023.We've been using the phrase MVP for over a decade. It's long lost its true intent. Let's ditch it in favor of new language.
Ego killed the empowered product team
Posted on December 11, 2023.Everyone wants to build empowered product teams. There's one huge obstacle in the way -- your boss's ego. Here's how to overcome it.
Use key result triggers to stay on top of progress
Posted on December 3, 2023.When do you act on new data? Using OKR thresholds to trigger a team response can help. Here's how to do that.
Measuring what doesn’t matter
Posted on November 27, 2023.We build on the shoulders of giants. That doesn’t mean those giants were flawless. Grove, Doerr and others gave us OKRs. Here’s how they evolve.
OKRs are hard. They’re supposed to be.
Posted on November 20, 2023.OKRs are a simple concept. That doesn't mean they are easy to implement. Redefining your goals should have a big impact on your company.
The Scariest Question in Product Development
Posted on November 13, 2023.Everyone has great ideas. Those ideas show up at random moments. They risk derailing your initiative. Here's how to avoid that.
[VIDEO] How to design lightweight experiments
Posted on November 6, 2023.A short video walking through how to come up with lightweight experiment ideas from a business problem and solution hypothesis.
Everybody has a customer
Posted on October 30, 2023.Expanding a bit on the idea that everyone makes something for another human to use and why that impacts the work we do.
How do you measure product discovery?
Posted on October 23, 2023.If we're going to invest in lean ux and product discovery we should be able to measure its impact. Here's how to do that.
OKRs don’t solve dependencies, they reveal them
Posted on October 16, 2023.OKRs can work like an organisational flashlight, shedding light on the dependencies that keep teams from delivering autonomously
10 Tips for Building a Customer Obsessed Organization
Posted on October 9, 2023.10 practical tips for building a culture that obsesses over the customer and understands them deeply
10 Challenges to Building a Customer Obsessed Organization
Posted on October 2, 2023.I’ve been working in, with and around product organizations for more than 20 years now. Over time, as with all things, patterns reveal themselves in the work. Sadly, and despite … Continue reading 10 Challenges to Building a Customer Obsessed Organization
Making time for product discovery
Posted on September 25, 2023.Most teams want to do product discovery. Most teams struggle to find the time. Here are 3 tips for ensuring discovery happens every sprint.
Should “cost to serve” be an OKR?
Posted on September 18, 2023.There are efficiency metrics in certain organizations that don’t fall neatly into the OKR template, “Who does what by how much?” If we’re setting goals for a team that manages these types of metrics, how do we reconcile that with measuring human behavior.
Case Study: How 3 startups built their customer discovery practice
Posted on September 11, 2023.3 startups share how they think about and execute customer research and the impact it's had on their business
What should be included in a business case?
Posted on September 4, 2023.Most enterprise companies require business cases to fund work. Most business cases are fabrications. What should we actually put in our business cases?
Some products are mandated. They shouldn’t suck.
Posted on August 28, 2023.You’re going to work on projects that don’t make sense to you. This doesn’t mean your work should be of a lower quality. Here’s why.
Who owns product discovery?
Posted on August 21, 2023.How do we create a process where every role has customer access in an effective and sustainable way? Here are some thoughts.
UX Designers Should Write OKRs
Posted on August 14, 2023.Don’t write your OKRs without involving a UX designer. They are the staunches advocate for customer behavior goals.
Framework names don’t have to have baggage
Posted on August 7, 2023.The names of our processes can sometimes be the thing that keeps adoption low. Here’s a way to rethink that.
OKRs for Service Businesses
Posted on July 31, 2023.You can write objectives and key results for services businesses. Just make sure to focus on the right behaviours. Here is an example.
OKR Pro Tip: Change the question you’re asking
Posted on July 24, 2023.OKRs can be a big change. Reduce the risk by notching small wins. One way is by changing the questions you're asking. Here's how.
Always add numbers to your key results
Posted on July 17, 2023.Quantifying your key results is not only critical to your success but it also tells you when you’re done. Why do teams avoid doing this then?
OKR Success Tip: The Quarterly Check-in
Posted on July 10, 2023.Committing to a new way of working is risky. Reduce that risk by shortening the time between check-ins and course corrections. Here’s how.
Good Storytelling is Good Product Management
Posted on July 3, 2023.Every artefact and deliverable a product manager creates is an opportunity to tell a story to drive alignment, direction and progress.
Word Salad
Posted on June 26, 2023.If you can’t answer a question about your job or product in a clear, concise way you may be guilty of creating a word salad.
