Itamar Gilad is a product coach, consultant and regular content author who's worked at IBM, Microsoft and Google. Nowadays, he's trying to help companies get away from the feature factory and into the world of evidence-based product development with the GIST framework.
This episode is sponsored by Skiplevel. Do you struggle with communicating with dev teams and understanding technical terminology and concepts? On episode 98, I hosted Irene Yu, founder of Skiplevel, an on-demand training program that helps professionals and teams become more technical in just 5 weeks... All without learning to code. Learn the knowledge and skills you need to better communicate with devs and become more confident in your day-to-day role with the Skiplevel program. You can use referral code OKIP to support this podcast!
Big Tech firms aren't exemplars of how to "do product"
We look to these firms for guidance, but they all build products differently & have created processes that work for them. What they do have are principles. We should copy the principles but work the way that works for us.
Prioritisation frameworks have a place but aren't going to create your roadmapThe numbers are guesses but are useful to start conversations & make sure you're asking the right questions. It's important to revisit scores over time to see what's changing as you learn new things.
Confidence is a logarithmic scaleItamar uses the Confidence Meter to describe the different levels of confidence. This brings to life what you are describing when talking about confidence & shows it's not linear; the best evidence is substantially better than the weakest.
Refocusing on goals gets you away from rigid roadmapsItamar uses the GIST framework (Goals/Ideas/Steps/Tasks) to break down opportunities, prioritise for impact & get away from the feature factory. It's important not to kill ideas too quickly, and continuously revisit them.
Product management is about principlesThe principles are customer focus, evidence-guided decision-making, adaptive planning & empowering teams. These are the cornerstones of product management. Customer focus is still the most important & everything else can flow from there.
Contact ItamarYou can catch up with Itamar on his website, where you can sign up to his mailing list and get access to his tools. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.
From High-Frequency Trader to Investor in Good Ideas (with Pooja Parthasarathy, Head of Product @ AbstractOps)
Valentine’s Special! A Love Letter to Problems, not Solutions (with Uri Levine, Founder @ Waze & Author ”Fall in Love with the Problem, not the Solution”)
Adam & Jason Talk All About Product Strategy (with Adam Thomas & Me, Two Product Management Talking Heads)
The Power of Storytelling for Cross-Functional Alignment (with Ronke Majekodunmi, Director of Product Management @ Promevo)
OKRs: The Gateway Drug to Agility & Good Product Management (with Jeff Gothelf, Product Management Consultant & Co-author ”Lean UX” )
Practice Makes Perfect: Embracing the Messy Reality of Product Management (with Matt LeMay, Product Management Consultant & Author ”Product Management in Practice”)
Going Global! When and How to Take your Product International (with Chui Chui Tan, International Growth Adviser & Director @ Beyō Global)
Helping Tech Teams Get Closer to ”The Business” with Effective Conversations (with Douglas Squirrel, Founder @ Squirrel Squared & Co-Author ”Agile Conversations”)
The Five Dysfunctions of Product Management Teams (with Saeed Khan, Founder @ Transformation Labs)
OKIP LIVE! Is Product/Market Fit Really Dead, or Just Resting? (with Andrea Saez & Dave Martin, Right To Left)
Learning the Bedrock Skills of Innovators & Entrepreneurs (with Bob Moesta, Co-creator of the Jobs to be Done Framework & Author ”Learning to Build”)
Using The Power of Community to Help you Thrive in a Generalist World (with Milly Tamati, Founder @ Generalist World)
Making Sure you REALLY Know your Customers and Pulling out of Growth Stalls (with Adrienne Barnes, Founder @ Best Buyer Persona)
Team Change is Inevitable - What’s Important is How we Respond to It (with Heidi Helfand, Author ”Dynamic Reteaming”)
The Trouble with Product Management Onboarding and How to Get it Right (with Mirela Mus, Founder & CPO @ Product People)
Using Tech to Change Culture and Un-f**king the Design Industry (with Mackenzie Daisley, CEO & Founder at Brieft)
Getting the Narrative Right and Taking Web3 Products Mainstream (with Rachael Sacks, Crypto Storyteller & Founder @ Narrativ3)
The Importance of Messaging & ROARing Your Way to Product/Message Fit (with Diane Wiredu, Founder & Messaging Strategist @ Lion Words)
Supporting Mental Health & Wellbeing for Product Managers (with Jacquelyn Guderley, Product Manager @ OVO & Co-Founder @ Product Mind)
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