Product Thinking

Saying “no” is a big part of parenting and a big part of product management. We can’t do everything, whether that is buying every stuffed animal or building every feature request. But we can do more than simply say “no”. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Saying "No" Effectively: 5 Ways to Say No As a Product Manager Or just want to leave a tip: buy me a coffee ? Tw...

Airbnb is done with product management? Maybe, but not so fast. In this episode we explore what they did and why it very much depends on what a company wants. Product management is always different at different companies, and often fills the void of whatever is needed. Sometimes that leans more toward discovery and user experience. Sometimes it leans toward more technical. And sometimes it leans m...

Winner Takes All: Case Studies in how Online Marketplaces are Creating Modern Monopolies delves into the world of online marketplaces and how they are shaping the modern economy. It gives a brief history of digital marketplaces, starting with some of the earliest (like eBay and Craigslist) and then goes through the evolution of those marketplaces. In this episode, we explore some key takeaways fro...

Messi, AI, and House of Suns. What more do you need? Another month, another host of great articles, listens, books and other finds from Product Thinking and around the internet. Here’s what you may have missed. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Messi, Estimating, Heatwaves, AI, and House of Suns: Monthly Wrap from June Or just want to leave a tip: buy me a coffee ?...

We, as humans, are bad at estimating. Everyone falls victim to the planning fallacy . We consistently underestimate the time it will take to complete something.  Why do we underestimate? And what can we do about it? Listen as we explore. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Why We're So Bad At Estimating: And What We Can Do About It Or just want to leave a tip: buy me...

This week we explore short-term and long-term thinking with an example from Covid-19. We’d have been much better served during the pandemic if the FDA hadn’t relaxed its rules for so long or had thought about the long-term consequences of their hand sanitizer policy. And we’d be better off as product teams and organizations if we thought more about the long term while balancing our short-term need...

The Alignment Problem by Brian Christian was an excellent read. If you are interested in AI—including its history, its future implications, and the philosophical ramifications—then this is a book for you. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values - Book Review Or just want to leave a tip: buy me a coffee ? Twitter: @...

Another month, another host of great articles, listens, books and other finds from Product Thinking and around the internet. Here’s what you may have missed. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Twitter, True Grit, and Giving Up On Your Dreams: Monthly Wrap from May Or just want to leave a tip: buy me a coffee ? Twitter: @kylelarryevans and @producthinking and @prod_b...

We have to understand the problems we’re solving, our users, and our business. If we don’t, we’ll create products that fail. Those products may be small feature sets, or they may be bet-the-company initiatives like Twitter Blue. Either way, we can all learn some lessons from these failures. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Product Failures From Twitter and Others:...

Like we love to say, a roadmap is not the project plan. It won’t include all the technical details for the next year. Nor should it. There is a time and place for those, but it is not the roadmap. Just like there is a time and place for nuts, but it is not in chocolate chip cookies. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Ingredients of a Roadmap: Like Cookies, You Need...

The Innovator’s Handbook provides a range of practical tools, strategies, and insights for anyone involved in the innovation process. It’s a fun read, and a well-designed book (it looks like a post-it note pad, so I love it). It’s a good one to add to our growing list of books about innovation. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: The Innovator's Handbook: Book Review...

Another month, another host of great articles, listens, books and other finds from Product Thinking and around the internet. Here’s what you may have missed. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Skepticism, Martian Westerns, and Better Call Saul: Monthly Wrap from April Or just want to leave a tip: buy me a coffee ? Twitter: @kylelarryevans and @producthinking and @pr...

Healthy skepticism is an important ingredient to work and life. It keeps us from being manipulated or from making the wrong decision—whether that’s taking a job that seems too good to be true or building a product feature simply because the CEO is passionate about it. It is the first step to truth, which should be our main goal. It’s not about doubting everything, but about being humble enough to...

Product managers and engineers often come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. We need this for great product development. But it can lead to misunderstandings. Different groups value different things. But we can work together to create the right outcomes. It starts with understanding each other better, respecting the way we work and what we each bring to the group, and buil...

The world is awash in bullshit. Mostly the figurative kind. Which is why it is critical we’re able to discern between fact and bullshit, especially as the bullshit becomes increasing dressed in data. Which is why this month we’re reviewing the book Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World by Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin D. West. This is a book that aims to equip us with the to...

Another month, another host of great articles, listens, books and other finds from Product Thinking and around the internet. Here’s what you may have missed. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Decision Demons, TikTok, and Emoji Watches: March Monthly Wrap Or just want to leave a tip: buy me a coffee ? Twitter: @kylelarryevans and @producthinking and @prod_by_design...

TikTok is an incredible platform for anyone to reach an audience, find their voice, and join a community. There isn’t anything else like it. Banning apps out of fear or lack of understanding is dystopian-level sci-fi. I like to think we’re better than that, but I’m not so sure. Which is why we probably can’t have nice things… Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Why W...

Hopefully SVB will hold its spot as the second-largest bank failure for a long time. We don’t need bigger ones any time soon. But for those of us not running banks or working as founders or in finance, there are still some good things to learn. We can take courage knowing that no one really knows that much. We also need to diversify in most areas of our businesses and our lives. And watch out for...

Balance is an active process. We can’t wait until we’re older to play outside, because it will be too late then. We need the sun while we’re growing up. We can’t wait until mid-terms are over because there will always be some sort of mid-term in our life. We need to find balance each day and each phase of our life. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Finding Whole-Li...

Life is incredibly hard. We can only choose to live well within the constraints we have. Which is what the book Life is Hard by Kieran Setiya explores. Often it will be less than the ideal that many would envision. But as we shift our mindset away from the idea of ourselves as failures, as projects that need completion, as people who need to be perfect, we can progress, empathize with each other,...

Another month, another host of great articles, listens, books and other finds from Product Thinking and around the internet. Here’s what you may have missed. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Product Roadmaps, Mechanical Watches, and the Science of Fun Or just want to leave a tip: buy me a coffee ? Twitter: @kylelarryevans and @producthinking and @prod_by_design Ti...

The creation process is always messy. We can’t avoid it. As we work to dig and uncover the right things to do, those of us doing the work are often down in the hole shoveling mud. But that is how we eventually get to the right thing. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: The Messiness of Doing The Work: What Some Managers Don't Understand Or just want to leave a tip: b...

A roadmap won’t fix everything (and is often the source of its own problems), but having a product vision and strategy that you can communicate, prioritize against, and ultimately deliver on through your roadmap, will make you a much better product manager and a better product organization. So how can we create good product roadmaps? Listen in for that and more. Don't forget to subscribe at produc...

This month we’re reviewing the book Zone to Win by Geoffrey Moore. Last month we reviewed the book Crossing the Chasm by the same author. It offers good insight into the need for separating zones in an organization. Using the three horizons framework, it makes sense to allow different types of innovations to operate differently. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Zo...

Another month, another host of great articles, listens, books and other finds from Product Thinking and around the internet. Here’s what you may have missed. Don't forget to subscribe at productthinking.cc Weekly newsletter: Airplane Seat Switching and The Endowment Effect Or just want to leave a tip: buy me a coffee ? Twitter: @kylelarryevans and @producthinking and @prod_by_design TikTok: @produ...