Product Momentum Podcast

As a product leader, it can be hard to work within a multitude of constraints: profits, product-market fit, time, customers’ needs; the list goes on. Giff Constable tackles the tough questions and elaborates on the product leader’s job as “chief synthesizer.” In this episode of the Product Momentum Podcast, Sean and Paul welcome Giff Constable, thought leader, entrepreneur, and author. Giff is a self-proclaimed “healer” within the product community. He has a vast breadth and depth of knowledge pertaining to testing new ideas, innovation, and teamwork. Giff’s experience in many roles such as chief product officer, CEO, and consultant in “messy situations” has given him unique insight into the role of product within organizations and how product leaders can position and advocate for their products in ever-changing markets. He shares some examples of companies who have succeeded in this, and some that unfortunately did not. All in all, he stresses the importance of “looking uncertainty in the eye” in everything you do. Listen to hear Giff’s thoughts on: Sacrificing short-term gains for long-term success in business models, research, and continuous improvement. Asking the hard questions and challenging your assumptions as a product leader. Experimentation and user research strategies for both new and seasoned product managers. The post 54 / Navigating Complexity and Uncertainty appeared first on ITX Corp..

We often talk about product living at the intersection of technology, business, and UX. And that makes sense in a limited, Venn diagram way of thinking: Product as the place where these things converge. But as we have discovered, using a 3-piece diagram to explain what product is all about is a gross oversimplification. Nina Foroutan gives us a bit more detail and clarity. Through her lens as a journalist-turned-product leader, Nina Foroutan, Director of Product Management at Forbes, sees product not at the intersection, but more as the oxygen each requires to sustain itself. In this episode of Product Momentum, Nina describes her role as participant in all things product, “in the in-betweens.” Sometimes her day is technology-focused, on others it’s more on UX, and sometimes it’s more business and data. But one thing is clear: every day is focused on users. “When you’re in product, you have to be involved in every aspect,” she says, “and understand user pain points and how the solution you’re trying to build helps get to the organization’s business goals.” Where product truly plays its role, “where it’s actually actionable,” is as facilitator. “When you’re in product, you’re the connector. You’re the reason why and the one who makes it all make sense. That is where product lives.” Be sure to catch more of our conversation with Nina to get her take on — This period of awakening we’re in right now – especially as it relates to hiring for diversity and inclusion and creating an environment that’s accepting of everyone. The importance of soft skills, like having the emotional intelligence to remain calm and roll with the punches when everyone else is panicking. That in her world content is the product, and technology is the vehicle for delivering the user’s experience with it. The post 53 / When You’re In Product, You’re the Connector appeared first on ITX Corp..

If you’ve never done product before, the journey can be super-scary. So many questions: Do I have what it takes? Is this the career I want for myself? What type of PM do I want to be? Where am I in my career product life cycle? Worry no more, because in this episode of ITX’s Product Momentum Podcast, Sean and Paul are joined by ProductGo co-founder, David Wang. David is a true champion of product managers around the world – especially if you’re just breaking into the field. In our conversation, he outlines a prescribed path for product management newcomers who may not have a PM degree but who do have a passion for “creating things that can change the world.” Our initial connection with David arrived compliments of podcast guest, Adrienne Tan. David’s own path to product management took him 5 years “just to know what I was doing, and another 5 years just doing the job,” he says. “But what I realized was that everything I learned [about product management] can be categorized into one of these three areas: mindset, process, and tools.” Once he started thinking about product management through that three-part lens, it helped him make sense of all the information he had read and practiced, he added. David also realized that as our knowledge grows and technology evolves, the same happens to the mindsets, processes, and tools that once guided our thinking. Avoid tying yourself to one mindset or process or toolbox, he cautions. Part of learning product management is understanding that it is a repeatable, almost cyclical process. “We can add mindsets to our mindset category and get rid of others over time. Tools and processes come and go. So as a PM, that realization has actually helped me learn management much faster.” In this pod, David Wang shares what he means by “much faster.” He lays out a prescribed 12- to 18-month plan for what onboarding to a product career might look like and involve. But don’t be in a rush to make it happen, he advises. “It takes time for that mindset to change, and product managers are really hired for their mindsets, not so much on their certifications.” Listen in to hear David’s thoughts on: where ideas come from, the power of the Growth mindset, and what he means by your “origin story.” Knowing your origin story will help to remove any doubts about whether and where you belong in your PM role. The post 52 / Mindset, Process, and Tools appeared first on ITX Corp..

