AI Product Management, AI Product Managers and the Opposite of Strategy
AI is here, and it’s here to stay! I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords.
🚨 I’m playing with the format of my newsletter again 🚨
What? Why? Well, I think it’s fair to say that I’ve not been the most prolific newsletter writer recently. There are several reasons excuses for this, and it’s certainly reducing my unsubscribe numbers, but I still want to share interesting things and thoughts with you, my loyal fans people who tolerate me.
And, was this even really a newsletter, or just an emailed blog? What “news” do I have? Well, I do write a lot of short to medium posts on LinkedIn covering various issues that come up in my work week by week. Sometimes, I even learn something from the comments! So, in the interest of sharing those thoughts (and giving you a chance to read some of the comments), I’m going to try sharing some of the highlights. Hopefully, they’re interesting! Please let me know what you think of the new format.
On AI Product Management and AI Product Managers
AI is here, and it’s here to stay! I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords. But should we really be cramming AI into everything and damn the consequences?
I am generally not a fan of “technical product managers” or “data product managers”, or now “AI” product managers”- not because I have anything against these people (and I’m sure they’re all doing valuable work) but because everything looks like a nail when all you have is a hammer. I am interested in product managers who use whatever they need to solve a user’s problem. This could be AI, a decision tree, or a piece of stick and some string for all I care. As long as product managers focus relentlessly on user, customer and business needs, the precise method of solving them should never be constrained.
It’s also fair to say that just smooshing AI into your products without planning it properly could lead to terrible UX. Let’s not lose sight of the user just because we’ve got some shiny new toys to play with. But, if we can’t just smoosh AI into everything, does that mean I’m some kind of Luddite who hates progress and wants us all to use pen and paper? No, I use ChatGPT all the time. But, I’ll never use it for stuff that goes in front of people… LLMs should be inputs, not outputs. By all means, use ChatGPT as a sparring partner, to sense-check things, or maybe even to proofread stuff you’ve written. But, let’s not pretend that using it for the actual content is going to lead to anything other than bland, grey nothingness.
Some people disagree and seem to want to use it for everything. That’s cool, I guess, but I’m bullish that most product problems are people problems. There’s an incredible amount of value in just sitting down and working stuff out yourself, and the writing process is a big part of that. Can we offload these tasks to good-looking (but fundamentally untrustworthy) AI algorithms? Sure! But, the paradox remains: The people who can be trusted to use AI output are people who already know that it’s true, and the people who don’t know what they’re reading can’t trust it as far as they can throw it.
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Podcast catchup
The podcast has slowed down a little recently, due to similar excuses to my written content slowing down. But, I do still have some excellent episodes for you to check out. Full details here! Make sure to go check them out on your favourite podcast app, or visit the podcast website.
Featuring Debbie Levitt, Miloš Belčević, Lloyed Lobo, Becky Flint and Shyvee Shi.
The Opposite of Strategy Sounds Stupid
I’ve been reading a lot about strategy recently, mainly to get my thoughts in order for the online course I’m teaching with Saeed Khan. There are many competing frameworks and approaches out there, and so many books. Sometimes it’s hard to work out what’s what. But, it’s fair to say that product strategy is a weak spot for many product managers and product leaders, and that’s definitely something I’ll be trying to help sort out in future.
In the meantime, I love this definition by Roger Martin, author of Playing to Win.
To paraphrase:
Say the opposite of your strategy out loud. If it sounds stupid, you don't have a strategy
The basic idea here is as follows: Anyone can write something like “our strategy is to be customer-centric” or “our strategy is to be operationally efficient”. But these are so generic that they could apply to almost any company! Also, who wants to be non-customer-centric or operationally inefficient?
Phrases like this look strategic, kind of, but they do not meet the benchmark of a strategy: “An integrative set of choices that positions you on a playing field of your choice in a way that you win”.
Check out Roger’s article to find out more.
Book recommendations
(These are not affiliate links)
Transformed
Marty Cagan and the SVPG gang recently released their new book “Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model”. I’m interviewing Marty (tomorrow!) about the book so I piled through it to take some notes.
TL;DR - There’s a lot in there which won’t be a surprise to anyone who’s read Inspired or Empowered. But, there are some very useful sections on objection handling, working with stakeholder teams and some interesting case studies. Definitely pick it up if you’re working with complicated companies.
The Art of Product Management
I was also delighted that Rich Mironov released a second edition of “The Art of Product Management”. I was even more delighted when he asked me to provide a quote for the back cover. Rich’s work was essential reading for me as I started to move up the ranks in product management, so I cannot recommend him enough. Check the book out, and make sure to check out his website too.
That’s all folks
As mentioned before, I’m trying out this new format to see if it’s any good, and I’ll be trying to make writing a more regular habit. Hopefully, it’s interesting! If not, please let me know why before you unsubscribe. Otherwise, see you soon, and do feel free to hit me up on LinkedIn if you need me.
The pressure to add in AI features is real!
Leadership: We need to be using AI. Where can we use a LLM?
PM: Oh.. ok sure but we could just fix this user flow and it probably would be a lot better.
Leadership: but INNOVATION!!
I like this format Jason. You added some extras from your LinkedIn feed to the newsletter. Please keep writing your newsletter!