OKR Case Study: The Cleveland Clinic
Posted on June 19, 2023.Here's a case study showcasing OKRs in the healthcare space and how they influence the work done at the hospital.
OKRs & B2B Companies
Posted on June 12, 2023.B2B companies often struggle with OKRs because it's not clear whose behavior we want to change. Here's how to fix that.
Scaling OKRs Part 3: One team at a time
Posted on June 5, 2023.Implementing a new goal framework is risky. Here's a way to de-risk it, learn how to improve and then scale it.
The Product is the Variable
Posted on May 29, 2023.In the past, we've never doubted that we were going to ship the product. In a continuous world the product is now the variable.
Scaling OKRs Part 2: Writing OKRs from Strategy
Posted on May 22, 2023.Here's how to take your organization's strategy and translate it into a set of actionable, customer-centric goals using OKRs.
Forget Agile. The goal is agility.
Posted on May 15, 2023.We are always going to make a plan. Inevitably parts of that plan are going to be wrong. What you do at that moment makes all the difference.
OKRs without objectives are only half the story
Posted on May 8, 2023.Lots would prefer to skip objectives and head straight or the key results. This is only half the story. Here's how to get the objective into the story.
The OKR Cycle
Posted on May 1, 2023.What does a complete cycle of planning and delivering on OKRs look like. Here's an example.
OKRs and User Story Mapping
Posted on April 24, 2023.User story mapping is a powerful tool for coming up with timely, user-focused key results with your product development team.
Product managers are navigators of uncertainty
Posted on April 17, 2023.Modern product managers are not in charge of the production line in the feature factory. They job is to navigate a product through the uncertainty of idea to production.
Scaling OKRs, Part 1: Strategy Is the Foundation
Posted on April 12, 2023.Without a clear, articulated company and product strategy, scaling OKRs to the whole company will not realize the intended benefits.
Process Experiments
Posted on April 3, 2023.How to use product thinking to de-risk your agile implementation.
3 Steps to Telling A Compelling Story
Posted on March 27, 2023.Here's a simple, 3 step process for putting together a compelling story that can influence any team or audience into aligned action.
Key results should be verbs, not nouns
Posted on March 20, 2023.Key results should be outcomes, measures of human behavior. Behavior is action oriented meaning your KR's should be verbs.
Case Study: How product management saved Fender guitars
Posted on March 13, 2023.There are no short cuts to product success. This case study shows how Fender guitars used solid product management work to discover and define a winning, modern product strategy.
Talking to customers is not a waste of a developer’s time
Posted on March 6, 2023.Everyone should talk to customers. Most companies buy the idea. They also believe it's a waste of time with developers. Here's why they're wrong.
You can’t control your customers’ users
Posted on February 27, 2023.When working in B2B2C it can be tempting to set goals based on end user behavior. That's risky and may set you up to fail. Here's why.
Writing unambiguous objectives
Posted on February 20, 2023.OKRs should have an opinion. Without one, teams lack clear direction. Here's how to write unambiguous objective statements.
Bias for action
Posted on February 13, 2023.Analysis paralysis is a team momentum killer. Biasing for action builds both learning and decision making chops. Here's how.
What’s the difference between a user outcome and a business outcome?
Posted on February 6, 2023.Outcomes are measures of behavior. Here's the difference between a business outcome and a user outcome and why it matters.
Why aren’t learning and experimentation corporate values?
Posted on January 30, 2023.Despite decades of advice and proof that building learning into our work improves results, organisations are still resistant. Why is that?
Strong opinions, loosely held
Posted on January 23, 2023.The key to reducing analysis paralysis and amplifying evidence-based decisions is knowing when to let an idea go.
OKR and Scrum
Posted on January 16, 2023.OKR require agility to succeed. The basics of Scrum provide the exact right scaffolding for this.
Declaring Goal Bankruptcy
Posted on January 9, 2023.Start the year by erasing all of your goals and do this instead.
How One Lawyer Learned To Love OKRs
Posted on December 26, 2022.Everyone makes a product. Everyone has customers. Even those who don't think they do. Here's a quick story about making that obvious.
5 Questions to Define Your Product Strategy
Posted on December 19, 2022.This is the simplest way to come up with your comprehensive product strategy.
Everyone Must Talk to Customers
Posted on December 12, 2022.Whether you’re a leader, engineer or someone else who isn’t usually associated with “getting to know the customer”, there's no excuse for not talking to your audience.
What are you trying to learn?
Posted on December 5, 2022.Doing customer interviews is great! Doing it with a clear sense of what you’re trying to learn is even better. Here’s why.