  Without mental shortcuts to help, there’s no way product managers could process the daily waves of information coming at us. We apply these shortcuts, called cognitive biases, to drive efficiency in how we perceive and respond to the world around us. But when we’re unaware of, or not sensitive to, cognitive bias (that exists naturally within us, by the way), well, that’s when we make mistakes, Wolf Alexanyan says. Mistakes that manifest in our lives as product people as well as is our everyday lives as humans bumping along in our own existence. In this episode of the ITX Product Momentum Podcast, Sean and Paul welcome Wolf Alexanyan, Head of Product Management at The Software Development Company. Fresh off 2+ years of research regarding cognitive biases, Wolf recently published two significant works in our space: The Science of User Experience, which explains the importance of using our brain’s errors and biases to develop software product solutions, and UX CORE, a compilation of 105 hands-on examples of cognitive biases used in software development and team management. “When I was working on UX Core,” Wolf says, “I wanted to show people not just how to use the biases to relate to others and protect yourself from being manipulated, but to show how powerful our brain is. The moment we understand how to get in touch with our own cognitive biases is the moment we seize the power to make positive changes in our own lives as both human beings and product people. As Wolf explains, the power lies within each of us. “This is the most important thing: if we focus on ourselves and spend some time just to understand the errors that we have – instead of trying to understand the capabilities of the world and opportunities that arise – we will benefit from that much more, much more. Tune in to hear Wolf describe the role ego plays in cognitive bias, with specific reference to the Dunning-Kruger Effect, and hear him explain why the “Blind Spot Bias” is the one that new product managers need to learn and understand before all others. The post 51 / Cognitive Bias and Software Development appeared first on ITX Corp..

  Whether discussing onboarding, the challenges we product managers confront in today’s upside-down world, or the benefits of being a “lazy” product manager, all problems boil down to people problems in this episode of the Product Momentum Podcast with Christian Idiodi. As a leader in the product world from the beginning, Christian Idiodi of the Silicon Valley Product Group explains that people problems are also leadership problems, because “leaders are responsible for the context, culture, and frameworks we apply” to help solve complex problems. Christian’s approach may seem unconventional, but his wisdom reflects a set of commonsense best practices that really aren’t all that common! He jokes with his teams, saying, “If your product work is not hard, you’re not doing it right.” Sometimes, though, the work is hard because over 70% of product managers today are self-taught (“Imagine going to a self-taught dentist.”), having missed out on the innovative “bootcamp-like” onboarding experience he devised for his product managers. In the modern product world, Christian says, the best way to succeed is to find a great product leader who you can learn from. That’s the best way to know what good product management looks like. Listen in to catch more of Christian’s unique insights. They’ll help you discover how understanding the people in and around a problem will lead to better solutions. You’ll also learn why being “a lazy product manager” has its advantages. The post 50 / Product Problems Are People Problems appeared first on ITX Corp..

