Brian de Haaff's Blog, page 25

There Is a Hawk Hovering in Your Office

“Quick, hide!” You hear the whispered warning from your co-worker. The hawkish boss is circling the office again — hunting for intel and ready to swoop. He sees no problem with preying on his own employees to get what he wants. Squawking about status updates being delivered at the end of each day, he claws his way into every meeting and conversation.

The boss is using information from the team to feather a cushy nest at the top. And eventually, everyone will fly the coop.

Creating an environ...

This One Behavior Is Stalling Your Career

“I have some feedback for you.” When you hear these words, do you go into fight or flight mode? Maybe you are a runner. You think about an escape route. So you defensively scramble for a convenient excuse to avoid the discussion entirely.

I know that the sting of negative feedback can hurt. It is tough to take for all of us. Especially if you feel you are giving your best — hearing that it might not be good enough can feel like a verbal slap. So it is only natural that you would want to avoid...

How Sam Really Failed on a Remote Team

I am sure this has happened to you at least once. You are trying to solve a problem at work and need help from a colleague. So you send off a quick chat message. No answer. You follow up with an email. Still nothing. Hello? Is anyone out there?

This used to happen to me all the time. And that MIA co-worker was a guy named Sam. (I changed his name here to protect his identity.)

Absent co-workers are frustrating in any workplace. But for remote teams, this kind of “Where did Sam go?” situatio...

Hey Boss: Stop Being My Timekeeper

“Let’s get it done ASAP.” How many times have you heard this from your boss? Maybe it was an urgent phone call or an email flagged as “high priority.” The pressure of a countdown. Tick, tick, tick… But let’s be real — I bet those demanding “needed it yesterday” calls and emails did not speed up your work.

Your boss cannot make you work faster. The motivation to do great work and do it fast has to come from within.

I have always worked in fast-paced environments. This is probably because I...

The 10 Main Components of a Business Model

I learned how to write business models in graduate school. Although, it really felt more like writing long and complicated novels. I once spent three months working on one for a hypothetical home services referral website. I even conjured up crowd-sourced reviews for my would-be business. The process revealed a depressing plot twist.

In the time I worked on this detailed plan, I could have actually built a meaningful version of the product (with technical help, of course). This is why people...

The Best Product Managers Hurry Up and Take It Slow

Here is a riddle for you: How do you go really fast while taking your time? No, this is not a trick question. It is actually inspired by an old Latin phrase, “festina lente.” By now you are probably wondering why you should care about this ancient oxymoron.

The phrase translates to “make haste slowly.” It might not mean anything to you at first. But I believe that festina lente should matter to product managers.

Achievements are made when you can strike a balance between urgency and diligen...

Are You Sprinting to a Disappointing Career?

Friends with tunnel vision. Only interested in joining a company that is “just a year away from an IPO.” Do you know anyone like this — running hard, hoping to hit the tech lottery? I do. A friend recently explained that he was mid-career and needed to have a big hit quick.

Unfortunately, he said the same thing 10 years and five jobs ago.

But here is the thing — most careers are not quick and big hits are unlikely. This is why sprinting from job to job, hoping for a gold medal will most li...

The Most Embarrassing Meeting Fails We Never Saw Coming

There is a slow-motion disaster unfolding before your eyes. It is a cringe-worthy moment at work. And you are watching it all go down. You wish you could plug your ears and avert your eyes — but you cannot because you are sitting in a small conference room.

A hungry colleague dialed into the conference call and is munching and crunching at rock concert decibels. Another co-worker with drooping eyelids begins to gently snore. And to top it all off, the meeting presenter accidentally opens up...

Do Good Work for Its Own Sake

I am not a gambler. But I know many people like to partake in games of fortune, and some even have a get-rich-quick dream. Hitting those lucky numbers and raking in enough cash to live a life of leisure. Let’s imagine this actually happens — maybe you win the lottery. I hate to bring you down, but I want to tell you the truth as I see it.

It might seem fun to quit your job and laze around for a few months. And that would be healthy for lots of people who have been toiling for as long as they...

Hey Boss: I Am Begging You to Let Me Work From Home

I studied philosophy. (True.) You know the old cliché about the tree falling in the forest. If no one is there to hear it, did it really make a sound? Well, remote work may seem that way for some. After all, how can you be sure people are actually working if you are not there to witness it?

I can tell you firsthand that remote teams get work done. Often, more work than you could ever imagine.

I know this because I have the privilege to lead the team at Aha! — a completely distributed company...