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PRODUCTHEAD is a newsletter of the best articles, videos and podcasts from product leaders and commentators all over the world, curated by Jock Busuttil. All neatly packaged up in a regular email delivery for your reading, viewing and listening pleasure.
Jock Busuttil publishes articles regularly on I Manage Products, a blog for product people to learn about product management from the ground up.
Recent articles
- PRODUCTHEAD: Writing for the needs of your audience (communication toolkit #3)by Jock Busuttil on June 27, 2022
» What you write online is there to serve the users’ needs » Writing for the web = using short sentences » People read differently on the web than they do on paper » Tools exist to help make your writing easier to understand
- 86: The 4 unintended side-effects of risk aversion and what to do about themby Jock Busuttil on June 22, 2022
When we become more worried about risk, four unintended things also tend to happen: bottlenecking, erosion of trust, ossification of process, and a risk appetite that tends towards zero. Here’s what you can do about them.
- PRODUCTHEAD: How to read more effectively (communication toolkit #2)by Jock Busuttil on June 20, 2022
» Read a format that suits you best, whether physical or digital » As you read, ask yourself questions of the content to keep yourself engaged with it » Analytical reading allows you to understand, then accept or reject the key idea being presented » F-shaped reading occurs on web content because people are short on time or engagement
- PRODUCTHEAD: Active listening (communication toolkit #1)by Jock Busuttil on June 13, 2022
» Being a better listener can improve your productivity, as well as your ability to influence, persuade and negotiate » Psychological safety partly depends on your team feeling they are being listened to
- What’s the difference between ‘measures of success’ and ‘definition of done’?by Jock Busuttil on June 9, 2022
Hi Jock, How would you describe ‘measures of success’ versus the ‘definition of done’? I’m trying to explain the difference simply to my team.
- PRODUCTHEAD: Dropping the masks at workby Jock Busuttil on June 6, 2022
» We perform better when we bring our emotions to work » Call out toxic workplaces, but also have an exit strategy » An effective team needs: psychological safety, dependability, structure & clarity, meaning, and impact » Treat psychological safety as a key business metric, as important as revenue, cost of sales, or uptime
- PRODUCTHEAD: The difference between good and bad strategyby Jock Busuttil on May 30, 2022
Rumelt: » “Good strategy grows out of independent and careful assessment of the situation” » “Bad strategy follows the crowd, substituting popular slogans for insights” Eriksson: » “Deciding what not to do is just as important as deciding what to do”
- PRODUCTHEAD: A primer on analytics for beginnersby Jock Busuttil on May 23, 2022
» You can only tell if you’ve been successful if you can measure it » Analytics approaches that work for others may not work in your context » Behind every metrics is a behaviour » The point of an experiment is to learn
- PRODUCTHEAD: Defining servicesby Jock Busuttil on May 16, 2022
A service: » is defined from an external end user’s point of view » describes something someone would want to do, in their language » has an outcome that relates to the organisation’s goals » includes all the steps between the user and provider » includes all the parts involved in delivering it
- 85: The agency trapby Jock Busuttil on May 11, 2022
How can product management fit into an agency business model? Spoiler alert: _not easily_
- PRODUCTHEAD: Component teams, feature teams and centralised skill teamsby Jock Busuttil on May 9, 2022
» A component team’s focus on a specific technology can result in being less user-centric » Feature teams are better suited to deal with innovation, uncertainty, and change » Centralised skill teams should aim to make themselves redundant by disseminating knowledge
- PRODUCTHEAD: The hidden patterns within design systemsby Jock Busuttil on May 2, 2022
» Federation squares the circle of having both a cohesive design system and autonomous product teams » A successful design system closely meets the needs of developers of apps and the end-users of those apps » For a design system to appeal to third parties, it has to accommodate their brand identity and niche audience needs