For many years I have worked with product teams. And while there are certainly overarching skills, tools and insights for every product role to have, it is just as true that no two product teams are working in the exact same context. So thinking that you can take what works for one product team andContinue reading “Learning with your product team”
Category Archives: leadership
Agile makes sick
“Agile makes sick” was the provocative title of one of the sessions I joined at the Agile Cologne open space a few weeks ago. Obviously the session title was meant to provoke. Obviously the person bringing the topic deeply valued agile ways of working in principle. And yet: he had good examples of people whoContinue reading “Agile makes sick”
Creating a context to thrive in
When I’m watching kids play, it’s striking that they create whole worlds out of their imagination, using whatever is there to work as props and tools. And what they don’t have, they simply make up. I’ve been “served coffee” (imaginary fluid pouring out of a sand mold and into a fist), I’ve been given giftsContinue reading “Creating a context to thrive in”
Navigating life and work with joy
Wouldn’t we all want to simply have somebody giving us the recipe for a happy, successful and fulfilling life? And at work, how awesome would it be to have a handbook for how to do your job successfully while having fun? If these were not questions so many of us have on our mind, thereContinue reading “Navigating life and work with joy”
The secret sauce to successful hybrid or remote teams
There is no “simply going back” to how we used to work in an office after two years of us first being forced to, and then getting used to working remote. People rightfully want to keep having the advantages of the added flexibility and better work/life balance a remote or hybrid work style offers toContinue reading “The secret sauce to successful hybrid or remote teams”
Leading Innovation – joyfully playing with and co-creating out of uncertainty
Almost every place I ever worked at would have loved to be known for being constantly innovative. And very few of them actually managed to figure out the setups, contexts, behaviors, resources and focus to execute on this. With the years of watching organizations fail to sufficiently start to build innovation into their DNA, IContinue reading “Leading Innovation – joyfully playing with and co-creating out of uncertainty”
Inclusivity has a direct link to your bottom line
If you are leading a hybrid or remote team today and you are not focusing on creating a culture of inclusivity and belonging, you will very likely not go as far as you could and quite likely simply fail in the long run. Here is why you will pay a high price for this omission:Continue reading “Inclusivity has a direct link to your bottom line”
Psychological safety does not magically feel good
Many of us have read the research by Google on psychological safety as a signifier of high performing teams. And many organizations, team leaders and team members would love it, if we could simply turn a switch and voilà, our team has psychological safety. So why is it so hard to get psychological safety bakedContinue reading “Psychological safety does not magically feel good”
Emotions in Leadership
Whether we like it or not, and however much we’d like to think of ourselves as rational human beings, we are living in bodies that have strong ties to their emotions. And if we are leading a team of other human beings, we are not only connected to them through rational thought (think goals, projects,Continue reading “Emotions in Leadership”
The role of interconnectedness in product work
“What makes an excellent product manager?” was a question I was recently asked while speaking to somebody who is currently working remote in a product role. One of my favorite responses to this is how Marty Cagan describes the role of a product manager as being in charge of “discovering solutions that are valuable, usable,Continue reading “The role of interconnectedness in product work”
Inclusive Leaders 