Consulting Is a Bet; Everyone’s Gambling
I was walking Nina home from a friend s house, thinking about Annie Duke s Thinking in Bets, when it [ ]
Eleganthack
Designing Business, and the Business of Design
Latest posts
Disappointed Optimists
I teach a class called Design for Behavior Change. But let me tell you a secret: all design [ ]
The Validation Gap
Years ago I was at a Web 2.0 conference in New York, sitting next to a young guy [ ]
“Business as Usual” Is a Terrible Name for Vital Work
Often when I help a company roll out OKRs, the same thing happens. We set the company objective, [ ]
Scale Is a Tactic, Not a Virtue
I ve been thinking about scale the same way I ve been thinking about speed: as something Silicon Valley treats [ ]
Speed Is a Tactic, Not a Virtue
I was reading a post on Anthropic s blog about AI product management, and the author talked about speed [ ]
Everyone on Your Team Is Right (And That’s the Problem)
There’s a Cold War that runs through almost every product team. The frontline folks—designers, PMs, engineers—are quietly frustrated. [ ]
My Information Diet (And What You Should Actually Read)
People find out I read twenty-three AI newsletters (and unsubscribed from as many more) and immediately ask the [ ]
Vibe-Coding Is Not Need-Finding
Last month a product designer showed me her new prototype. She d spent two weeks vibe-coding a tool for [ ]
In Praise of Guessing
Last night at the Lean Product Meetup someone asked me, How do you set Key Results when you [ ]
I’ll Know It When I Build It
Last week I found myself vibe coding a personal OKR app. I d start with a rough idea, look [ ]
AI’s Missing Ingredient
You know what s ridiculous? We have one of the most powerful technologies software has ever seen, and we re [ ]
The Formula That Changed How I Think About Design
A few years ago, I stumbled across a formula from Kurt Lewin, a psychologist working in the 1930s [ ]
The Three Most Powerful Words in User Research
Last quarter I watched a Stanford student conduct her first user interview. She had a beautiful script—twelve questions, [ ]
Your Resolution Isn’t the Problem. Your Measurement Is.
It s January, and millions of people have made the same resolution: Eat better. By February, most will have [ ]
Before You Cite That Study
Last week Anthropic released findings from their new AI Interviewer tool. Among the headlines: people are optimistic about [ ]
What Sam Altman Just Taught Us About OKRs
Yesterday, Sam Altman declared a code red at OpenAI. According to leaked memos, he s pausing advertising experiments, AI [ ]
UX Is Your Moat (And You’re Ignoring It)
Last week, Google released Nano Banana Pro, their latest image generator. The demos looked impressive. I opened Gemini [ ]
The Dancing Bear Problem
There’s an old circus act where a bear shuffles around on its hind legs. The audience goes wild—not [ ]
KPIs Are Your Dashboard. OKRs Are Your GPS to Somewhere New.
I got asked again last week: What s the difference between KPIs and OKRs? The person asking was a [ ]
The Premortem: Your Product’s Autopsy Before Launch
Most product teams plan for success, which makes sense until you realize that planning only for success is [ ]
Context Engineering for Non Engineers
Context Engineering for Non Engineers “Prompt engineering is dead,” the podcast guest said. “Context engineering is everything now.” [ ]
Why Your Brain Matters More Than Your Grade
I m teaching CS177 Human-Centered Product Management in the fall. AI will be a core part of their work. [ ]
Why I’m Thrilled My Kid is Going to Sarah Lawrence (And You Should Want a Liberal Arts Degree Too)
When I tell people my kid is heading to Sarah Lawrence for a liberal arts degree, I get [ ]
Building Product Sense: Why Your Gut Needs an Education
When AI researchers started obsessing over “taste” last year, I had to laugh. They’d discovered what product people [ ]