Episodes

  • Understanding Your PM Spikes
    Oct 29 2024

    Episode Description

    1:00- Meet Nils Davis

    2:47- Nils reminds us that Product Managers are really “Unicorns” in the workforce

    7:00- Nils shares his favorite phrase as a Product Manager “Your obvious is your art”

    8:47- Nils shares the pros/cons of understanding your “spike”

    10:03- We discuss how it's difficult to share our superpower with the people that surround us

    12:08- Nils shares the different ways we can discover our PM spike/superpower

    15:45- Todd shares the struggle with asking for feedback to identify your PM spike/superpower

    17:52- Nils shares one of his PM spikes

    20:15- Todd shares the PM spike he wishes he had

    22:12- Todd compares Joe’s PM spike to that of a Golden Retriever

    25:20- A new word is introduced to the Product Porch- “Pragmatic Empathy”

    28:15- Todd asks the question of whether or not the PM role has a unique set of capabilities

    33:19- We review the stable of “Product” Unicorns-

    36:19- Todd reminds us why he’s against Annual Performance Reviews and not a coder 🙂

    39:10- We wrap up with our advice for the PM community struggling to find their “spike” (Nils-leverage Clifton Strengths Finder assessment)- people are the stars of their own movies

    40:18- Todd- Don’t feel guilty for your spike. Find that thing that you love and lean into it

    41:30- Joe- Be genuine and true to yourself (not as profound as Todd/Nils)

    42:00- Nils ends with a very profound thought- “Product Managers are amazing creatures, yet you would never know it from reading their resume”

    Help keep the Product Porch lights on by giving at Patreon.com/TheProductPorch.

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    44 mins
  • Executing Product Solutions
    Oct 15 2024

    2:15 What are the Product Management trends everyone is talking about

    4:30- Todd asks the question: Are we focusing on the problem at the expense of the solution?

    7:00- Joe explains why he believes we have over-indexed on some of the common PM themes

    10:05- We are getting paid to deliver- reality check for all PMs

    11:45- Ryan tells how this is a struggle for Type A personalities

    13:16- Todd walks us through his approach to move to execution (from high-level concepts to delivery)

    14:21- Joe’s shares an unpopular opinion about SAFe and its value for Product Leaders

    16:08- Todd shares how he uses Ryan and Joe for some very specific product needs- team bonding moment

    18:45 Todd admits that SAFe quarterly planning is awesome. Joe and Todd have a moment

    22:54- What is the Product Managers Role in Solutioning? Ryan shared his POV

    27:12- Todd shares a current situation on what to do with competing perspectives on proposed solutions-

    29:09- You need to have confidence and conviction- Ryan Cantwell- this is what a PM needs to do

    30:30- Sometimes you just make calculated risks as Product Managers- we discuss as a team

    35:03- Todd kicks off a Job title game- problem or solution. Grab your popcorn!

    39:01- Todd shares why he loves “defining the problem”

    41:04- Key Takeaways-

    Help keep the Product Porch lights on by giving at Patreon.com/TheProductPorch.

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    45 mins
  • Layoffs in Product Management
    Oct 1 2024

    1:22 The fellas discuss their favorite Ken phrase

    1:44- Ken tells us what it means to be a product management truth teller

    5:16- What can we do as product managers to become more valuable?

    8:35- One of the first steps- What goal are you trying to achieve and how can I help you get there?

    10:30- Ken tells us why you should spend 20 min a week interviewing a customer

    12:55: Todd outlines why experimentation is critical for a product manager

    16:45- The team discuss the product management anti-patterns we should watch out for

    23:00- How to make yourself an indispensable product person?

    26:30- Ken talks about how you can build a quarterly plan to build a strong product management team

    28:00- Todd shares his PM secret sauce- Product Framing

    29:00- Ryan reminds us to ask the question “So What”

    30:56- We share Ken’s favorite PM phrase “Magic Beans”

    34:15- What got us here (why are there so many PMs that are unemployed)?

    37:40- Is there another domain where the role is defined by someone who doesn’t understand the value of product management?

    40:00 Key Takeaways/Wrap-up

    Help keep the Product Porch lights on by giving at Patreon.com/TheProductPorch.

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    44 mins
  • The Product Manager as a Player-Coach
    Sep 17 2024

    1:22- Joe explains why the role of Product Player Coach role is a cop-out

    2:51- Todd uses data to say how it can work and leverages his love of the NBA to demonstrates why

    5:34- We discuss what success looks like for a Product Manager Player Coach

    10:02- Ryan walks us through how we resolved the challenges associated with this hybrid role

    13:32- Todd walks us through the disadvantages of the hybrid PM/Coach role

    16:03- Joe emphatically tells us why Product Managers must be successful at relationships- Product Managers are already “coaches”

    20:15- We talk about getting uncomfortable to grow as a product manager

    23:30- Joe discusses his affinity for gold stars

    26:30- Life lessons from being a player-coach have advantages for career advancement if you want to be a people manager

    30:20- What are the negatives of being a player-coach?

    32:30- We hear about Todd’s real-life experience as a player-coach. Todd clashes with his peers but learns to turn it around.

    34:50- Ryan tells us about his real-life experience as a player-coach. He’s the scapegoat!

    37:10- How do relationships change when you become a player-coach?

    40:20- Hear a fantastic analogy between player-coach and Spider-man 2

    44:25- Words of advice for anyone considering the role of player-coach.

