The Beautiful Mess

Home
Archive
About
New
Top
Discussion
TBM 223: Why Aren't They Saying Anything?
Help needed! I’m thinking of doing a cohort course. Can you help me hone in on a topic by completing this short survey? Thanks! I'll always remember a…
 • 
John Cutler
8
TBM 221: Strategy = Insights^Conviction
And why generic strategies are rarely what they seem on the surface.
 • 
John Cutler
6
TBM 220: Effort vs. Value Curves
The world does not need another prioritization framework. However, one thing that always bugs me about (many) prioritization conversations is that teams…
 • 
John Cutler
1
TBM 219: Follow the Money (People, Products, or Projects)
Without thinking too hard, does your company fund people, products, or projects? Or some combination? Now on to the post… When investing in a startup…
 • 
John Cutler
1
TBM 218: Level, Depth, Time, and Frame
When I think about strategy, goals, plans, roadmaps, etc. I think about them across four dimensions: Level Depth (or Specificity) Time Frame Here's a…
 • 
John Cutler
April 2023
TBM 217: Why Are You Doing This? (Wrong Answers Only)
So much can be learned from this very basic question. What are you working on right now, and why is it the most important thing you could be working on…
 • 
John Cutler
5
TBM 216: Good Goals/Bad Goals
What makes a good goal? Most of us have heard of "SMART goals" (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound), but in my experience, SMART…
 • 
John Cutler
13
TBM 215: Shallow vs. Deep Alignment
I originally posted this on LinkedIn a couple days ago. It is rare that I post something, and then repost on the newsletter, but I liked this short…
 • 
John Cutler
6
TBM 214: From Assumption to Next Step
I used to do a lot of assumption mapping and elicitation exercises. One of the significant challenges was what to do with all of the discomfort and…
 • 
John Cutler
2
TBM 213: Goal Cascades vs. High-Conviction Models
(Thanks to Carl Vellotti for talking through some of these ideas) A team builds a feature to close a big deal. The benefit is immediate. The big…
 • 
John Cutler
4
TBM 212: A Problem vs. The Problem
Unexpected time to write today… (I wrote a post about Product-Reality Fit yesterday). Have you ever been in a discussion about the definition of a…
 • 
John Cutler
6
TBM 211: Product-Reality Fit (PRF)
Product-market fit (PMF) is important, and yes, it comes "first." But assume you have "it." Your biggest challenge is PRF: Product Reality Fit. Here's…
 • 
John Cutler
7
© 2023 John Cutler
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing