Hey folks, It’s getting easier to walk into a meeting looking prepared. AI can help anyone put together a summary, a chart, a recommendation and a few smart-sounding slides in no time. That means the old signals of product expertise do not mean what they used to. If you lead product work, that changes what sets you apart. Having the insight is still important. But now you also have to make people understand why it matters, trust where it came from and see what to do next. In other words, you...
22 days ago • 3 min read
Hey folks, You’ve probably heard the phrase, the tail shouldn’t wag the dog. If you haven’t, it’s a small thing that should not end up controlling the bigger, more important one. And that is what happens when a two-week sprint starts dictating how you do user research. You feel this even more now because AI has made it cheaper and easier to produce ideas, concepts and plans at speed. When output becomes easier, the risk is letting the mechanics of delivery drive the work rather than staying...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hey folks, Q2 has a way of exposing fuzzy thinking. By now, plans have met reality and teams are starting to see what is actually worth focusing on. AI makes that harder in a new way. It has dramatically reduced the cost of producing ideas, which means more people can generate more goals, plans and concepts faster than ever. That is powerful. It is also overwhelming. More output does not automatically mean more clarity or better judgment. So how do you bring focus, clarity and judgment back...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Hey folks, It feels like every week brings a new AI feature, a new demo or an executive question that starts with “So what are we doing about AI?” Which is fair. But then we see teams race to add AI and the foundation starts to slip. What you learned this morning might be outdated by lunch, and trying to keep up with it all can feel like motion without progress. That’s why we keep coming back to a grounding question: how will you know your AI work is actually creating customer value? We’ve...
2 months ago • 4 min read
Hey folks, We’re bringing you our first free webinar of the year and it took us a minute to get here. Last year we made a point of doing one a month. This year we kept telling ourselves we’d kick things off once we lined up the perfect guest. Then we caught ourselves. Waiting for the perfect guest is its own kind of bottleneck (and AI moves too fast for that). So we’re jumping in ourselves for this first one. We’re doing it on AI hypes, hopes, gripes and fears because that’s what we’re...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Hey folks, It seems the weather whiplash has settled a bit, but if winter is doing its thing where you are too, we hope you’re keeping warm. This kind of weather makes for warm comfort food. Which is perfect, because Josh has been working on a cinnamon raisin swirl loaf. And like most good things, it’s been a process. It’s good, then better, then still not quite right, then better again. Same dough, small changes, lots of reps. That’s how you get from “decent” to “this is the one.” Last time,...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Hey folks, We talk a lot about growth. It’s kind of the whole point of what we do: helping teams work smarter, build better products and create real impact. But growth is rarely comfortable. It almost never feels convenient. And change, which usually comes first, is often the hardest part. We’re reminded of that every time Josh wears his favorite t-shirt from a 2015 Lean conference in New Zealand. (Yes, you read that right, we’re about to share a lesson from a t-shirt.) It’s still in the...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Hey folks, January has a way of making us reach for a reset button. New year, fresh calendar and big intentions. The only problem is the internet is happy to “help” by throwing 10,000 new tools, prompts and productivity hacks at your face before you have finished your coffee. So here is a calmer move: build a small toolkit you can actually use. Not a pile of tabs. Not another app you never open again. Just a few practical resources that make your day-to-day work easier and your thinking...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Hey folks, The start of a new year has a funny way of sharpening your thinking. There’s new energy, sure, but also a quiet nudge to reflect. What am I actually investing in this year? What choices could set me up for success a year from now, not just a month from now? Jeff and I have been spending some time with that question ourselves. Not looking for shiny new tools or quick wins, but for the things that compound over time. We’re talking about the relationships you build. The rooms you...
4 months ago • 2 min read