Brian de Haaff's Blog, page 26
July 17, 2017
You Choose to Do This Every Day
One word can cause a seismic shift in your thinking. A member of our team recently shared a story that proves this. One evening, she heard herself tell her children that she “had to” answer a few more emails before dinner. But she realized this was not entirely true. She did not “have to” answer the emails at that exact moment — she was making a conscious choice to do so.
So she decided to make a small but meaningful change to her lexicon. She started replacing “have to” with “choose to.” It...
July 11, 2017
The Most Important Thing You Should NOT Do Each Day
You probably have a list somewhere. Maybe several scribbled on the backs of receipts, neatly organized in a notebook, or typed out in an app. Each one a litany of tasks to tackle. To-do lists can be great. But a “Not-do” list may be what you really need.
Case in point: I was preparing for a recent vacation and knew I would have limited time to work in the evenings. I simply could not do everything that came my way. So I had to carefully consider how I would spend the time I did have.
I deci...
July 10, 2017
Stop Your Next Presentation to Honor the Now
I am always thinking about what’s next at work. (Even on vacation sometimes, like now.) But at our recent, all-team meeting I made a conscious decision to stop. And I did something I have never done before — I interrupted my presentation and asked everyone to stop too. I wanted us all to take a moment to be in the “now.”
It was a purposeful break with a message — the new is not always better than right now. Sometimes now is all there should be.
There is always a new feature, new project, new...
July 6, 2017
How Not to Scale Your Startup
It started with two people in a garage. The quintessential beginning we hear about many startups. And for good reason — you do not start out with 100 people. Companies begin with a founder or two. Some never leave the garage. The ones that grow solve a real problem and learn how to do it at scale. They do not learn how to scale and then figure out a problem to solve.
Knowing when to scale your company is critical. It is your choice — what do you focus on?
Aha! also began with two people. Alt...
June 27, 2017
Product Managers: Celebrate the Interruptions
You start the day off ready to cruise through your schedule and To-do list. And then… the speed bumps appear out of nowhere. Impromptu meetings. Last-minute requests. Fire drills from the sales team. If this sounds like your typical work day, I have good news for you — you are a fortunate product manager.
Interruptions are not obstacles to your work. Interruptions are opportunities to achieve your goals and solve challenges along the way. Sounds wrong, right?
Let me explain. Maybe this sounds...
June 22, 2017
How This CEO Learned to Let Go
“We no longer want to work with you.” I once had to say this to a well-known multinational technology company. Our team at Aha! had met with them eight times and they were still asking for an additional (free!) six-month product evaluation. The value exchange simply was not there. So, it was time to kindly say goodbye.
And yes, it was also a painful goodbye. Aha! was relatively young at the time and we were in seemingly no position to say “no” to that kind of business. But I knew that we wan...
June 19, 2017
What a 7 Year Old Taught Me About Team Spirit
“Dear Future Me, I hope I work at Aha! And live at the beach. Love, Carson” An Aha! teammate recently shared this note with the company. It was from his 7-year-old son’s school journal. And I was blown away. Aha! is the type of company our kids aspire to work for? Mouth-wide-open speechless.
And then a deep sense of responsibility set in. We have a lot to live up to. But it was not just the expectation of life at Aha! that blew me away — it was the team spirit. Carson’s dad clearly has so mu...
June 13, 2017
10 Steps Product Managers Take to Get to The Lovability Line
I bet you can think of at least a few customers who absolutely love your product. They are vocal, share positive feedback, say that you “get” them, and advocate for your company. But let’s face it — you can probably also think of a few customers who merely like your product. And then there are many others who simply tolerate what you do. It takes work to get these customers over the line and into love.
I call this turning point The Lovability Line — it is where customers move from merely to...
June 5, 2017
5 Ways to Know if Your Boss Is Selfish
Work is life and life is work. It is not always fair or easy. There are good days that remind you why you love what you do. You finish an important project or receive an encouraging word from a colleague. Other times, you put in a big effort but fail to achieve the goal. And you wake up at 3 a.m. mulling over what went wrong.
No one is awake but you. And in this moment, you will know whether your boss really cares.
We all know that sometimes stupendous effort does not equal stupendous achiev...
5 Ways to Know If Your Boss Is Selfish
Work is life and life is work. It is not always fair or easy. There are good days that remind you why you love what you do. You finish an important project or receive an encouraging word from a colleague. Other times, you put in a big effort but fail to achieve the goal. And you wake up at 3 a.m. mulling over what went wrong.
No one is awake but you. And in this moment, you will know whether your boss really cares.
We all know that sometimes stupendous effort does not equal stupendous achiev...