  There’s no clear career path to product management. And while that sounds like just another obstacle keeping you from your dream job, it should actually come as a comfort to all you PM hopefuls. Lena Sesardic describes why through the lens of equifinality. Equifinality simply means that the same end result can be achieved by many potential means and from many points of entry along the journey. It’s one of those grad school textbook terms you never expect to encounter again – until, perhaps, you’re talking about the path to product management. The term resurfaced recently, thanks to Lena Sesardic, who joined Sean and Paul in this Product Momentum Podcast episode. Lena’s own journey is a story of equifinality. She is Croatian, but lived portions of her life in Europe, the Pacific Rim, and North America. Her professional life is equally diverse. Once an innovation lab product manager and entrepreneur, Lena is now a product management consultant and author. Her recent book, The Making of Product Managers, offers an up-close look at 20 real-life humans whose varied paths to product management should inspire us all. So hang in there, you product designers and technologists. Take heed, marketers and web developers, and you mathematicians and high school educators. If product management is the field to which you aspire, it’s very likely someone has come before you to show the way. But don’t take it from me. Tune in to hear about equifinality from Lena. Here’s a bit of what you’ll learn! [03:24] As a product manager, I found that writing a book is a lot like building a product. Iteration was a really big part of it, and adding important features too. [04:46] It doesn’t matter what you did before. There’s likely to be a parallel that you can draw on, and there’s no limit to who can break into product. [06:39] PMs require such a huge, diverse skill set. Decision-making, analytical, communication skills. [06:58] There’s also less tangible, equally important, PM skills. [08:32] Experience isn’t just the number of years, but it’s actually what have you done. Get a taste of everything. [10:32] Diversity of experience is key in terms of prioritization. You really need to get the full picture, to be able to look at the problem from every perspective and think about the holes in your ideas. [12:40] PMs get to own their role because the job of a product manager is actually carving out what their job description is. [14:22] Predict the organization’s needs. Insiders are privy to how the organization is operating, growing, and changing. As an insider, you can predict when things are going to be needed – and step in to fill that void. [15:49] The product manager is the glue that holds the team together. [18:09] If you can crack the code to become a product manager, you can be a good product manager – and you deserve to be one. [20:27] Innovation through Transplanting. Taking something that’s working in one industry, spinning it a certain way, transplanting it into another industry. Just like that, you have a new service and it’s actually Innovation. The post 49 / The Many Paths to Product Management appeared first on ITX Corp..

Defining the product manager role is a moving target. It’s tough to put our finger on the skill set we need to land the gig. And then we’re not always confident about what to do once we arrive. In this episode of the Product Momentum Podcast, Sean and Paul welcome Josh Anon. Now a product manager at Roblox, Josh has worked at the intersection of art and technology throughout his career. A quick review of his resume (in addition to sparking bits of envy) and you’ll understand why Josh’s approach to product management – blending the right amounts of creative expression and systematic analysis, with bias toward neither – provides the balance we need for our products to succeed. Before Roblox, Josh’s career includes stops at Pixar, Lytro, and Magic Leap where he performed roles as a software developer, cinematographer, and product manager. Josh Anon is also author of The Product Book: How to Become a Great Product Manager, a best-seller written precisely for new product managers. An amazing storyteller, Josh Anon shares key learnings and important insights from his unique journey. Listen closely to find a nugget that will nudge your career forward. [02:13] No matter the industry, product is about being the voice of the customer. [03:08] Keep in mind that the right solution depends on the situation. [04:22] Expect to be disrupted. Better still, think about how to disrupt yourself. [05:52] The scientific approach to goal setting. It’s reasonable, when you’re working on different goals, to start off with a hypothesis to test. (06:23] We can develop intuition, and we can develop good instincts over time. The more experience you get, the better you can put yourself into a customer’s shoes. [08:43] Product management, in a nutshell, is about who is the customer, what problem you’re solving for them, and can the technology deliver a solution with trade-offs that the customer will accept. [12:19] Four critical PM skills. Learning, researching, writing, and experimenting. [14:30] Storytelling and PRDs. Use documentation not as a massive, static thing that’s not going to change. But rather to tell a story about where we want to go and the key things we want to make sure we don’t lose as we execute toward it. [17:46] What if my hypothesis is wrong? As a PM, one of the things that keeps me up at night is, what if I’m wrong about my hypothesis? Writing or telling a story is a quick way to do a gut check to answer: “is my solution going to fit into the customer’s life in a useful, meaningful way?” [19:11] Detail matters to good storytelling. The right level of detail can help you realize, what are the features on your product that really are critically important, and what’s the stuff that just doesn’t matter? [23:17] The technology is in service of something bigger. [23:50] Saying no. You have to have a strong ability to say no to things. It’s better to do less that’s better than to do every single feature possible and deliver it poorly. [24:32] The value of technology. Technology doesn’t exist because we’ve managed to figure out how to build a feature; the value in it is focusing on, what is it that a customer is trying to achieve? [26:04] Innovation. Innovation has become a mix of, how do you have a novel solution to a problem that is way better than what people are doing now to solve it, and you’ve made it available in an accessible way that has minimal tradeoffs for the customer. You know you’ve achieved innovation when you actually see it out there and you see it being adopted. It’s not just that you’ve done the inventive process of that. The post 48 / At the Intersection of Art and Technology appeared first on ITX Corp..

