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July 25 - November 15, 2020
A goal expresses an aim, something we want to achieve.
An objective is a goal that can be measured.
OKRs (objectives and key results) are the measures used to determine if an objective has been met.
human beings, we reach optimum performance when we are focused and relaxed.
I consequently recommend that you do your best to establish honest, realistic goals—goals that can be met—rather than “stretch” goals that are unrealistic from the outset and might negatively impact people’s health.
developing the right attitude towards goal achievement
having the courage to say no to unrealistic expectations and unhe...
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It is all too easy to succumb to organisational pressure and wishful thinking, ignore the concerns of the development team, and insist on meeting aggressive goals. But this does not make them more realistic and achievable.
A stretch goal is a moon shot, a daring and ambitious goal that is extremely difficult to meet,
You should be confident that the user, business, and product goals can be met, and so should the development team and stakeholders.
You have to ensure that your product generates value for the users and business.
you will find it difficult to generate sufficient business value in the long term if your product does not have a compelling value proposition and if it does not create real value for the users.
As product people, we have a responsibility for the impact our products create.
It’s great to have an inspirational vision; it’s wonderful to have meaningful user and business goals; it’s brilliant to have specific product and sprint goals in place.
Aligning people will therefore feel like herding cats—
actively involve the people in the goal-setting process and to give them shared ownership of the goals,
Pay particular attention to the vision, user, and business goals. If these goals are not understood and accepted, then getting people to follow product and sprint goals will be challenging.
Effective conversations not only exchange information between people but also create a shared understanding, build connections, and establish trust.
Listening is at the heart of every successful conversation.
Listening matters to us as product people for the following reasons: It helps you acquire new information, it increases people’s support in product decisions, and it allows you to build and strengthen connections.
As Steve Covey observed, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply”
The fifth and deepest listening level is empathic listening, which is also referred to as active, deep, and effective listening.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This experience gives rise to four common but unhelpful conflict strategies: competitive confrontation, passive aggression, conflict avoidance, and passivity
Competitive Confrontation Employing competitive confrontation means being forceful and pushing for what you want.
Competitive confrontation can manifest itself in raising the voice, blaming, judging, demanding, or even trying to coerce and manipulate others.
If I don’t stand up and fight, I’ll lose out and my interests will be sidelined. Any empathy I show will be seen as vulnerability and used against me. I’m right; they’re wrong (an assumption I discuss in more detail in the next section).
Passive Aggression This strategy is an indirect form of confrontation: While pretending that all is well, you engage by expressing displeasure or resentment.
I am being treated unfairly. No one really cares about what I want. Speaking up won’t make a difference; it could make things worse.
Conflict Avoidance As its name suggests, this behaviour aims to stay clear of conflict, often to preserve harmony and maintain relationships—at least temporarily.
Conflict is dangerous. More harm will be caused if I try to address the issue than if I let it be. If I don’t deal with it, it will go away or resolve itself.
Passivity Last but not least, passivity is the opposite of competitive confrontation: You give up what you want and agree to the other person’s requests or demands, thereby trying to appease the individual.
Hackman (2011, 149)
