There’s no shortage of resources and opinions about how to give a good presentation. At a risk of repeating what others have already said, here is my list of presentation faux pas. These are guaranteed to derail any pitch regardless of how relevant, important or interesting the message is. I skipped obvious mistakes that I …
Tech workers rarely take a job just because they need one. It’s a buyer’s market for the most part, and more so when the economy is booming. Rational job seekers – and I’d like to think they all are – choose positions that will allow them to grow and develop. Finding the right person for …
The following is a chapter from my newly published book Product Leadership. “I have written you a long letter because I did not have time to write a short one.” – Blaise Pascal Simplicity is a design philosophy that prefers products leaner on features over loaded ones. The idea is that a simple product done …
The bookcase in the picture has been our my house for the longest time, and every visitor is impressed. I designed and built it after being inspired by a leaning bookshelf I saw at Centre Pompidou in Paris. Getting the shelves to dovetail into each other was an intriguing challenge. It is made of painted …
A product manager should ideally be a generalist. Yes, some specialization is required, but in what area? Statistical analysis of research data so you can draw better conclusions? System architecture so your feature specifications make more practical sense? Front-end programming so engineers don’t rebel against you? Graphic design so you can faithfully model the product? …
After three years at my job I decided to move on; my position will not be filled for a while. Some people may have a weird feeling about not having another person take their place: after all, if they don’t replace you, you probably haven’t done much. I, however, think it’s the ultimate badge of …
The book business is undergoing a revolution – not only in the way books are produced (electronically) and published (by the authors themselves), but also in the way books are written in the first place. I’d like to describe the “writing rig” I’m using to write my book, a method that could have only been …
A recent study found that recruiters spend 6 seconds scanning a resume before making their initial decision. The study is biased and superficial, but if true, it must means that most of the reader’s attention goes to recognizable elements, like brand names. Big mistake.
Companies find all kind of excuses to not ship software products. The main reason is typically fear that the product is not ready for prime time. Guess what – if you don’t expose it to real users it never will be. So what stands in our way? Fear. Fear for our company, for our job, for our future. Nobody wants to be associated with a flop.