A product management blog
Being intentional about how we relate with coworkers - Some years ago, I was in session with a newish client. This leader was expressing their frustration with a peer. This off-screen co-worker—I’ll call him Jacob—had been a frequent topic in our first few coaching sessions. Jacob and this leader were like oil and water, and the two seemed to...
Essential product management reading - Updated for 2026. There are lots of excellent books about product management and product leadership, but these are the 44 books I d consider essential to any PM’s bookshelf. Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making By: Tony Fadell Tony Fadell brought us the iPod and then went on...
My perspective twenty years later - That's me in the JotSpot office in Palo Alto, Summer 2005, a few months before we were acquired by Google. This is my retrospective on my classic essay, How to Hire a Product Manager, originally written on its tenth anniversary in 2015 and updated on its twentieth anniversary in 2025....
The case for humor, play, and letting go - Gregg Popovich. Photograph by Soobum Im, USA TODAY Sports Gregg Popovich, the legendary basketball coach, has retired from coaching and will be moving into a new role as the San Antonio Spurs president of basketball operations. I have long been a fan of Coach Pop, who has led his teams...
Why this job feels so isolating and what you can do about it - Product leadership is lonely. While you may be surrounded by other people, it often feels like there’s no one to turn to who really gets what you’re up against. You don’t have other product peers to commiserate with anymore, like you had earlier in your career (and lower down the...
Embracing uncertainty by confronting our inner stories - I don’t know. When were you last willing to say that in front of your team? How does it make you feel to even consider saying that? For most leaders, saying, “I don’t know,” is terrifying. We’re led to believe that great leaders always have the answer. Admitting uncertainty feels...
Learning to be a better storyteller in the workplace - My coaching clients often ask for help becoming better storytellers, one of the most important skills for product leaders. What follows is everything I’ve collected over the years. My number one recommendation is to become a better story consumer. Read fiction, comic books, children’s books, fairy tales, and folktales. Watch...
What it is and how to use it - In the last newsletter, I introduced the concepts of Reactive and Creative leadership. I want to continue to explore that today. As we saw last time, the majority of leaders and organizations operate from a Reactive mindset most of the time. When we’re operating from a reactive posture, we see...
Evolving from fear-driven to purposeful leadership - One of the most powerful frameworks I’ve come to deeply understand over the past few years is the distinction between Reactive and Creative leadership. It’s become foundational to my coaching work, and I’ve been able to apply it to every dimension of my life. Of course, the underlying concept isn’t...
Express your full magnificence by living in your Zone of Genius - Iremember countless evenings as a teenager in the 1980s when I d retire to my family s Apple ][+ computer after dinner. I d excitedly jump back into a BASIC program, feverishly coding away at some problem. Then, what seemed like only moments later, mom or dad would be tapping me on the...
Leading with vision and purpose - I joined Melissa Perri s Product Thinking Podcast to talk about the evolution of product management, the stark difference between empowered and unempowered product teams,and why ultimately, product is all about people. I have lightly edited the transcript for accuracy. Melissa Perri: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Product...
What to do when it’s time for some tough talk - Frequently, a coaching conversation orbits around a difficult conversation: everything from firing an employee, confronting a disrespectful co-worker, delivering tough feedback, to having a heart-to-heart with a co-founder. Sometimes procrastinating or avoiding the conversation is the source of persistent anxiety. Or the client is aware that the…
Sharing guides to working with one another can lead to psychological safety - I learned a lot over the years from Urs Hölzle, Google’s eighth employee and the company’s first real engineering leader. Many of you have heard me refer to his legendary “Escalation Manifesto.” But he was also known to Googlers for his “Guide to Urs,” a document describing his leadership philosophy...
Making the shift from reactive to creative leadership - I joined Lenny s Podcast to talk about coaching, product leadership, and the transition from reactive to creative. Listen to the audio or watch the video at the bottom of this page. I have lightly edited the transcript for accuracy. Lenny Rachitsky (00:00:22): Over his 14-year career at Google. Ken Norton...
A relationship built on communication, candor, and trust - In my coaching sessions with CPOs and other senior product leaders, the relationship with a CEO is a frequent topic. Sometimes there’s been a colossal dust-up; other times, merely a lingering sense that the two are not quite aligned. Often, our conversation will go something like this: Client: I’m having...