The stars might win trophies, but showcase teams rarely last, and it’s never really about the team.​

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Congratulations!
So you made the showcase team! That means you’re the best of the best. The cream of the crop. The highest of the cotton. You earned a spot on that team because you’re better than the competition. You can hit, kick, or dribble… or maybe you can code, direct, sell, or strategize… better than the rest.

That’s right, showcase teams aren’t limited to sports...

Writing often begins as personal therapy, but to become an effective writer, remember you are not the reader

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Writing is an outlet for many, and most people start writing because they have something important to say. A journal entry is an exhale — splattering your deoxygenated air across the page to make room in your life for a rejuvenating, deep breath. Check out these Benefits of Journaling to get started.

If business answers the who, what, and where, science answers the how and when. Product answers the why in this short story.

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What happened at the party
The triumphant blend of business and science paved the way for modern product methodologies. Business needed to count on a steady stream of revenue with new innovations. Science needed a way to commercialize their inventions. They had a jazzy moment, and boom: we started using the scientific method to hypothesize...

And why they’re a dose of healthy energy for your team.

If I had to pick only one interview question to ask candidates for the rest of my life, it would be this (three-in-one!):

What is the hardest thing you ever willfully endured, why did you do it, and what did you learn?

To some people, signing up for a physical race of any kind — be it an adventure race, a single sport event, or a multi-sport event — sounds like torture. To others, it sets a deadline and a goal, which, in turn, forces training, prioritization...

Stand your ground. Catalyze frustration into a powerful move for your team. Forgive, but do not forget. The world needs you.

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Data Talks
According to a 2022 study by MetLife, women in STEM are twice as likely to leave their jobs as women outside the industry, citing stress and burnout as the primary factors. Even more alarmingly, “the study found that 70 percent of women in STEM believed their employer valued their male colleagues more than them, compared to 38 percent of women working in other fields.”

Thirty traits of product managers at different stages of product maturity.

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I firmly believe Product Management is one of the most widely varied and largely misunderstood disciplines. Ask anyone to define the role of a ‘Product Manager’ and you can likely produce a five-to-ten page job description with a high degree of variability in the job responsibilities, with everything from the standard, ‘Create and execute the product strategy’ to ‘In concert with legal counsel, lead the development of the product’s legal terms and privacy policy.’..

What we can learn about your product’s maturation, by observing the evolution of a garden through the seasons.

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Drawing a comparison between product development and the seasonal evolution of a garden may seem far-fetched and require more abstract thinking than typical business articles, but bear with me. It’s not a novel concept, as indicated by product lifecycle maps (see example below), but hopefully I can show it in a new light...

​Balance the practicalities of product development with your real goals: inspiring customers and empowering sales.

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First, Focus on a Vision

Product leaders are often faced with conflicting priorities. Which product deserves your attention? Which features should we build in that product, and in what order? How should those features function? Who, out of all the people in this world, are the product’s potential customers? How should we price it...

Seizing the day takes discipline, guts, and gratitude. But you’re a genie with powers untapped. So tap them.

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Pause and Reflect

Listen carefully. In the silence. You are living through echoes of billions of wishes and dreams of our ancestors. The wishes that life could be more accommodating, liberating, and inspiring. The dreams of a better world for their children...

Skate toward your daily finish line with tactical precision by organizing and prioritizing your tasks.

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Like a Record, Baby

Sometimes it feels like we’re professional stuntmen and women — spending our days juggling armfuls of balls while spinning in circles on an ice rink — centrifugal forces tugging on us. One lap down. Check. A few balls released from the juggle stack. Check. Check...

The most memorable productivity involves laughter, a tiny bit of insanity, and being proud of your outcomes.

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Task List Trauma

The problem with being ruthlessly productive is you sometimes forget to have fun in the process. Breathe. If you die tonight, the world will keep going. So, what legacy do you want to leave?

Why the product adoption lifecycle applies to human interactions and how to authentically build advocates — for yourself.

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Calling All Advocates

Think of a product you love. What do you love about it? Do you love it enough to tell others about it? If so, you’re an advocate for that product. That business is lucky to have you...

The case for hybrid work, and why transferring energy in person is so much more effective than through a camera.

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March 18, 2020 was the last time I was in an office for an extended time. For the last two-and-a-half years I’ve been remote, working full time from home, with a few one-day business trips here and there. But nothing like last week.

Last week, in mid-October 2022, I did a full immersion with my new company...

Latte with an extra shot of humility, please.

Last spring I fell off my bike at a major intersection. I was 35 miles into a 40-mile training ride, distracted, and hungry. I pressed the ‘walk’ button at the red light, lost my balance, tried to unclip my bike cleat from my left pedal, and, instead, toppled over. There I lay, in a heap — not injured, just embarrassed, while upwards of thirty cars watched from 360 degrees around the intersection.

I could have quit that first race back in 2007 before I ever started. Four-foot waves crashed on the shores of the mid-Atlantic, washing grown men onto the sand after they failed to get past the breakers. I trembled on the beach, eying them — these triathletes who looked so much more experienced than I was. They had it all: the tri suits, the nice goggles, the chiseled bodies.

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Then I went out. I dove...

As technology races forward, I ask my fellow product friends to consider the implications of our collective actions on society at large. The clock is ticking. Did you know 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year and 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6–17 experience a mental health disorder each year? What’s more, the overall suicide rate in the U.S. has increased by 35% since 1999.

What else has happened since 1999? Connectivity.

Apply product management methodologies to your writing and you may find yourself more disciplined, inspired, calculated, and successful.

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Your writing is a product — a product of your imagination, your upbringing, your experiences, your tenacity, your opinions, and your feelings. It is, quite simply, a product of you. Products are all around you: things you can touch, taste, feel, see, smell, and hear...