  In this episode of the Product Momentum Podcast, Sean and Paul welcome Andrew Branch, Director of Product Engineering at Measures for Justice (MFJ). MFJ, an ITX client and Rochester, NY neighbor, is a criminal justice research organization whose mission is to make accurate criminal justice data available and accessible to all – and to leverage this same data to spur societal reform. These data are jarring. As Andrew reports – As many Americans have a college diploma as have a criminal record – a statistic that mostly impacts people of color. One in three black men born in 2001 will likely be imprisoned at some point in their lifetime. For Latinos, the number is 1 in 6. For white males, it’s 1 in 17. The more than 3,000 counties in the U.S. adhere to their own variation of a criminal justice system – a vast, complex system that includes law enforcement, prosecutors and defense counsel, courts and jails, and so on. On top of that, these same jurisdictions craft their own policies and use their own data systems to track it all. These data demand answers to many questions, not least of which is how are we to make informed decisions about things we can’t isolate, measure, and compare? Thankfully, Andrew Branch and our friends at Measures for Justice are committed to building solutions that leverage technology to deliver vital societal change. “At MFJ, we collect countywide criminal case data, from arrest to post-conviction,” Andrew says. “We then clean it up, normalize it, and package it into performance measures that provide a comprehensive picture of how cases are being handled across the entire criminal justice system. We then make it available to the public on our free data portal.” Interviewing clients is a treat for us. So be sure to tune in. The lessons here are as vital to product people as they are to those of us imagining a world in which social justice reigns. The post 47 / Imagine A World Where Social Justice Reigns appeared first on ITX Corp..

One concern we product builders often cite with our C-suite sponsors is their disdain for discovery. “We know what users want,” is a frequent refrain when we recommend investment in user research. Sometimes, even we fall victim to that flawed “we got this” mentality. When we do, we limit our own market exploration by rejecting the notion that there’s always more to be learned. With that kind of thinking, we tend to get in our own way, says Lesley Betts, who joins Sean and Paul on this episode of the Product Momentum Podcast. As Senior Product Line Merchandiser for Burton Snowboards, Lesley Betts shows us how going beyond “our little maple curtain” – a Vermonter’s term for thinking outside the box – helps us align our role as product managers to what’s actually happening outside the industry. “We know the product so well and as snowboarders we’re users of the product,” she adds. “But that’s where we have to challenge ourselves to do things that are outside the norm. We have to listen and be mindful of what our users are telling us.” The lesson here actually goes much deeper. When we invited Lesley to join the pod, we thought it would be fun to get an expert’s insights into the physical product development space. We knew there would be similarities between our physical and digital worlds – but even we were amazed how exacting they are. In fact, aside from the product life cycles, the number and nature of parallels between software and snowboards are freakishly close. As are the responsibilities product managers share across industries. Listen in as Lesley Betts describes her role as “the hub of the wheel” when it comes to product leadership, “… as far as identifying problems, working with the creative team, collaborating with ‘team riders’ (i.e., in-house product experts), marketing, sales, and our customers…yeah, every single one of those touchpoints always comes back to the hub.” Sound familiar? We thought so too. Enjoy! [02:13] Creating the correct product requires a ‘rider-driven mentality’. We had to listen to our customers; we had to be advocates for them; we had to listen to ourselves as well. At the end of the day, we’re all snowboarders. [04:23] The PM role by any other name. Whether product manager or merchandiser doesn’t matter. I’m the hub of the wheel. Identifying problems, working with the creative team, working with our team riders, marketing, sales, our customers. Every touchpoint always comes back to the hub. [06:25] Physical product vs. software product. The life cycles may be different, but the development process is very much the same. [07:55] Self-awareness and trusting your team. If I were better at snowboarding, I could be the person leading that. But really, I just need to trust and lean into those guys. [10:26] Culture, mantra, rallying cry. At Burton, we call it “The Stance.” It’s what we believe and what we do. It bleeds throughout the building, and it’s the reason people come here:  because it feels like you’re part of something bigger. [12:11] The 7-minute focus group. Every time you ride the lift, sit with someone new. Just have a conversation: “Why are you riding that product? Why are you riding here? What brought you here? Where did you get your board? You can learn so much just from a few moments with a person, in the moment. [12:53] People don’t trust brands. People trust people. [14:22] Get out of your own way. Developing product, we can actually get in our own way; we know the product so well. That’s where we have to challenge ourselves to do things that are outside of the norm. [16:16] The ‘white room’. Like an innovation workshop or design sprint, we need to pause. To remove all other responsibilities so that we can truly focus on one problem statement. [18:53] Innovate for the little things too. We can’t always be solving the big things. It takes a special kind of mindset to maintain this concept of innovation within the day-to-day culture. [23:05] The power of why. We learned more about ourselves in the white room process about how we need to work together as a team. By sharing your why with the team, you’re just going to get the best results. [24:48] Innovation. If I can change something for someone. I know that seems very simple, but innovation is making something better for someone. Who that is, I don’t know. But if you take something and create an enhancement or a better experience –  a better day on the snow – then I feel like we’ve done our job. The post 46 / Whether Building Software or Snowboards appeared first on ITX Corp..

