I’m sure most of us will have been in a post-mortem at some point in our careers, to look back on a particular project or event. Derived from the medical world, the purpose of a post-mortem is to analyse a project and explain as well as document what happened. A detailed and thorough post-mortem takes place soon after a project or a campaign has been completed, the idea being that we can learn most in hindsight. …

Following the hugely successful “Inspired: How To Create Tech Products Customers Love” internationally renown product management guru Marty Cagan has just published “Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products”. Together with Chris Jones, Cagan captures how the best product companies approach technology and empower product teams. Cagan and Jones are probably in the best position to see a stark difference between the technology-powered products created by the best companies and the products created by most companies. …

‘So, what is trust? We could say that a person or organization trusts another when both sides have reason to expect that neither will take advantage of the other, and, whenever possible, will even do things that advance the other’s interests.’ Brigitte Jordan

Trusted relationships are critical, in every profession and in every walk of life. In my latest book “Managing Product = Managing Tension” I go into the detail of four key ways in which we can both create and maintain trusted relationships: influencing without authority, shared goals, transparency and psychological safety.

Influence without authority

We will need to invest time and effort in understanding what makes the other person tick. To do so, we can use so-called ‘currencies’ which we can exchange to create a situation based on mutual trust. The concept of currencies is derived from the ‘Influence Without Authority Model’ by Allan R. Cohen and David L. Bradford. This model is based on exchange and reciprocity — making trades for what you desire in return for what the other person desires. There are a number of potential currencies that one can use to trade: inspiration, task, position and personal…

A few years ago I worked with a team member who expressed his struggle to work with another colleague. “I don’t know whether it’s his Mediterranean temperament, but when he talks it all feels so brusque,” he said of our colleague. This is just my own example, but it’s exactly the kind of scenario which Erin Meyer’s book “The Culture Map” (2014) addresses in great detail. In “The Culture Map: Decoding How People Think, Lead, And Get Things Done Across Culture” Meyer uses an eight-scale framework. …

In “Rebel Talent: Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life”, Harvard Business School Professor Francesca Gino doesn’t write about sabotaging your company or product. If you feel like being disobedient or contrarian just for the sake of it, then Gino’s book isn’t really going to add much value. If, however, you’re looking to challenge conventions or battle inertia to come up with new ideas and innovate, than you should definitely pick up “Rebel Talent”.

In the book, Gino touches on a number of critical aspects of breaking the rules in a way to move you forward. She explains how “rebels are engaged; they have abundant energy and mental resilience, they invest in their work and personal relationships, persist even when the roads get tough.” …

In her latest book, Julia Shalet describes a test which will help in finding out whether your idea is worth pursuing: “The Really Good Idea Test”. I’ve known and worked with Julia for a good few years now, and she’s got a wealth of experience working with companies and teams on developing their ideas and propositions. The Really Good Idea Test consists of 7 practical steps:

Write hypothesis

Identify risks

Create questions

Find interviewees

Measures & targets

Conduct interviews

Analyse and decide

For each of these steps Shalet provides templates and checklists, making these steps very accessible and intuitive as a result. You can, for instance, use the book’s introduction and closing checklists to ensure you do all the right things at the start and end of the interview. The ultimate goal of The Really Good Idea Test is to enable its readers and their businesses to make evidence based decisions. …

Storytelling is what we do as product managers. Whenever I talk about the importance of storytelling, I’m always at pains to stress that storytelling isn’t the same as lying or being liberal with the truth. When I think about storytelling, I think about selling the vision for a product or explaining the value of a product.

Particularly as a product person, I feel that stories are a powerful tool in taking people on a journey, These people could be team members, stakeholders, board members or customers. I was reminded of this significance when I recently read “The Science of Storytelling” by Will Storr. In his book, for instance, Storr draws a close relationship between stories and social emotions. “Gossip exists to teach us about other people, to tell us who they really are. Most concern moral infractions: people breaking the rules of the group. (…) We enjoy great books or immersive films because they’re activating and exploiting these ancient social emotions.” …

My summary of Karat before using it? I know that Karat is geared towards influencers, people with followings on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. I’m probably not part of Karat’s target audience :)

How does Karat explain itself in the first minute?

“The back card for creators” is the first thing I read on Karat’s homepage. I can’t help but think about Nando’s — a restaurant chain that specialises in Portuguese-African food — black card, which allegedly only handful of celebrities have. This card allows them to free Nando’s food for a year, free to the card holder and four of their friends. …