When members of product, design, and engineering teams come together to solve problems, they can create transformative results. This is as true in the physical world as it is in digital. Here are three examples of how product, design, and engineering come together to inspire innovation, function, and delight. May it also inspire you in your endeavors. Cheers!

Who are you, really? Whatever your profession or hobbies, when we engage with others, we all convey a personal brand. Like it or not, if you don’t establish one for yourself, others will do it for you. How can you avoid being pegged into a mold that doesn’t quite fit?

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Take control. Build your brand. Carve your path.

I wrote three novels in eighteen months. The first drafts were rough, I had to edit them substantially, and they’re not published… yet. But I found my rhythm, and you can too.

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​There is rhythm all around us: our bodies’ daily circadian rhythms, seasons, environmental and biological cycles, our heartbeats, the lapping of waves, the pulsing of music…

I recently listened to a discussion on the topic of highly engaged employees: what does it mean to be one? What kinds of impacts can they have? It reminded me of living a highly engaged life — one in which you are actively contributing. One in which you can produce outcomes orders of magnitude higher than those who are not living an engaged life. 

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But life’s not a competition against others. It’s a competition against yourself. 

I recently picked up an old novel I wrote a couple years ago. It was my first. I knew it needed edits — I hired a developmental editor who told me so, and I had several beta readers provide feedback, but I shoved it under a rug and distracted myself by writing two other novels.

 

Each novel I wrote became easier, faster, leaner, more compelling. Each novel’s plot propelled more quickly with better developed characters...

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In this four-part series, we’re exploring practical applications of the Agile software development methodology in a non-software world. For those unfamiliar, Agile is a way of working. A way of thinking.

It emphasizes the importance of maximizing output by minimizing input (think: efficiency). Moreover, it encourages constant learning—akin to applying the scientific method to question, learn, and iterate on a problem.

Nate has been a good friend of mine for years. Our kids are in the same class and our families get together regularly to hang out on the weekends. He and his wife, Kate, have introduced us to a number of amazing experiences, like camping with small children, renting an armada of houseboats for a week on Smith Mountain Lake, and learning to play Catan. Over time, we developed a strong bond talking about our families and our hobbies, but one of my favorite things to talk to Nate about is our jobs...

On a hot Saturday afternoon in late August I walked up to the warehouse with my daughter after hearing a local non-profit was collecting donations for Afghan refugees.

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Earlier that day I’d applied for other volunteer opportunities at local organizations but found nothing immediately actionable—they were only putting names on a list. I stood in my kitchen feeling restless as I watched the planes fly into Dulles airport...

Now let's look at Agile in the arts. 

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​All art requires some form of agility to reach its maximum potential. Think of music, visual arts, sculptures, and writing. It all starts with a hum, a sketch, or a concept the artist will mold and shape until their vision is achieved. And even then, other artists might find ways to iterate on the final product!

Chime. Ding. Buzz. We get notifications all day. When it starts to feel overwhelming, take back some control!

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In mid November I sat at my desk completely fed up. Everyone always seemed to need something from me. No, I’m not that important. I just get a shitload of notifications everyday, like most of us with smartphones, smart watches, personal email accounts, cell phone numbers, work email accounts, chat & messaging channels...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about writers. How much I love them. How they are brilliant. How they can make you laugh and cry all at once over characters who, in many cases, are entirely fictitious.

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​How they can touch millions of people, starting movements or influencing culture. How they can find new ways to tell the oldest stories. How they can make the invisible visible.

Do you ever find yourself on repeat?

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“I thought we just talked about this last month,” you think, as you sit in another meeting with the same people having a similar discussion. Regardless if the problem is that people just can’t seem to latch onto the concept you are sharing, or they get it but aren’t empowered to affect change... 

Who doesn’t love rainbows and unicorns? Seriously — I don’t care how old you are, your gender, or your attitude… an explosion of color and a hint of magic are sure to catch your eye and make most of us smile. It’s why unicorns are so popular right now. It’s also how Disney continues to stay in business and make adults like me giggle...

I recently took off from Dulles on a rainy, dreary day. The mist clung to my hair as I walked up the ramp to the little 50-person commuter jet. We took off like only a small jet can… instant torque and acceleration down the runway, which sported lights as far as the eye could see, beautifully lit like Broadway... 

Do you remember your first day of kindergarten?

I don’t remember mine explicitly, but I definitely remember what I wore: a mint green dress with a white lacy top my mom sewed. I had to wear a sign that spoke for me, in case I suddenly became mute at the age of five.

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I remember the anticipation of... 

Do you sit in window seats on planes and voraciously consume the views of majestic lands below? Or do you prefer to remain firmly planted on the ground and inspect the bark of a tree or the animal life around a pond? Do you appreciate the beauty of both?

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From the top it's a marvelous orchestration of rivers snaking through the land, forests scattered to the snow-capped mountains... 

Have you ever coordinated a Disney vacation? Or have you been lucky enough to tag along on someone else’s hour-by-hour plan? My Disney experience started the night we decided to book our trip. We had been talking about it for a while but never fully committed. I realized, after searching the ‘interwebs’ randomly...

Thump-thump-thump-thump. Your eyes fly open.

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Your heart is fluttering in your chest as your alarm goes off in the wee hours of race day.

You jump out of bed with the adrenaline already flowing and peek outside to check the weather conditions. It is pitch black dark but the sun will soon rise, giving birth to a new day of competitive fear and excitement...

Undulay undulay mommy EI EI ah ooooo what's poppin tonight?

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Yeahhh... Nelly knew what was up in 2000. Though I doubt he was citing the acronym for emotional intelligence. Now if he could've just worked in a reference to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in that song I'd be a conspiracy theorist.

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The struggle is real. If AI is the future, then EI is the dark horse...