Jock Busuttil's Blog: I Manage Products, page 31

PRODUCTHEAD: Have you been having visions?

PRODUCTHEAD is a regular newsletter of product management goodness,
curated by Jock Busuttil.

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(nice product)



hello

I gave a talk recently about saving yourself from product management hell.

For me, hell is being a product manager in a directionless organisation that lacks clarity of vision. When there’s no clearly defined destination, nobody can objectively assess the worth of a possible strategy because nobody can tell whether it would lead them in th...

PRODUCTHEAD: The plummeting price of power

PRODUCTHEAD is a regular newsletter of product management goodness,
curated by Jock Busuttil.

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product falling into place



hello

There’s something interesting going on in the alternative energy and renewables markets. Electricity generated from solar, tidal and wind is getting cheaper. A lot cheaper.

And with that, the markets are becoming more attractive to investors seeing reduced costs as a pathway to increased returns on their investments. It’s looki...

Misunderstood metaphors: Product manager as conductor

Product managers are sometimes referred to as the conductor of the orchestra. Some people think that the conductor’s job is to direct the players, to lead them through the music. That would be to misunderstand the relationship. Instead, here’s a different take.

The conductor doesn’t tell the players what to do, they steer and guide the orchestra to deliver the best performance that collection of players can muster. Each of the instrumentalists are highly proficient and have personal respo...

PRODUCTHEAD: Hardware’s harder to manage

PRODUCTHEAD is a regular newsletter of product management goodness,
curated by Jock Busuttil.

Subscribe to PRODUCTHEAD





million dollar product



hello

I’ve always had great admiration for product managers who happen to look after hardware products. Not only do they have to be good at product management, they also have the associated constraints of the process of creating hardware.

Software product managers have their own challenges, sure, but they don’t usually have to worry abou...

PRODUCTHEAD: Hieranarchy

PRODUCTHEAD is a regular newsletter of product management goodness,
curated by Jock Busuttil.

Subscribe to PRODUCTHEAD





pyramid product



hello

If my cursory Google search is anything to go by, I’ve just coined a new word: hieranarchy. It describes the illusion that the people notionally in charge are in control, and the dysfunction that typically characterises most organisations. I think every organisation I’ve worked at has been a hieranarchy to a certain degree.

So this week, ...

Growing together: developing and retaining your product team

34% of product managers surveyed said they left their previous role because there were no opportunities to grow.

In this panel discussion, Lucie McLean (Zalando) discusses growth and career progression for product managers with Jock Busuttil (Product People Limited) and Daniil Pavliuchkov (Tier).

What does product management growth look like?How can lead product managers and line managers create opportunities for their product managers to grow?How can product managers create conversati...

PRODUCTHEAD: A single point of failure

PRODUCTHEAD is a regular newsletter of product management goodness,
curated by Jock Busuttil.

Subscribe to PRODUCTHEAD





everything in its right product



hello

I’m super-stressed and getting a bit snappy with people, and I don’t like myself for it. But I’m finding ways to keep things under control and in perspective.

One of the oddly reassuring thoughts I’ve had is that living through a global pandemic is still less stressful than the job I left in 2012. That was the one that alm...

Podcast: Voxgig Fireside for professional speakers

I’ve just been on Voxgig’s Fireside podcast for professional speakers. In the episode, I reveal how I turned my flair for product management into a speaking career, and how I set up a home studio for live streaming using an old television.

You can listen to the podcast over on Simplicast, or using the widget below, which you can find after the break.

Fireside with Voxgig for Professional Speakers
Episode 63 – Jock Busuttil



Episode notes

Jock Busuttil is a product manager who b...

PRODUCTHEAD: Introverts, extraverts and just a smidge of pseudoscience

PRODUCTHEAD is a regular newsletter of product management goodness,
curated by Jock Busuttil.

Subscribe to PRODUCTHEAD





how to product completely



hello

This week I came across a piece on how introverts and extroverts handle lockdown differently. It shared the perspective of several introvert-extrovert couples, whose experiences I could very much relate to. They seemed to be coping pretty well, all things considered.

Lovely Wife is an extrovert (or “extravert” if we’re being pre...

Open, honest and always improving

Best product management practice in government organisations will look startlingly familiar to anyone who’s worked in a user-centric company. But what does it look like when the usual commercial drivers such as revenue, profits and investors are taken out of the picture?

In government, product is borne out of transparency, quite a lot of cake and a fanatical desire to serve the needs of users.

In this recent video for ProdPad’s webinar series, I talk about the acute challenges of cult...