I’m writing about one hundred things I’ve learned about being a product manager.
Don’t you find that it is always so hard to recover something that started badly? Whether it’s a development project, a product launch, or a new starter in your team, you can be reasonably certain that each will benefit from a good start.
Every now and again, I undertake a DIY tech project. I think it’s because I’m a geek at heart and I like to think to myself a little smugly, “still got it”.
This time the brief actually came from my lovely wife: shrink the physical footprint and electricity consumption of the servers running 24/7 in the home office. The beige boxes are going green!
This post is a bit off-topic, but if you want to host your own copy of WordPress on Zeus Web Server, you may find the following information saves you a bit of time. I decided to share this article this article with you once I’d figured out how to avoid the so-called “white screen of death”, i.e. when pop-ups for link or image insertion into posts show up blank.
Your developers may be happiest when they’re hacking gnarly code, leaving you to get on with engaging with the market, but this doesn’t mean you can ignore their need for context – the ‘why’ of their project.
Over the years, I have spoken to many disgruntled developers over a beer after work. This isn’t entirely coincidental as they tend to dwell in the kind of pubs I enjoy: real ale, good selection of crisps, ability to hear oneself think, minimal bar fights, that kind of thing.
What tends to be a recurring theme of their disgruntlement is that they don’t see the point of their current project. They feel aggrieved that they’re not doing something more interesting instead. And you know what, if it’s your project, it’s your fault. Bad product manager.