The Power of Focus in Product Management

Product teams are constantly pushed to move faster, ship faster, and iterate at breakneck speed. But what if the key to sustainable success is actually slowing down?

In this episode of The Product Ops Chronicles, hosts Graham Reed and Antonia Landi sit down with Miriam Karlin to explore why product teams—and especially product operations—need to strike the right balance between speed, stability, and focus.

With over seven years in the product space, Miriam has a wealth of experience in optimizing processes, facilitating usability studies, and coordinating product roadmaps across diverse teams. She shares her insights on how Product Ops can help teams move with intention, build long-term habits, and avoid the pitfalls of reactive decision-making.

What's going down in episode 9?

• The tension between moving fast and breaking things vs. taking the time to properly build and QA products

• The importance of focus and not trying to do too many small things at once 

• The debate around product managers needing to be "jacks of all trades" vs. specializing in certain areas

• The challenges of measuring success in product operations, as some work is just about delivering a completed project rather than driving specific metrics

• The tension between product management and other disciplines like design, and who should own certain responsibilities