What OKRs Mean for Middle Managers
Posted on November 28, 2022.Middle managers can strongly influence the success of OKRs. Here’s how their job changes to support these new goals.
The Words We Use to Avoid Accountability
Posted on November 21, 2022.We say these words all the time yet they mean nothing. Here's a list of phrases to avoid and what to use instead.
OKR Anti-pattern: Using measures of system behavior
Posted on November 14, 2022.Measuring the performance of our products and services can easily get confused with measuring our users' behavior. Here's how to avoid that.
Discipline-specific OKRs
Posted on November 7, 2022.Disciplines that function as services to product teams can have OKRs too. Here are two ways to think about how to do that.
Everything has an origin. Don’t be afraid to question it.
Posted on October 31, 2022.Just because we've always done things a certain way doesn't mean they still make sense in a modern context. Questioning means improving.
How to use time boxes to design experiments
Posted on October 24, 2022.Running experiments in a corporate environment can be daunting. Here's one trick to help bring good ideas into perspective.
Outcomes are the success criteria for your hypotheses
Posted on October 17, 2022.If you're going to work with hypotheses you need clear success criteria. Outcomes provide the objective lens needed to determine our next steps.
Business Problem Statements vs Opportunity Statements
Posted on October 10, 2022.Defining your work is crucial to creativity, innovation and agility. Here are two templates to help your team do that.
How do OKRs impact the tools teams need to be successful?
Posted on October 3, 2022.OKRs require continuous learning. Your teams require tools that help them do that. Here's what they'll need.
Percentages or absolute numbers for OKRs?
Posted on September 26, 2022.If your key result is a metric (and it should be), should you use absolute numbers or percentages? Here are a few reasons to use percentages.
Scaffolding – solidifying a change with temporary supports
Posted on September 19, 2022.Sometimes building in seemingly simple supports can strengthen a new way of working in unexpected ways. Here are two.
The Truth Curve
Posted on September 12, 2022.As we experiment we learn and through that learning we earn the right to invest more in our ideas. The Truth Curve makes that obvious.
OKRs Evolve
Posted on September 5, 2022.Fixed goals equal static products and ultimately failed businesses. OKRs encourage agility both in your product and business. Here's how.
FAQ: What does a complete Lean UX canvas look like?
Posted on August 29, 2022.Here is what a complete Lean UX canvas looks like -- example and template.
FAQ: Is handing off to a tech team agile?
Posted on August 22, 2022.Teams working in large organisations often hand their work off to IT teams to implement. This hurts agility. Here's how to avoid that.
FAQ: How do I get my organization to try Lean UX?
Posted on August 15, 2022.New ways of working can be risky and scary for large organisations. To increase their chances of adoption and success treat them like products.
FAQ: How do I find B2B customers to talk to?
Posted on August 8, 2022.Finding customers and users to speak with in a B2B product company can be hard. Here are 5 ways to start that process right now.
FAQ: What is shared understanding?
Posted on August 1, 2022.In this short video I answer one of the most commonly asked questions I hear: what is shared understanding and why is it valuable?
3 Tools to Help You Keep Track of Your OKRs
Posted on July 25, 2022.Keeping track of your OKRs is a common issue for most companies. Here are 3 tools to help you get started based on size and maturity.
How to Reconcile SMART Goals and OKRs
Posted on July 18, 2022.Many companies use SMART goals with their teams. Are OKRs a different system or are they compatible? Turns out they fit quite well together.
Two Conclusions for Product Teams from Airtable’s 2022 Product Insights Report
Posted on July 11, 2022.Airtable surveyed over 700 people to get a better understanding of the challenges product managers face daily. Here's my summary.
How long should we keep the team together?
Posted on July 4, 2022.It's hard work getting a team to gel and be productive together. Once achieved, how long should we keep that team together?
The Magic Interview Question
Posted on June 27, 2022.Get the most relevant stories from your customers with this one, simple question.
7 Questions to Craft the Perfect Product Story
Posted on June 20, 2022.Here are 7 simple questions to help you write the perfect pitch for your product or service.
Using OKRs to Decide When to Kill Features
Posted on June 13, 2022.Understanding when a feature stops delivering user value is crucial to prioritising where your team works. OKRs can help you decide. Here's how.
Validating key results is messy
Posted on June 6, 2022.Key results are also assumptions. Here’s how to ensure you’re testing your goals as well as your feature hypotheses.
How to recession-proof your company
Posted on May 30, 2022.An agile organization learns and acts fast on what it's learning. The more agile an organization is the better chance it stands in a recession.