    Help keep the Product Porch lights on by giving at Patreon.com/TheProductPorch.

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    48 mins
  • Transforming Product Setbacks Into Success
    Sep 3 2024

    1:30 Ryan ponders what product failure means?

    3:37 The true definition of failure is identified

    6:33 Todd speaks to the categories of product failure

    9:33 Todd assumes the role of therapist and tells Ryan and Joe they didn’t fail

    12:13- We discuss how we turn failure into a learning opportunity

    15:06- Joe discusses the most underrated product management skill

    19:08- We bring back the Jobs to be done framework when dealing with our co-workers

    22:25- Todd shares a tip on how manage friction with a co-workers (brilliant)

    25:44- We talk about the temptation to take short-cuts with process

    29:00 Todd tells us why he didn’t win any newsroom awards one year

    31:00 Ryan comes up with a new PM slogan “It's the scars that make you and not the successes” (Joe thinks it should be on a bumper sticker)

    32:34- The “learning” is knowing how we can do it better next time (Hallmark card time)

    35:00 - Todd reminds why we shouldn’t never give up when the going gets tough

    36:08 - We talk about the fear of using AI to make product management short cuts

    37:09 - We all share our product failure war stories

    44:30- Wayne’s World reference makes its way into our podcast- Success!

    48:00- Thoughts on how you respond to failure drives who you are as a product manager

    52:00 Wrap Up

    Help keep the Product Porch lights on by giving at Patreon.com/TheProductPorch.

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    54 mins
  • Product Management Jargon Draft
    Aug 21 2024

    1:07 – Joe kicks off the discussion on useless product management terms.
    1:49 – We start the PM Jargon Draft, with Todd winning the #1 pick.
    3:04 – Todd and Ryan’s #1 pick: "CEO of the Product."
    4:23 – Joe’s #1 pick: "Customer Centric" (he’s salty he couldn’t trade for the #1 pick).
    6:07 – Todd discusses how every healthcare company is "patient-first" – shouldn’t we all be patient-first in healthcare?
    7:14 – Ryan questions "Productize" – is it a verb? A new word in the English dictionary? The big draft controversy.
    9:41 – Todd adds "Gathering Requirements" to his hit list of terrible PM terms. We suggest "Gathering Insights" as a better alternative.
    15:00 – Iteration vs. Agile discussion – "We are going to be Agile" drives Joe nuts because it often just means "Can we launch it faster?"
    18:20 – Ryan selects a declaration: "We are going to be more innovative."
    21:10 – "Thinking outside the box" is a controversial pick in the draft.
    22:25 – Todd explains why he hates the term "Feature Parity"; Joe recommends "Holistic Approach" instead.
    30:51 – "Being Product-led" is a steal in the 3rd round for Ryan, who explains what it really means.
    36:10 – Undrafted superstar PM Terms (Joe has PTSD from Ryan yelling at him for "fail fast").
    40:00 – Todd predicts next year’s draft class, starting with "Outcomes over Outputs," "Product-Market Fit," and "Go-to-Market Enablement."
    43:00 – Actionable takeaways.

    Help keep the Product Porch lights on by giving at Patreon.com/TheProductPorch.

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    47 mins
  • Product Principles In Real Life
    Aug 6 2024
    • Ryan tells us how he leveraged PM principles recently for his mulch project ( 0:45)
    • Joe shows us how Ryan applied the Jobs to Done framework to Ryan’s approach (3:00)
    • We discuss how often we apply PM Principles creep into our life (5:00)
    • Todd discusses how Problem Framing can be applied in real-world scenarios (12:00)
    • Joe gives us a review of the Broadway Show “Heart of Rock and Roll” (20:00)
    • Ryan walks us through dot voting techniques for family (21:00)
    • Todd experiments with Tiny Acts of Discovery (23:50)
    • Ryan applies iteration techniques when filling up the dishwasher (26:40)
    • Todd discusses success metrics and his neighbor's lawn (31:00)
    • We talk about which product principles don’t work in real life (32:27)
    • Key takeaways and our recommendations (38:24)

    Help keep the Product Porch lights on by giving at Patreon.com/TheProductPorch.

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    43 mins
  • Rebranding the Product Manager Title
    Jul 23 2024
    • Product Champions: a new title for PMs (1:00)
    • Airbnb gets rid of product manager title (3:45)
    • Chief No Officer / Head of No / Innovation Sponge / Walking Roadblock / Killer of Dreams, (5:55)
    • Superman, Smokey the Bear and Lil Smokies, and User Psychologists (12:15)
    • Group Therapist, Anger Manager, and The Negotiator (15:20)
    • Outcome Architect and Director of Opinions (19:00)
    • Aladdin and Product Genie wishing rules (22:30)
    • Provlemologist and Innovation Specialists (27:15)
    • The Fortune Teller, Product Facilier, and Product Gambler (29:45)
    • Napalm Artist, sports cliches, and The Joker (33:40)
    • Value Broker, Risk Mitigator, and Zookeeper (37:40)
    • We discuss whether or not the PM title needs a rebrand (39:00)
    • Which PM titles are our favorites (41:00)
    • Why the Product Manager role needs a brand and marketing department (45:15)
    • Key Takeaways (46:40)

    Help keep the Product Porch lights on by giving at Patreon.com/TheProductPorch.

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    51 mins