Blog
Tools Series: Loom – Using Video to drive more efficient communication
Recently our CEO at Steer73 shared a Loom as part of a client update. And this got me thinking - there are so many great tools out there that help us make work easier, faster and more collaborative. As part of a ‘Tools’ series I’m going to dive into things that I use...
Startups: The Untold Reality Behind The Glittering Success Stories
I came across this fascinating podcast last week - https://www.finguppodcast.com. Hosted by Deanne Rhynard the discussions centre around the realities behind success stories. The f’ing up podcast aims to ‘normalise the feelings of failure we all experience throughout...
Leadership Taboos: Are You Guilty of These Career-Killing Moves?
The old adage ‘lead by example’ could not be truer than in cementing your position as a leader within a product-led organisation. Product management requires not only the wearing of so many hats but also a high level of understanding, stakeholder and crisis...
Effective Product Roadmapping: Strategies, Tools and Best Practice
Moving from vision to a successful product launch is almost like setting sail into uncharted waters. The reality of bringing anything to market is always fraught with unexpected crests and troughs. A roadmap is almost like the rope helping you along that journey. A...
We’re all Product Designers – The Imperative for Product Managers
I’ll never forget listening to AJ&Smart founder Jonathan Courtney on the much loved ‘Jake and Jonathan’ podcast (Previously known as The Product Breakfast Club) Being a founder, CEO, strategist and much more, Jonathan chose in one episode to simply state ‘we’re...
Unveiling the Power of Emotional Intelligence in Product Leadership
Whilst the world of product continues to espouse theory, seminars, training and hefty tomes on process, one aspect remains timeless and paramount: effective leadership. However, the definition of effective leadership has undergone a significant transformation. Today,...
Navigating Redundancies in the Tech Sector: A Guide for Product Leaders and CPOs
Not a day goes by where I do not see colleagues past and present posting news of their redundancies or lay offs. As the economic uncertainty, rise of AI and reassessment of company’s orgs continues to bite at the tech sector what can you do if you’re suddenly facing...
5 Things I Wish I’d Known Earlier
In fact there are a few more than 5. In any case as I approach my 50th year on this planet I find myself reflecting a little on life and realise that there are quite a few things in both my personal and professional life that I wish I'd known earlier. Some are...
The Productivity Myth: How Multitasking Is Killing Your Success
As product managers or leaders we are, by design, meant to be experts at multitasking. From juggling multiple projects simultaneously to responding to emails while on a conference call, multitasking has become synonymous with productivity. I've found working as a...
Striking the Balance: Why Learning Programs Aren’t the Sole Path to Product Team Development
A good few years ago programs such as Reforge were held in high esteem as an exclusive members only way to learn product mastery. There was an application process, a not insignificant fee associated with the learning and a slew of online seminars, documents and...
Embracing the Hard Things: The Pathway to Ultimate Reward
We often dream of endpoints. Travelling to a certain place, launching a product or achieving a goal we set ourselves. But as we move through life as humans we come to realise that arriving at a point is often anti-climatical. Nothing stops, things continue. Our lives...
QA Neglect: The Silent Killer of Software Projects
Last year I jumped on a mini audit of a popular mobile app. I found that a lot of stuff wasn’t working well. There were a few bugs, some technical and performance issues, UX conundrums and I also recommended some minor UI tweaks. If the application was going to grow...
Data Driven Disaster!
The slack brush notification tapped incessantly through my AirPods Pro as I headed into the co-working space. Yet again there was a flurry of activity as another piece of ‘urgent’ data was being discussed in any number of channels. A swarm of voices began chiming in....
The Best Apple Vision Pro Reviews – All in one place
A week on and I'm still blown away by the emerging positivity and discussion on Apple's Vision Pro device. Here are some of the best bits and pieces I've been looking at - enjoy!
Apple Vision Pro – A new dawn in spatial computing
Last week Apple launched their Vision Pro product: “A spatial computer that blends digital content and apps into your physical space, and lets you navigate using your eyes, hands, and voice.” When I first watched the keynote last year I was a little cynical that a...