OKR Anti-pattern: Creating OKRs to “fit” your backlog
Posted on May 23, 2022.We always have an existing backlog. If we create new goals, we have to rethink our work plan, not create goals that reflect it.
5 Things Product Management Isn’t
Posted on May 16, 2022.Product managers are in high demand while their job descriptions vary greatly. Here are 5 things that product managers should never be asked to do.
OKR Leadership: OKRs are not task lists
Posted on May 8, 2022.If your teams' OKRs are turning into lists of tasks to complete that's a red flag that you're asking the wrong questions.
OKR Leadership: Stop telling people what to do
Posted on May 2, 2022.The biggest change a leader has to make if OKRs are to succeed is to stop telling their teams what to do.
OKR Leadership: A safe culture of learning
Posted on April 25, 2022.OKRs require the psychological safety for teams to be wrong and a culture that celebrates the learning they bring from their product discovery work.
OKR Leadership: Without Product Discovery Your Teams are Just Guessing
Posted on April 18, 2022.Setting up goals is the beginning of your OKR journey. The next step is understanding how you, as a leader, must support product discovery.
OKR Leadership: Without trust for your teams OKRs fail
Posted on April 11, 2022.Leading teams with OKRs requires several changes to the way you manage. The first and most important is trusting the team you’ve hired to do their work. Here’s how to start.
How Many OKRs is Enough?
Posted on April 4, 2022.It's easy to add an OKR for every activity. Instead work towards setting the fewest number of goals. Here's how to do it.
The Scariest Design Review of My Life
Posted on March 28, 2022.No designer should ever have to fear reviewing their work with a stakeholder. Here's one story of how it happened to me and what I learned.
Horizontal IT is Why You Can’t Be Agile
Posted on March 21, 2022.It is no longer viable to design your organization around a centralised IT department. It's not agile. It's not customer focused. Here's why.
7 Things I’ve learned from Two Years Working From Home
Posted on March 14, 2022.I've spent the last two years working from home. Here are 7 things I've learned about working and living remotely.
How Do OKRs Work with Big Bang Releases
Posted on March 7, 2022.There are some products that have to be shipped as one big release. This article explains how to make big bang releases work with OKRs.
OKRs are not “Set it and forget it!”
Posted on February 28, 2022.It's tempting to set a goal and never think about it again. It's also a huge mistake. Here's how to avoid doing that with OKRs.
Why are you working on that?
Posted on February 21, 2022.Shared purpose and alignment come from a broad understanding of strategy. Here’s how to help your teams know why they are doing their work.
Why you should map outcomes to impact metrics
Posted on February 14, 2022.Visualizing the connection between what customers do and how the business fares ensures we're focusing on the most important goal. Here's how.
OKR Anti-pattern: Sandbagging your key results
Posted on February 7, 2022.Teams that sandbag their OKRs set easily achievable goals. Here’s why this stifles innovation and what you can do about it.
Storytelling – A Product Manager’s Secret Weapon
Posted on January 31, 2022.Processes, methods and deliverables receive the heavy focus of product management training but without a compelling story they can all fail.
How the Business Model Canvas and the Lean UX Canvas Work Together
Posted on January 24, 2022.The Business Model Canvas is the high-level assumptions work you need to do before the Lean UX Canvas. Here's how to connect them.
The Difference Between Individual OKRs and Personal OKRs
Posted on January 17, 2022.Should you have personal goals in life and at work? Yes, you should. Should you use OKRs to set those goals in both contexts? No. Here's why.
10 Lessons from 10 Years of Entrepreneurship
Posted on January 10, 2022.My entrepreneurship journey has been different than many others'. Here are 10 things I've learned in the last 10 years.
What is Agile?
Posted on January 3, 2022.You can laud the idea and still be critical of the implementation. That is the true spirit of Agile. Here’s how I came around to this idea.
3 Questions About OKRs
Posted on December 27, 2021.Can you practice OKRs in regulated environments, in multinational corporations and with leaders who don't give specfific goals. In short, yes.
OKRs AND UX
Posted on December 20, 2021.Objectives and Key Results offer a new opportunity for user experience and design work to make a powerful impact on our products and services
What if your OKRs are wrong?
Posted on December 13, 2021.Your objectives and key results are assumptions. At times they will be wrong. Here's how to handle a situation where your goals aren't right.
Incentives vs The Right Behavior
Posted on December 6, 2021.Managing to outcomes works well if we're also monitoring negative behavior. If we're not, we risk real world negative consequences.
OKRs at Scale
Posted on November 29, 2021.Scaling OKRs can get messy quickly. Here's one quick trick to simplify OKRs at scale that also works for your scaled agile efforts.