With so many touchpoints between Self-Determination Theory and software product development, it’s difficult to know where to begin. In this episode of the Product Momentum Podcast, Sean and Paul welcome Scott Rigby, Ph.D. to discuss the interplay between Self-Determination Theory and software product development. As product leaders strive to improve users’ lives, what better way to fulfill this mission than to embrace the needs that drive them. Scott guides us well beyond the theoretical, venturing deep into its application founded on two critical shifts since his work in this area began. The first deals with motivation. Specifically, that motivation is ‘something I do to you’ and that ‘whatever I do to motivate you’ is good because the more I do, the more I’ll get. As it turns out, Scott says, that way of thinking is not only not correct, we just can’t get by with it anymore. The second shift, closely related to the first, deals with empowerment. We once lived in a world in which companies and institutions held all the power and made all the rules.  Consumers existed only in orbit around them, controlled and manipulated by the way they structured our existence. Not so these days, Scott offers. “We call it the Copernican turn; we realized that who’s in orbit around what has completely changed.” Over the past 15 years or so, the gravitational pull that companies and institutions once relied on has waned. Now they say, ‘I’ve got to do the right things to have [consumers] select me…I have to understand the thing that drives them to be motivated to make that choice.’ Understanding these shifts introduces only a kernel of knowledge of Scott’s work over the past 30 years. But it’s fundamental to the real-world application of the vast theoretical issues that play out every day across on product development teams in our space. Listen in to catch even more insights from Scott Rigby. Discover what he refers to as the continuum of motivation; see the distinction between motivation and manipulation; and grasp ways to put the theory into practice – not only by creating “a consensual language that everyone can understand, but also by providing a roadmap that invites customers and team members to follow the continuum of basic psychological needs.” [04:35] The Copernican turn. We realized that who’s in orbit around what is completely changed. [08:02] We humans have 3 basic psychological needs. Autonomy, Mastery, and Relatedness. [08:12] Autonomy. I want to be the author of my life. It’s more than freedom, it’s about volition and it’s about engagement. [09:23] Mastery. I need to feel a sense of growth in what I am doing. [09:42] Relatedness. I don’t want to do this in isolation. I want what I do to matter to others. [10:02] Self-determination theory – and people. We can quantifiably measure how autonomy, mastery, and relatedness are being experienced by employees in a company as they interact with  managers and coworkers. [10:12] Self-determination theory – and product. We can see how those things are being satisfied by how products are designed…the informational feedback from user interfaces…user progression paths…and by how they are implemented in our program. [10:29] Self-determination theory – and marketing. How are communications telling a narrative that make me feel like those needs are being satisfied? [11:38] Manipulation and control. If we’re manipulating and controlling, ultimately, we’re undermining the delivery of those needs. [13:25] The continuum of motivation. High-quality and low-quality; intrinsic and extrinsic. [17:29] The problem with gamification. [21:59] When we satisfy those needs. The consumer value for products, value for services, the loyalty that comes from that is astounding. [29:20] The product of creativity + motivation. Yields an environment where facilitating basic human needs gives us the energy to create one’s own narrative and the confidence to know that I can do it in a way that is competent and masterful. [35:28] Innovation. Innovation is the emergence of a new idea that has the ability to fundamentally improve well-being. Innovation is very much tied to that sense of well-being. The post 45 / Motivation and Self-Determination Theory appeared first on ITX Corp..