Make Things That Matter Andrew Skotzko
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- Affaires
What if our products and companies gave more life to everything they touched? Making this a reality is our quest, through impactful product leadership, strategy, decision making, and culture.
blog.makethingsthatmatter.com
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Martina Hodges-Schell: Understanding your operating model
Martina Hodges-Schell is a transformation coach and consultant that helps organizations adopt a Silicon Valley approach to innovation. She spent 25 years leading design and innovation in tech companies, and now she loves providing a fresh, outside perspective to help teams develop and mature their product practice.
In this conversation, we…
* define transformation and what it means for your company operating model
* explore how a company operating model might be shifted by adapting AI technology
* Discuss how embodied leadership practices like equine coaching can give leaders the most honest feedback
Enjoy!
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Topics discussed
(05:31) A horse's feedback reflects your behavior and communication
(06:51) Feedback on your actions and decision making
(10:48) Leaders MUST be involved in change process
(13:57) Control is equated with power, active involvement important
(18:58) Change is difficult, people resist it
(19:45) Balancing ideas within organizations, encouraging participation
(25:37) Four lenses for an operating model
(29:18) How AI transforms operating model: structure and collaboration challenges
(31:36) Organizational structure should promote collaboration and communication
(37:17) Optimistic about innovation, promoting change and collaboration
(39:55) Focus on broad possibilities, capabilities, and brand
(43:16) Closing the loop from teams to leadership
(50:20) Guiding questions in life
(52:49) Book recommendations
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Links & resources mentioned
Find the full transcript at: https://podcast.makethingsthatmatter.com/martina-hodges-schell-operating-model/#transcript
* Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
* Martina Hodges-Schell: website, LinkedIn
* Book: Communicating the UX Vision: 13 Anti-patterns That Block Good Design
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Related episodes:
* #72 Pam Fox Rollin: Growing Groups Into Teams
* #75 Chris Smith: Simple guidelines for AI investment sizing
* #74 Chris Smith: How to think about adding AI to your product
* #77 Marty Cagan: Moving to the product model
* #39 Melissa Perri: Product strategy and the missing middle in organizations
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People & orgs:
* Noelle Saldana
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Books:
* The Build Trap
* Growing Groups Into Teams
* TRANSFORMED
* Managing Transitions
* Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes
* Leading Change
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Other resources:
* Martina’s OMG (operating model goals) canvas
* North Shore - AI transformation blog series
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com -
Marty Cagan: Moving to the product model
Marty Cagan joins me for real talk about what it takes to transform into a strong product company.
You can read the episode transcript here.
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Topics discussed:
(00:00) The process and challenges in writing a book
(12:27) Real world products need tech for results
(17:28) Deciding on investments, solving problems, and changing processes
(28:11) Understanding disconnects
(36:00) Top leadership support crucial
(40:28) How product coaches help
(44:57) "Being agile" doesn't always mean "doing agile"
(49:52) Handling objections well
(54:45) How it comes together in an organizational operating model
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Links & resources mentioned:
Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
Marty Cagan
• LinkedIn, website
• New book: TRANSFORMED
• Previous books: INSPIRED, EMPOWERED
• SVPG
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Related episodes:
• #31 Marty Cagan - Empowering product teams
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Books:
• The Crux
• Good Strategy, Bad Strategy
• The Art of Action
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Other resources:
• Product Management Theater
• Product Leadership Theater
• Transformation Theater
• So You Want To Write a Book?
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com -
Randy Silver: The conversations that create impactful products
Randy Silver is a product leadership advisor, podcast host, and global product community weaver. We explore the conversations needed to drive impact and perception of value.
You can also read this episode here.
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Topics discussed:
(04:00) Moving from a journalistic editor to product editor
(07:34) Parallels between product management film production
(09:53) Missed opportunities & the need for collaboration
(15:21) Alignment with stakeholders
(18:24) Sales misalignment and restructures
(21:10) Diagnosing teamwork challenges with partners
(25:02) Diagnosing your new org via informational interviews
(28:05) Creating a manager README
(30:11) Roles and responsibilities convo for better understanding
(35:19) Guiding conversations and change
(44:22) Did reorganization at Airbnb address strategy misalignment?