Should we use OKRs for everything?
Posted on November 22, 2021.We use OKRs to set goals. Should all of our goals then use OKRs? This article discusses which goals make sense and which don't.
Why does planning require a “season?”
Posted on November 15, 2021.We spend a tremendous amount of time planning next year's work. We don't need an entire season to do this. Here's a better way to plan work.
OKR Tracking Tool (free template)
Posted on November 8, 2021.Here is a simple, free tool to track your objectives and key results. It's designed to help get your teams started with setting and tracking goals.
How to make okrs work with long cycle times
Posted on November 1, 2021.OKRs require fast learning but what if our cycle times are long. Here's how to reconcile OKRs with long cycle times.
Customer value and business value are the same thing
Posted on October 25, 2021.Successful businesses know that making the customer happy is their only concern. Here's why.
Planning work with OKRs
Posted on October 18, 2021.Planning work with OKRs exposes the uncertainty in software-driven business planning. Here's how to deal with it.
Creating OKRs with the Lean UX Canvas
Posted on October 11, 2021.The Lean UX canvas helps you create your objective and key result statements. Here's where to find them.
What’s new in the latest edition of lean ux?
Posted on October 4, 2021.Here are some of the big highlights from the new 3rd edition of the lean ux book, available now.
The Highest Paid Person’s Opinion
Posted on September 27, 2021.Every company makes decisions based on the highest paid person's opinion. It turns out it's just a hypothesis. Here's how to tame it.
Performance management criteria for OKRs
Posted on September 20, 2021.If we're going to set new goals with OKRs, we need to change how we measure the performance of our teams. Here are 6 ways to do that.
the relationship between okrs and strategy
Posted on September 13, 2021.Objectives and Key Results can do a lot of things. One thing they can't do is determine your strategy. Here's how to reconcile OKRs and strategy.
Fast food vs long-term nourishment: which digital transformation diet is right for you?
Posted on September 6, 2021.Your company’s digital transformation diet should consist of a mix of fast food type trainings and long-term transformation diets supported by coaches. Here’s why.
When is Amazon done?
Posted on August 30, 2021.Being done with digital work no longer makes sense. Here's why.
Planting Season vs Harvest Season
Posted on August 23, 2021.Businesses are cyclical. Thinking about when you're going to plant vs harvest ensures we've always got new ideas to try and grow.
Output, Outcomes, Impact and KPIs
Posted on August 16, 2021.There is a lot of confusion around the terms output, outcome, impact and KPI. Here is what each one means and how they relate to each other.
How to become a magnet for career opportunities
Posted on August 9, 2021.Why do you continue to climb the career ladder? Because you’ve been told to do so. To future proof your career you have to rethink how to attract career opportunities.
Inspect and adapt, with respect
Posted on August 2, 2021.We all know go to the gemba tell us to go and see and we inspect and adapt. But there’s another part to it — showing respect to the people we seek to improve. Here’s why.
How to prioritize hypotheses for testing
Posted on July 26, 2021.This short video explains how to use the hypothesis prioritization canvas to determine which hypotheses you should test.
Why you should build equity…in yourself
Posted on July 19, 2021.Every second you spend sharing your expertise you’re building equity in yourself and laying the foundation to becoming Forever Employable.
Bottom-up? Or Top-down? What’s the best way to set OKRs?
Posted on July 12, 2021.Don’t assume that telling your teams what their OKR goals should be is the best approach. Here’s a better way.
How-to: At what level should I write my OKRs?
Posted on July 5, 2021.Here's how to set the proper level for your Objectives & Key Results so you can set goals your team can achieve.
How to use the Lean UX Canvas
Posted on June 28, 2021.This short video explains how to use the Lean UX canvas.
How long do you have to live with that decision?
Posted on June 21, 2021.Decision making can cripple teams. Here’s how to unstick that process and get your ideas to market quicker.
The Work
Posted on June 14, 2021.There’s so much more to product development than writing code. Here is what The Work consists of and why you should make time to do it.
How losing a client helped me find better ones
Posted on June 7, 2021.Ensuring the right fit is key to an abundance mindset Last month’s blog post about the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe as it’s known) not being agile was a real barn … Continue reading How losing a client helped me find better ones
3 ways writing online makes you forever employable
Posted on May 31, 2021.Online writing can change the flow of your career, attracting opportunities to you continuously. Here are 3 reasons why.
Why your scrum team needs a dedicated designer
Posted on May 24, 2021.Scrum teams fail without dedicated designers. Here’s why.
