One Knight in Product Tim Herbig - Stop Making Alibi Progress & Start Making REAL Progress (with Tim Herbig, Product Management Coach & Author of “Real Progress“)
Dec 5, 2025
55:54
About the Episode
On this episode, I speak to Tim Herbig, long-time product management coach, speaker, and author of the new book "Real Progress". Tim has worked with companies like StepStone, Chrono24, Deutsche Telekom and Specsavers, and has spent years helping product managers stop hiding behind frameworks and start making a meaningful impact. His work focuses on helping teams connect product strategy, OKRs and discovery without falling into the trap of rigid process correctness.
Episode highlights:- Alibi Progress vs Real Progress - how teams hide behind "the right way" of doing things, obsessing over methods and templates instead of asking whether any of it actually works
- The Progress Wheel - Tim's diagnostic loop that ties strategy, OKRs and discovery together so teams can see where they're actually stuck and what to do next
- The three attributes of good product strategy: Decisiveness, Layering and Executability
- How to handle OKRs when leadership gives you metrics you can’t influence using zones of control and contribution
- How to sell discovery to sceptical stakeholders - by framing it as "protecting the company's investment", not a fluffy UX ritual
- Reverse-mapping discovery when you're handed a solution - even if you have to build it, work backwards to define the outcome
- Why frameworks should be starting points, not destinations - and why Tim would be disappointed if anyone adopted his wheel dogmatically
... And much more.
Buy the bookYou can grab a copy of Real Progress here:
- Tim's site: https://herbig.co/real-progress-book/
- Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/398275190X
- Website: https://herbig.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/herbigt/