(46:18) Defensive reaction within product community to Airbnb
(52:14) Coordinating while scaling
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Links & resources mentioned
Find the full transcript at: https://podcast.makethingsthatmatter.com/randy-silver-conversations-create-impact#transcript
Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
Randy Silver: website, LinkedIn, Twitter
• MTP talk: “Getting aligned with your exec team by Randy Silver”
• Podcast: The Product Experience
• Book: “What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of Crisis”
• The product environment canvas
• Stakeholder Informational interview template
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Related episodes:
• Andrew on Randy’s podcast, The Product Experience
• #72 Pam Fox Rollin: Growing groups into teams
• #44 Teresa Torres: Habits for clear thinking and better product bets
• #18 Josh Seiden: Create clarity with outcomes thinking
• #5 Rich Mironov: Building a thriving product organization
• #3 Christina Wodtke: Unleashing potential with extraordinary teams
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People & orgs:
• Georgie Smallwood
• Matt LeMay
• Alan Albert - value based pricing
• Itamar Gilad
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Books:
• Growing Groups Into Teams
• Evidence Guided
• The Team That Managed Itself
• Continuous Discovery Habits
• Outcomes Over Output
• Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management
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Other resources:
• Product, it’s time to grow up
• The 11 Laws of Showrunning
• Rich Mironov: The slippery slope of sales-led development
• The Journey to Empowered Teams - Twitter, Airbnb & Tumblr
• Product Strategy Acid Test
• OODA loop
• Manager README: The Indispensable Document for the Modern Manager
• Roman Pichler - the decision making chart
• Relentless equanimity
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com -
(Bonus) Chris Smith: Simple guidelines for AI investment sizing
Chris Smith is a longtime engineering leader who has been in the trenches of building with AI & machine learning for years. This is a short, bonus episode to go along with our main conversation: https://pod.fo/e/20a5ef
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Topics discussed:
(00:00) AI tooling allows for cost-effective testing.
(06:02) Scoring and statistical measures to track progress.
(09:22) Costs if model needs rebuilding or hyperparameter tuning
(11:31) Order of magnitude investment estimates
(15:10) Decide upfront when to cut bait.
(17:12) Investment essentials for meaningful results and outcomes.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com -
Chris Smith: How to think about adding AI to your product
Chris Smith is a longtime engineering leader who has been in the trenches of building with AI & machine learning for years. He’s led the development of data systems & strategies at tech giants like early Google, Yahoo, and Sun; S&P 500's like Live Nation; and a wide variety of startups.
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Topics discussed:
(00:00) AI industry at inflection point, causing chaos
(09:05) Machine learning, neural nets, and generative AI
(14:03) Generative AI: LLMs + broad understanding
(21:56) Open source models improve specialized problem solving
(25:06) Access to data leads to competitive advantage
(32:53) AI training improves productivity and learning speed
(42:51) Reduced investment in GPT models speeds results
(48:47) Expectation mismatch leads to brand perception risks
(53:54) Non-technical work is crucial for AI product success
(57:30) Building a computer vision product from scratch
(01:03:14) A strategic approach to refining and testing prototypes
(01:08:04) Closing learning loops
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Links & resources mentioned
Find the full transcript at: https://podcast.makethingsthatmatter.com/chris-smith-how-to-add-ai-to-product/#transcript
Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
Chris Smith:
• LinkedIn
• X / Twitter: @xcbsmith
• Bluesky @xcbsmith
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Related episodes:
• #75 Chris Smith: Simple guidelines for AI investment sizing
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People & orgs:
• Dr. Marily Nika - AI Lead, Meta Reality Lab
• Travis Corrigan - Head of Product, Smith.AI
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Books:
• Evidence Guided - Itamar Gilad
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Other resources:
• GPT = “generative pre-trained transformer”
• Wizard of Oz experiment
• Tom Chi - learning loop
• Joel Spolsky: The iceberg secret, revealed
• ML Ops
• Computer vision
• Precision-Recall curves
• Leaked Google memo: “There is no moat”
• Universal basic income (UBI)
• Stop-loss order
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com -
Nacho Bassino: How to build your first product strategy
Nacho Bassino is a veteran product leader and the author of Product Direction, one of my go-to books on how to actually generate a product strategy. There are many excellent books out there on strategy as a whole, but surprisingly few that specifically cover product strategy.
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Topics discussed:
(00:02:12) Nacho's journey into product leadership
(00:09:23) How leaders can adapt to others' communication and cross-cultural preferences
(00:10:50) Strategy: defining problems and prioritizing solutions
(00:19:44) Painful, but typical; a fake strategy
(00:24:20) Time and team needed for first big strategy creation
(00:30:17) Three key aspects of quarterly reviews: OKRs, roadmaps, and Opportunity Solution Trees
(00:35:33) Connection between impact, outcomes, and initiatives with revenue generation
(00:40:11) Empowerment: teams' accountability and autonomy
(00:51:36) Nacho's hard product leadership call
(00:58:15) Strategy for startups vs larger companies
(00:59:02) How the opportunity space expands with company growth
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Links & resources mentioned
Find the full transcript at: https://podcast.makethingsthatmatter.com/nacho-bassino-build-your-first-product-strategy/#transcript
• Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
• Nacho Bassino: Website, LinkedIn
• Book: Product Direction
• Podcast: 100 Product Strategies
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Related episodes:
• #68 Adam Thomas: Operationalizing product strategy
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Books:
• Product Direction
• The Culture Map
• Playing to Win
• Product Roadmaps Relaunched
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Other resources and articles:
• A product strategy acid test
• What is "strategy"?
• Burnout as a strategy problem
• Should leaders be prescriptive about strategy?
• Product strategy: focus vs prioritization
• Does strategy matter before product-market fit (PMF)?
• Execs care about revenue. How do we get them to care about outcomes?
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com