How to inspire creativity and innovation with one simple prompt
Posted on May 17, 2021.If you're not getting the kind of creativity and innovation you know your team can deliver, reframe your requests to them in this one simple way.
SAFe is Not Agile
Posted on May 10, 2021.SAFe - the scaled agile framework - attempts to bring agility and scrum to large enterprises. In my experience, it fails and is not agile.
Get paid what you’re worth: 2 simple tips from Pablo Picasso
Posted on May 3, 2021.Pablo Picasso had the right idea when it came to pricing his work. Here's what you can learn from him.
“Intuitive UI” is not a feature
Posted on April 26, 2021.Do the work to define what will make your user interfaces and experiences, intuitive, compelling and successful.
OKR FAQ: Top 10 Questions about Objectives and Key Results
Posted on April 19, 2021.Here are the top 10 questions asked in my recent masterclass on objectives and key results.
Humility is the key to agile culture
Posted on April 12, 2021.Humility is the key to leading and building agile teams and organizations. Here’s why.
Selling underwear: How developers learned to love talking to customers
Posted on April 5, 2021.Not everyone wants to do product discovery but everybody should. Here's a story about one way I convinced a group of reluctant developers to meet their users.
How to get executive buy-in for Agile using two popular product development approaches
Posted on March 29, 2021.One of the most common complaints from teams going through an agile transformation is that their bosses don’t get it. The teams are asked to change how they work but … Continue reading How to get executive buy-in for Agile using two popular product development approaches
Becoming Forever Employable: Demo Day 1
Posted on March 24, 2021.How do you plant your flag and start telling compelling stories that cement your position of expertise in the market? Here’s how four folks did it.
Forever Employable Stories: Simon Majumdar, chef, writer, podcaster, television personality
Posted on March 22, 2021.Simon Mujamdar, writer, chef, podcaster and tv personality, shares his Forever Employable story on career change in your 40’s.
Do OKRs work with Jobs to Be Done?
Posted on March 15, 2021.Do OKRs work with jobs to be done? They do. Here's how.
Los cinco pasos de Forever Employable (empleable para siempre)
Posted on March 14, 2021.Los cinco pasos para convertiros empleables para siempre. Forever Employable.
Experiment your way to a better career
Posted on March 8, 2021.Your next career move doesn't have to be risky. You can experiment your way to the best next move. Here's how.
Overcoming impostor syndrome to build your online presence
Posted on March 1, 2021.Impostor syndrome never goes away. Here's how to mitigate it.
There are no victims in an agile transformation
Posted on February 22, 2021.Leading with negativity -- as a victim of your agile transformation -- is a sure fire recipe for it failing.
OKR anti-pattern: reverse engineering key results to match your backlog
Posted on February 15, 2021.I work with teams around the world every day helping them implement objectives and key results. I’ve written about OKR here a lot over the last few years and now, … Continue reading OKR anti-pattern: reverse engineering key results to match your backlog
10 fun web-based timers for your next agile zoom collaboration
Posted on February 8, 2021.One of the most powerful agile tactics is timeboxing. With remote teams it's hard to coordinate time keeping. These 10 fun web-based timers can help with that.
Hiring and retention is not HR’s responsibility. It’s yours.
Posted on February 1, 2021.It's easy to blame HR for your team's shortfalls. In the end though, it's your fault and responsibilty.
Volkswagen’s electric car ambitions: a Sense & Respond case study
Posted on January 25, 2021.Volkswagen's electric vehicle ambitions reveal how their manufacturing history gets in the way of their technological success.
Constraints are the hidden source of innovation
Posted on January 18, 2021.There are always excuses for why our teams can’t innovate or be agile. Constraints shouldn’t be one of them. In fact, they can be the source of these desired qualities. Here’s why.
How I built a professional community to grow my business
Posted on January 11, 2021.Finding the right community to help grow your career isn’t always easy. Sometimes the better path is to build your own community. Here’s how I did it.
Give your teams the gift of collaboration this holiday season
Posted on December 21, 2020.Give your teams the best tools to do their best job.
3 ways visualization drives collaboration, agility and inclusion
Posted on December 14, 2020.Visualizing a system is the fastest way to build shared understanding. Here's why.
Forever Employable Stories: Michael Bungay Stanier, best-selling author of The Coaching Habit
Posted on December 7, 2020.How to continuously reinvent yourself with Michael Bungay Stanier
Agile frameworks aren’t the destination. They are the starting points.
Posted on November 30, 2020.Following recipes is the beginning of your agile transformation. To reach true agility you must become a chef.
