KoThinker

what to do when your product management job turns into b*llsh!t management? I loved David Pereira's provocative presentation yesterday, based on his book "Untrapping Product Teams" and organised by KoThinker. David described the 4 traps that product teams fall into, leading them to fill their days with b*llsh!t tasks and how to avoid them. 🛑 Trap #1 : Acting as Waiters Product managers focus on internal wants and requirements from their stakeholders. They deliver features as requested, much like waiters taking orders from customers. 🟢 What to do instead Go from decision follower to decision maker. Product decisions should be based on a deep understanding of the user needs and of the market. 🛑 Trap #2 : Striving for Consensus With too many stakeholders and discussions, product decisions often lean towards the least disruptive solution, which can be the worst option and have minimal impact. 🟢 What to do instead Move from features to outcomes, from opinions to evidence. Product decisions should be grounded in a product strategy and aim for clear outcomes. 🛑 Trap #3 : Fear of saying no When product managers say 'No' to a request, they are afraid to be labelled as a "business blocker". So they say yes to every new request, shift priorities whenever something new arises, and hope for the best. 🟢 What to do instead Master the art of pushing back. Nothing gets on the roadmap unless it's aligned with the product strategy and has a clear impact on the business or user. 🛑 Trap #4: Spending too much time explaining failures instead of sharing what you learn from them When a product feature fails, everyone rushes to explain why and find solutions to prevent it from happening again. This results in a hyper focus on the failure itself instead of understanding the insights 🟢 What to do instead Avoid major failures that can ruin the product, but don't fear small mistakes. Trying to prevent failures at all costs kills innovation. Failure is a sign of experimentation and iteration, which are essential for innovation. What's the biggest trap you've seen in #productmanagement ? How did you act on it and what was the outcome? ---- 🔔 Enjoyed this post? Follow me for more! 💬 Comment to continue the discussion ♻️ Feel free to share with your network

Join us in 2 hours when David Pereira talks about his new book. 📚 We are sure this book is a Product Management classis. 🤩 One of our members commented: "David's book is the best book about product management that I've read. It's easy to read and insightful for beginners as well as experienced product people. Cannot wait for David's talk next Tuesday." Check our 7 quotes from the book 👇

Over 130 product professionals have completed KoThinker’s knowledge gap self-assessment. 😎 In the accompanying image, you can view the average results. Why are self-assessments so beneficial? 1️⃣ Insightful Starting Point: They offer a solid foundation for identifying strengths and weaknesses. Understanding that we all have different skills is key. You don’t need to excel in everything, but awareness is the first step—knowing where you're good and where you might need support from your team or mentors. 🎯 2️⃣ Structured Improvement: Self-assessments help structure your action plan for improvement. In today’s world, focus is crucial. 🌟 3️⃣ Engaging and Fun: Besides being informative, these assessments are enjoyable. 😄 We also recommend using these assessments as a basis for one-on-one meetings. This approach transforms casual conversations into actionable steps, making every discussion purposeful and directed toward growth. Ready to discover your strengths and areas for improvement? Take the self-assessment on the KoThinker platform for free! 🚀 #productmanagement #growthmindset

Creating a culture of learning isn't just a trend — it's a way to thrive! 🌟 I've always considered it vital to any organization's (and personal) strategy. But the ways we learn are evolving. ➡️ While I love books, I'm even more passionate about experimenting with the ideas they introduce. This shift from passive to active learning is crucial. Adam Danyal has brilliantly visualized this difference, which underlines why (KoThinker) mastermind groups are an optimal learning environment: 1️⃣ Structured discussions: In a small group setting, engage in focused discussions twice a month. 🗣️ 2️⃣ Action-based learning: Each discussion is followed by the planning of an on-the-job experiment, putting new ideas into practice. 🛠️ 3️⃣ Shared Insights: Return to share your outcomes in the next session, essentially teaching your peers what you've learned. So, you discuss, apply and teach. 🎯 How do you handle your professional development?  Are you absorbing knowledge passively or actively engaging with it? --- Check out KoThinker's innovational mastermind group approach. #actionmatters #growthmindset

❗ The event will take place on the KoThinker platform! https://app.kothinker.com/ ➡ Log in ➡ On the dashboard choose "Join the call" Product teams become feature factories and end up maximizing features nobody needs. ❌ Let's change this! This event will discuss the practical steps to take today for the better tomorrow. Here's a review by Marty Cagan to David Pereira's new book "Untrapping product teams": "David's book shares several hard-earned lessons of what happens when product leaders, product managers, and especially product owners are not trained to succeed in their jobs, and they go on to make predictable and avoidable mistakes. This book can help you avoid some of these pitfalls."