You’re Too Old – Ageism in the Workplace
Last year my age came under the microscope in an organisation I was working with. It was called out in notes I discovered and my parental responsibilities were questioned when I needed to work from home on one occasion. It goes without saying that I left this company...
Tech Trends Exposed: The Overhyped Fads You Should Ditch Right Now
As a Chief Product Officer or Product Lead you’ll be expected to guide an organisation and your team to success through leadership, process and often innovation. There is an inherent expectancy that as a product leader you should be ahead of the curve, knowing what’s...
Unveiling the Dark Side of Tech Leadership: Scandals and Success Stories
Whilst some of the stories unearthed in this post have made headline news they exist as a proxy for many thousands of other smaller scale tales that you may have experienced in the world of tech or your start-up journey. I've seen fist fights, tears, burn out, legal...
F**k Agile
Methodologies like Agile have become the go-to framework for many teams aiming to adapt to changing requirements and deliver high-quality products. However, it's time to have an honest conversation about the limitations of Agile and how, in some cases, it might be...
Designing for Personalities: How the Big Five Personality Traits Shape User Experience
Having worked in health-tech for many years I have found that digging deep in the jobs to be done and emotive landscape of users is imperative in delivering a good experience for them. This is especially true when considering digital health applications both from a...
Building Remote Dream Teams: Strategies for Success in the Digital Age
I’ve been working with remote teams for 20 years. Here I’ll share some insights over what I’ve learnt and how to keep your teams aligned, motivated, accountable and delivering whilst working remotely. TL;DR Trust is key. Your hiring processes should have established...
Top Design Trends to look out for in 2024
Coming from a product design / design background I love the evolution of the craft and 2024 looks to be one of the most exciting years yet. In addition to visual design there are some great trends emerging in UX too, some of which I’ll delve into here. Over the next...
Power on Through – Resilience in Leadership
Just over 17 years ago I sat face to face with a co-founder. The money had run out, the business was burning through a high monthly wage bill and income was just four figures a month. Everything seemed doomed. The first major product launch had been well received but...
Show Me The Money – Why Product Leaders Need to Be More Commercially Minded Than Ever in 2024
Investors are now more astute than ever. In fund raising discussions I've been involved with over the past few years I have seen a definite shift in attention to detail especially when it comes to funding tech start-ups. A good idea with great people is not enough to...
Imposter Syndrome Doesn’t Exist
10 years ago the day hadn’t started well. As a product strategist at one of the FAANG companies I was due to present a prototype to a VIP stakeholder and had arrived at the wrong office. My mobile network wasn’t working so I couldn’t order an Uber. Jumping in a black...
The Evolution of the Product Manager
Product management is a demanding undertaking. In addition to understanding the fundamentals of shipping software or hardware products you've got to be across any number of data points, customer feedback, stakeholder vision and so much more. In recent times as...
The Strategy Trap – Throw the books away!
It was Greece around 8 years ago and my daughter, aged 6 at the time, jumped on a little bike (sans stabilisers) and just like that wobbled into the distance and learnt to ride. She didn't read books, study videos or attend courses. She didn't even let us try to help!...
There’s no ‘I’ in Team. Or is there?
I recall it vividly. The inspiring CEO of an ed-tech start-up I'd joined was giving a passionate speech about the business. She spelt out the vision and then moved quickly onto how we would work together. One thing stuck in my head that day when she said 'You'll all...
How Parenthood Shapes Exceptional Product Leadership
I’ve often been asked about the factors that help make a great leader of teams, coach or Chief Product Officer. Experience in shipping products end to end, understanding users, data and analytics, the software development lifecycle - these are all fundamentals. But...
Leading and Lagging Indictors – Signals to act faster in product development
Whilst your organisation may want a roadmap scoped and OKRs set for the next quarter (at least) it is often challenging to understand how you'll get there and iterate meaningfully as you progress through weeks and months of development and releases. Normally you'll...