Forever Employable Webinar: Lessons learned with Katie Saindon and David O’Malley
Posted on November 23, 2020.Katie Saindon and David O'Malley took the ideas in Forever Employable and put them into action immediately.
Forever Employable Webinar: Storytelling as a competitive advantage with Bill Smartt, elite speaking coach
Posted on November 18, 2020.Elite speaking coach Bill Smartt and I spend an hour discussing how to tell a compelling story, even from your home office.
Forever Employable Stories: Lindsey Pollak, NYT best-selling author and multi-generational work expert
Posted on November 16, 2020.Just ask for what you want. It sounds simple and straightforward and yet so few of us actually do it. It's something I've had to practice doing, shushing the voice … Continue reading Forever Employable Stories: Lindsey Pollak, NYT best-selling author and multi-generational work expert
Racing for the bronze: how to redefine goals for agile teams
Posted on November 9, 2020.If your team is struggling to deliver top-notch work, you'll need to revisit your definition of done.
Forever Employable Stories: Alisa Cohn, #1 Startup Coach in the World
Posted on November 8, 2020.I was lucky enough to meet Alisa Cohn by chance. Dorie Clark, who wrote the forward for Forever Employable, invited me to a virtual cocktail party a few months ago … Continue reading Forever Employable Stories: Alisa Cohn, #1 Startup Coach in the World
Outsource the work you hate. It shows.
Posted on November 2, 2020.The work you do that you don't love to do is obvious to your customers and clients. Here's what to do about it.
Increase your team’s agility with radical transparency
Posted on October 26, 2020.The success of your org's agility isn't solely dependent on your executives. Teams have their part to do as well.
Optimize your process for decision-making, not dogma
Posted on October 19, 2020.Just because it's part of The Process doesn't mean it's the best way to do things. Earlier this year I held a webinar panel with Sense & Respond Press author … Continue reading Optimize your process for decision-making, not dogma
What problem do you help people solve?
Posted on October 12, 2020.Your core value is the thing that won't change in 10 or even 20 years. How you deliver on that core value will evolve with the times, your career and your personal choices.
How to use OKRs to set goals for your professional and personal development
Posted on October 5, 2020.Image credit: https://greatist.com/ A few weeks ago I shared with you the most basic description of Objectives and Key Results -- the goal-setting trend sweeping the business world -- I … Continue reading How to use OKRs to set goals for your professional and personal development
12+ Icebreakers to kick off your next zoom meeting
Posted on September 28, 2020.One of the critical pieces of getting a team in the right frame of mind and comfortable with the tools available to them is kicking off the meeting with a proper icebreaker technique. I’ve put together a list below of icebreakers I’ve crowdsourced, participated in and used myself to help you get your distributed collaboration sessions off on the right foot.
Are product managers really the CEO’s of their product? 5 product leaders weigh in.
Posted on September 21, 2020.“Unless you’re the founder and the product manager at the same time, you are not the CEO of anything.”
There are infinite ways to solve your business problems. Which one is right?
Posted on September 14, 2020.The team works for multiple weeks, sometimes months. And we launch, fingers crossed, looking daily (sometimes hourly) to see if our predictions were correct. But the customers don’t come at the level we predicted, and the numbers don’t move quite in the directions we’d hoped.
Forever Employable Stories: Danny Thompson, software developer and community leader
Posted on September 8, 2020.I stumbled across Danny Thompson’s twitter account not too long ago. Immediately I noticed that this was no ordinary software developer. Not only was he humbly sharing his learning journey … Continue reading Forever Employable Stories: Danny Thompson, software developer and community leader
Without psychological safety there is no learning and there is no agility
Posted on September 1, 2020.If teams don’t feel safe sharing what they’ve learned, they’ll never be agile. Psychological safety ensures teams doing discovery can implement the feedback they learn in the process anda truly be agile.
Forever Employable Stories: Peter Hollens, entrepreneur, singer, youtuber
Posted on August 27, 2020.Entrepreneur, educator, singer and youtuber Peter Hollens shares his Forever Employable career path and story
What is an OKR? A basic guide.
Posted on August 20, 2020.Objectives and Key Results - OKRs. Ask around, and you’ll hear a level of adoption across industries and domains similar to the big wave of Agile adoption in the late … Continue reading What is an OKR? A basic guide.
Ikigai – a formula for successful agile team leadership
Posted on July 14, 2020.There's more to team leadership than just shipping it. What's your team's reason for being?
