A good strategy (according to Rumelt) has 3 parts:
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The diagnosis - framing the challenge
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The guiding policy - the approach to dealing with the issues in the diagnosis
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Coherent Actions - the actions, resource commitments, and policies needed to carry out the guiding policy
Strategy is a cohesive response to an important challenge (Richard Rumelt).
This is a phenomenal distillation of the concept.
“Creativity is just problem solving”
“Creativity is just problem solving. Once people see it as problem solving, it stops seeming like magic, because it’s not. Brokers are just people who pay more attention to what problems look like and how they’ve been solved before. People who are most creative are the ones who have learned that feeling scared is a good sign. We just have to learn how to trust ourselves enough to let the creativity out.”
-Ed Catmull
#Quotes
Remember: If you compliment someone else’s dog, it really is ok if they’re not gracious about it.
It shouldn’t change a thing for you - or the dog.
“Be careful not to overcomplicate your systems to the point where you can only maintain them when you are at your peak of mental clarity.”
-the David Allen Company
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“I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have.”
-Coleman Cox
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In what sort of future do you want to live?
Having that small sweet with your morning coffee makes it marginally less likely you’ll eat the healthy bowl of oatmeal later.
Think about how small decisions make actions easier or harder for your future self.
Remember:
Empathize with your clients.
Understand their needs as thoroughly as possible before proposing any solutions.
Always back your recommendations with evidence.
“Computers fail, checklists fail, everything can fail. But people can’t. We have to make decisions, and that includes deciding what deserves our attention. The key is forcing yourself to think. As long as you’re thinking, you’re halfway home.”
-Richard Champion de Crespigny
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“By far the dominant reason for not releasing sooner was a reluctance to trade the dream of success for the reality of feedback.”
-Kent Beck
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There are no silver bullets
“Every tool you use impacts your abilities while using that tool. It increases some capabilities while decreasing others.
For example, a chimp fishing for ants with a stick can’t use her hand for another purpose while holding that stick.”
-David Kadavy
Tools perform specific functions, ideally useful ones.
Good tools perform their functions efficiently and are often cheaper, faster, simpler, and/or better than alternatives.
Great tools are transformative. Notable examples include sharpened stones, metal lathes, maps, and alphabets.
The proverbial hammer is great for driving steel nails into wood. But even the best hammer can’t help if the blueprints are wrong.
You say you want your product managers to write better user stories? Changing your word processor won’t help much.
Tools don’t magically fix broken processes, dysfunctional leadership, misaligned incentives, or training gaps.
See also:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life.”
-Mary Oliver
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“It is what you read when you dont have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”
-Oscar Wilde
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“An enviroment that is not safe to disagree in is not an environment focused on growth - it’s an environment focused on control.”
-Wendi Jade
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The first step with anything new is always voracious learning - which may cause some discomfort.
Remember to push through this.
Jot down a list of open questions. Keep it updated as you discover answers in order to document the progression of your understanding.
Concisely sharing what you know about a given topic, including the relevant context, and why it’s valuable information is an exceptionally important skill.
You should constantly practice this.
Remember what Heraclitus wrote:
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
- There are no true do-overs.
- The world is in constant change. And so are you.
- Don’t ever be afraid to try again.
“Motherhood: all love begins and ends there.”
-Robert Browning
#Quotes
“Do not internalize the industrial model. You are not one of the myriad of interchangeable pieces, but a unique human being, and if you’ve got something to say, say it, and think well of yourself while you’re learning to say it better.”
-David Mamet
#Quotes
There will be special moments in your career as a product manager.
You will meet and collaborate with remarkable people.
Working together, you will somehow manage to make the world just a little bit better than the way you found it.
Cherish these times.