In the last decade of her life, my mother-in-law talked a lot about having a purpose. Not so much for herself, but that she wanted her children and grandchildren to all have a sense of purpose. She was convinced that our purpose would guide us to good decisions. I agree with her. But, for me, […]
How Can We Use Purpose and Meaning to Improve Our Adaptability? Read More »
I recently replied to a tweet, based on my assumption of what I read. Here’s the tweet: How do you describe product management to your mom? I jumped to the assumption that this question was one of those “mom” memes, where (mostly) young men ask a question that assumes that moms are not technical, incapable
Which Assumptions Do You Bring to What You Read? (& My Recent Experience) Read More »
I’m one of those voracious readers. Once I learned to read, I read everything. And other people can tell because there are words I say wrong, because I only read them, not heard them. (Which is sometimes hilarious!) My folks decided they wouldn’t censor what I read as long as I talked to them when
Who Do You Want to Decide What You Can Read, See, or Hear? Read More »
I listened to Tim Harford’s podcast, La La Land: Galileo’s Warning (Classic). Galileo warned that adding more layers of risk management does not prevent bad outcomes—and might create them. Yet, I’ve said I respect risk management. Not all risk management is created equal. We can use additional steps, sequential occurrences, to manage risks. Layers are the concurrent practices we might
How Many Layers Do You Add to Manage Risks? Read More »
I recently gave a talk about how we can rethink our roadmaps and how to portray them. (See the Roadmap Personas deck if you want to see what I said.) One of the audience members asked what tool I recommended. I said I didn’t recommend any tool—not yet—because I’d offered alternative ways to create the
What Triggers You to Change Your Approach or Trusted Solution? Read More »
Many years ago, when I was a director of something at a long-ago company, our Best Customer had an outage at 8 or 9 in the evening. The customer called our senior management, who called me. “We have a Big Problem that you need to fix Right Now.” I received that message loud and clear.
When Solving Problems, Do We Consider Sleep as One of the Steps? Read More »
I keep hearing this phrase in the news: “Out of an abundance of caution…” Then the newscaster explains certain actions. Why not just talk about risk management? What’s wrong with discussing risk? Here’s my theory: the words “abundance of caution,” means all of these things: We think there’s a potential problem, but you don’t have
Why Do We Say “An Abundance of Caution” Instead of Risk Management? Read More »
By now, you’ve probably heard about various AI apps and how they’re coming for your jobs. Some of my colleagues love these apps and work with them. Other colleagues won’t touch them. I’m experimenting with ChatGPT for marketing copy. So far, it’s pretty good. But for my regular nonfiction or fiction writing or images? I’m
How Can We Remain Relevant When New Technology Threatens Our Jobs and Lives? Read More »
A couple of weeks ago, Mark was traveling, so I cooked dinners for myself. Because of my vertigo, I plan what to cook and when. One of my favorite dinners is baked-and-then-broiled salmon with roasted veggies. Since we roast the veggies with garlic and olive oil, we need to stir the veggies partway through the
How Can You Decide It’s Time to Retire & Replace Old Tools, Such as Spoons? Read More »
My husband, Mark, momentarily lost his keys this morning. Except, it wasn’t just a moment—it was about five minutes. He planned to load several items into the car, return to the house to kiss me goodbye, and then leave. Except, he was stuck on Step 1, loading items into the car. We have other car
When Do You Assist, Support, or Inflict Help? Read More »