I’m co-teaching a design course at Northwestern with my friend Jeff Merrell. We are teaching business leaders and change agents how to prototype their way to viable solutions. In this context, solutions aren’t product solutions, but rather internal programs and processes that effect change within the organization. Our students work on challenges like improving employee […]
Why Drawing Maps Sharpens Your Thinking
“Could it have been the drawing of maps that boosted our ancestors beyond the threshold which the other apes just failed to cross?” – Richard Dawkins Have you ever wondered why the Business Model Canvas spread like wildfire? To me, the answer is clear. It’s a simple, visual tool that communicates the key elements of […]
Product Managers, Level Up Your Problem-Solving Skills
I’ve never met a product manager who doesn’t want to get better at what they do. The challenge is not in the desire, but in putting that desire into action. Product management isn’t a well-defined function. It’s changed rapidly over the past two decades. Most of us have had to learn on the fly, doing […]
You Don’t Want to Miss Out on This
It’s easy to have ideas. You could rattle off ten right now. I bet you hear dozens from across your organization every week. This isn’t the hard part of your job. The hard part is putting those ideas into context. It’s deciding which ideas to pursue. It’s defending those decisions. The Heart of Product Management […]