If you spot a challenge in your conversion, hold off on rushing to fix it! 🛑 This valuable insight comes from yesterday's discussion event led by Martin Küngas. 🗣️ Whenever I gain a new insight, whether from qualitative or quantitative sources, my first reaction is often to solve it—especially if it's critical strategically. 🎯 But what's the problem with rushing? Jumping straight to solutions means we might just be guessing. Instead, we should engage more deeply with our customers to truly understand what's causing poor conversion at specific stages of their journey. 🕵️♂️ Remember, research and discovery always come first; solutions follow. Patience is key! 🧘 Other key takeaways from yesterday's event: 👉 Measuring ratios provides more thoughtful insights. 👉 Don't overemphasize metrics before achieving product-market fit. 👉 The ideal ratio of customer lifetime value to customer acquisition cost is 2-4. Below this, your business model struggles; above this, you likely need to invest more in growth. 👉 Identify whether your product is focused on attention, transactions, or productivity. 👉 Feature adoption is critical to track, whether you're in B2B or B2C. 👉 The backend should be the primary source of truth for analytics. 👉 It's practical to maintain separate product and business reports. These insights help us approach challenges more effectively and strategically! 💡 Where's your biggest struggle with metrics?

Join us for an enlightening Ko-Reader session featuring Petra Wille's "Strong Product People." 📚 😎 Dive into the world of product management as we explore key concepts from the book that have helped shape exceptional product leaders. Engage in thoughtful discussions, share your experiences, and learn from fellow enthusiasts eager to elevate their expertise. Free for everyone. 💜

Next Tuesday we'll have a discussion event about product metrics. 🔢 Here's an interview with the speaker, Martin Küngas 👇 🌸 Can you share an example of a common misconception about product metrics? 🌸 There are 2 misconceptions or extremes that can be dangerous if left unchallenged. One is that "metrics don't matter, and ARR (money) is all that counts."  The other is "let's measure everything". I think the key is to balance in-between and focus on the data that can actually bring you learning and improve decision-making. I advocate relevant product metrics instead of vanity metrics (vanity metrics can be page views or sign-ups without context). 🌸 What's one metric that companies often overlook but can have a significant impact on product success? 🌸 It might sound obvious to some, but it's often not. Retention is often overlooked, and acquisition metrics are preferred in the short run. However, focusing on retention can lead to many insights into your product, shortcomings, and market needs in the long run. And you get the €€ on top of reducing churn (the group that is leaving). Remember, you can sell your product, but it is for nothing if the users are not staying. 🌸 How have technological advances changed how you track and analyze product metrics? 🌸 Data tools are constantly improving (as good products should be). This means I can continually obtain better and better information in real-time from different data sources and generate specific visuals. These little advancements help me whether I'm investigating user behavior trends or visualizing complex data. 🌸 🌸 🌸 Join the event to hear more insights and discuss your metrics challenges in a Q&A! 

Happy World Product Day to all the brilliant product builders out there! 🛠️ At KoThinker, we celebrate the creativity, dedication, and innovative spirit you bring to the world. 🌍 Whether you're sketching out wireframes, gathering user feedback, or launching the next big feature, your hard work shapes the future, one product at a time. Here’s to all the problem solvers, the visionaries, and the tireless builders who make the magic happen. 🥂 Keep building amazing things! Join our community for all the passionate product builders. 💜

❗ The event will take place on the KoThinker platform! https://lnkd.in/dMtZ89PG ➡ Press "Let's go" ➡ Log in ➡ On the dashboard choose "Join the call" 🎯 Let’s demystify product metrics together at our Ko-Creator event. Product metrics might seem simple in theory but are often challenging in practice. Ever find yourself asking: ⁉ Am I measuring the right thing? ⁉ How can I integrate metrics into daily operations for better decision-making? These are common for anyone building products. That's why we're diving into this crucial topic at our next event. 📊 🌟 Come join us, bring your questions, and discover how to leverage metrics to build more impactful products!