Forever Employable Stories: Jared Kirby, Traditional fencing master and fight director
Posted on June 29, 2020.In anticipation of the launch of my new book, Forever Employable, I’ll be sharing a series of interviews and stories from people from all different professions who have created a … Continue reading Forever Employable Stories: Jared Kirby, Traditional fencing master and fight director
Forever Employable Stories: Tara Schuster, former VP of Talent and Development at Comedy Central and Author of Buy Yourself the Fucking Lillies
Posted on June 22, 2020.Writer, author and talent developer Tara Schuster shares how she built her platform and became Forever Employable.
Forever Employable Stories: Nir Eyal, best-selling author of Hooked and Indistractable
Posted on June 16, 2020.In anticipation of the launch of my new book, Forever Employable, I’ll be sharing a series of interviews and stories from people from all different professions who have created a … Continue reading Forever Employable Stories: Nir Eyal, best-selling author of Hooked and Indistractable
Forever Employable Stories: Stephen Shedletzky, Brand Director and Igniter at Simon Sinek
Posted on June 10, 2020.In anticipation of the launch of my new book, Forever Employable, I’ll be sharing a series of interviews and stories from people from all different professions who have created a … Continue reading Forever Employable Stories: Stephen Shedletzky, Brand Director and Igniter at Simon Sinek
Forever Employable Stories: Tendayi Viki, innovation consultant, author and professor
Posted on June 3, 2020.In anticipation of the launch of my new book, Forever Employable, I’ll be sharing a series of interviews and stories from people from all different professions who have created a … Continue reading Forever Employable Stories: Tendayi Viki, innovation consultant, author and professor
Forever Employable Stories: Alden Mills, ex-Navy Seal, entrepreneur, author & speaker
Posted on May 28, 2020.In anticipation of the launch of my new book, Forever Employable, I’ll be sharing a series of interviews and stories from people from all different professions who have created a … Continue reading Forever Employable Stories: Alden Mills, ex-Navy Seal, entrepreneur, author & speaker
Your next agile project: your career
Posted on May 11, 2020.Agile is great for product development. It can be great for your career as well. Here's how.
Forever Employable Stories: Mathieu Bitton, celebrity photographer and designer
Posted on May 6, 2020.Celebrity photographer Mathieu Bitton is forever employable. Read his story.
Forever Employable Stories: Joel Hoekstra, Guitarist for Whitesnake
Posted on April 22, 2020.In anticipation of the launch of my new book, Forever Employable, I'll be sharing a series of interviews and stories from people from all different professions who have created a … Continue reading Forever Employable Stories: Joel Hoekstra, Guitarist for Whitesnake
How are businesses pivoting in the pandemic? Here are 3 inspirational examples
Posted on April 6, 2020.I hope this finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. A month ago I was sitting in a restaurant in London with a group of friends enjoying dinner, … Continue reading How are businesses pivoting in the pandemic? Here are 3 inspirational examples
There’s no guarantee your product strategy will work. Here’s how to de-risk it.
Posted on March 2, 2020.Recently, a long-term client of mine sent me an email with the question below (scrubbed for anonymity) after we’d spent close to a year together building a set of objectives … Continue reading There’s no guarantee your product strategy will work. Here’s how to de-risk it.
If we're managing to outcomes, how do we know we're doing a good job?
Posted on January 12, 2020.Part of the reason organisations struggle to switch to managing to outcomes is that its difficult to measure employee performance. Once that becomes difficult, how do we know someone did a good job? How do we know if that person should receive a raise? A promotion?
Metrics Mountain: A realistic visualisation of any customer lifecycle metrics
Posted on December 13, 2019.For as long as I've been working professionally the visual metaphor for moving customers through an experience has been The Funnel. The idea being that we have the most amount … Continue reading Metrics Mountain: A realistic visualisation of any customer lifecycle metrics
The Hypothesis Prioritization Canvas
Posted on November 8, 2019.How to prioritize your hypothesis so you know what to test first.
Velocity should be renamed “future tech debt”
Posted on October 23, 2019.(Want to get this article in your inbox? I publish one article a month and share it in my newsletter first. You can sign up here and join 40k other … Continue reading Velocity should be renamed “future tech debt”
Lean UX Canvas V2
Posted on September 9, 2019.It's been 3 years since the Lean UX Canvas was published. It was time for an update.
Do HR, Finance and Legal make products?
Posted on July 18, 2019.Teams that don't make customer facing work still work on "products" and have "customers." This article explains how to think about this kind of work - from HR, Legal, Finance et al - in a new light.
Why does every project have to be Agile these days?
Posted on June 18, 2019.Truly agile teams enjoy the ability, desire and safety to respond to change over following a plan.