Guess what? Product can be just a job—a fun job, a rewarding job, but ultimately a rather uneventful and drama-free (for the most part) job. This might come as a surprise, given the Sturm und Drang in the industry right now. I stumbled on Mike Long's post about a
Over boring, I prefer collegial. Working together, with all its mess, is what I remember the most pleasant about all the projects I worked, even those I can barely recall people's names. Sure, the product is we talk about, in our resume, as accomplishments, but the team coming together to build it is the reason why I'm continuing to do this, and to figure out how I can get better at doing it.
Agree with you. Laughing at your post that captures the time! In these times of optimization of systems, organizations and endless acquisition of new knowledge, I see that many colleagues shut down and withdraw. As a manager, I need to think before we introduce another task and ask for everyone's attention.
This probably explains why I am seeing 1 in 5 clips ok Tik Tok are of Rory Sutherland, a man who knows of so many things but has done so few of them himself.
You know I think it is because boring is.... boring. We need excitement in our lives so we create mellodrama to compensate for the fact that what we do with our existence every day is completely futile.
At least a bird spends their whole time making a nest and repeating the process every year because they are fighting for survival
Is this another example of second low of thermodynamics in play - Ever Increasing Entropy?
In the guise of continuous improvement, people (mostly managers and people at the top) tend to keep moving things to show "progress". Does that process inevitably lead to a situation where the energy we put in is always going to be less and less useful?
I prefer not to use terms like weak/strong. I think these labels are exacerbating the issue. Good times may have created the conditions where people can be less effective. Bad times may force us to think about efficacy (but is often driving pretty short-sighted acts).
Oh so Marty Cagan is the only one allowed to tell the hard truths. Ok. I get it. I have been doing this gig for 26 years. And I am not famous , not great , but have paid 2 mortgages , raised 2 kids to adulthood and kept myself intellectually amused. If product was a well oiled machine it would have spit me out decades ago ! Love all your posts sir. Every. Single. One.
He's a person who seems to thrive on (and get rewarded for) giving impression that he's telling things like it is (or we want them be). That's up to him, and you if that's your thing. I'm not one to judge.
Regarding "...Try to remember back to the times in your career when you had tempo, focus, and psychological safety, and while the work was hard, you made reasonable progress. ...", at least I recognize these moments to often quite some time after they happened.
So thanks again to make me aware of more self reflection again! :)
Over boring, I prefer collegial. Working together, with all its mess, is what I remember the most pleasant about all the projects I worked, even those I can barely recall people's names. Sure, the product is we talk about, in our resume, as accomplishments, but the team coming together to build it is the reason why I'm continuing to do this, and to figure out how I can get better at doing it.
Audibly lol’d at “The number of Simon Sinek reposts is reaching a fever pitch” and the following curve 👏
That's a new proxy metric we need to monitor!
Agree with you. Laughing at your post that captures the time! In these times of optimization of systems, organizations and endless acquisition of new knowledge, I see that many colleagues shut down and withdraw. As a manager, I need to think before we introduce another task and ask for everyone's attention.
This probably explains why I am seeing 1 in 5 clips ok Tik Tok are of Rory Sutherland, a man who knows of so many things but has done so few of them himself.
You know I think it is because boring is.... boring. We need excitement in our lives so we create mellodrama to compensate for the fact that what we do with our existence every day is completely futile.
At least a bird spends their whole time making a nest and repeating the process every year because they are fighting for survival
Is this another example of second low of thermodynamics in play - Ever Increasing Entropy?
In the guise of continuous improvement, people (mostly managers and people at the top) tend to keep moving things to show "progress". Does that process inevitably lead to a situation where the energy we put in is always going to be less and less useful?
Loved this one.
This is cyclical.
Good times have created weak product people.
Weak product people have created bad times.
So yes let’s hunker down because
Bad times create strong product people
And so goes the flywheel of economics
I prefer not to use terms like weak/strong. I think these labels are exacerbating the issue. Good times may have created the conditions where people can be less effective. Bad times may force us to think about efficacy (but is often driving pretty short-sighted acts).
Oh so Marty Cagan is the only one allowed to tell the hard truths. Ok. I get it. I have been doing this gig for 26 years. And I am not famous , not great , but have paid 2 mortgages , raised 2 kids to adulthood and kept myself intellectually amused. If product was a well oiled machine it would have spit me out decades ago ! Love all your posts sir. Every. Single. One.
He's a person who seems to thrive on (and get rewarded for) giving impression that he's telling things like it is (or we want them be). That's up to him, and you if that's your thing. I'm not one to judge.
I’m always in awe your prolific and insightful writing but this is also hilarious. So good. 💪🏼
Love this post! Thanks!
Regarding "...Try to remember back to the times in your career when you had tempo, focus, and psychological safety, and while the work was hard, you made reasonable progress. ...", at least I recognize these moments to often quite some time after they happened.
So thanks again to make me aware of more self reflection again! :)
Simple, boring, mechanical operations enable value creation. Otherwise you’re stuck in “the system” and can’t generate anything of value.
Preach!
here's to boring!
the sinek curve is fantastic, John!