Even if you use your product, you are not your customer. I forget this a lot. Because PM'ing would be easier if it weren't true.

“We should fix that confusing error.” “We should make that API spec clearer.” “We should test that feature again.” Yes. But *who* is going to? And by when? When all disciplines (UX, Eng, Product) share responsibility for asking those questions, Stuff Gets Done.

Knowing your strengths is good. Knowing your weaknesses is better.

"No" of Alignment: Leaders understand the problem and your solution. But they don’t agree with it. "No" of Clarity: Leaders don’t understand the problem or your solution. So they don't agree with it. Most initiatives die from the latter. Should it be the other way around?

“We’re not meeting to *make* a decision today, we’re meeting to *debate* a decision.” I first learned about Debate versus Decision meetings in Kim Scott’s Radical Candor. So grateful for that book.

A trick to prevent late-game scope debates: Communicate what *isn't* in scope as often as what *is.*

Our best ideas are rarely our first ideas.

I struggle with pauses in conversation. It's mostly a weakness, but a little part strength. It's a strength because you'll speak up even when hard questions are asked. It's a weakness because you'll answer questions that your team should be answering, instead.

On the hunt for a more accessible analogy. Say you're planning a housing development. Product decides *where* it's built. Design decides *what* is built. Engineering decides *how* it's built.

After launching a feature, it's particularly hard not to assume one customer's feedback represents the majority, whether good or bad.

I don’t know why, but I’m always surprised by how much discussion time this saves: 1. New customers are opted-in to new feature X by default 2. Existing customers are opted-out of new feature X by default, but can opt-in

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I think these trade-offs generate the most revealing hiring discussions: Hire for strength vs lack of weakness Hire for trajectory vs experience Hire doers vs tellers Hire learners vs experts carta.com/blog/how-to-hi…

Had fun trying Facebook Workrooms. If only I could adjust the monitor height... about.fb.com/news/2021/08/i…

PM: It's important to measure outcomes over outputs. New PM Hire: What outcomes are you measuring? PM: ...

Having "high standards" is not an excuse to treat people poorly. Some of the kindest people I know have high standards. The difference is that they encourage others to rise to their best rather than tearing them down when they fall short.

So much easier to say what you think rather than ask questions. But so much more useful to ask questions first.

Hackathons = fun. When you have just a week to ship and every member of the team self-selects, Things Get Done.

Our approach is to first make things possible, then make them easy. Data Campaigns are our first step in the direction of supporting all of the shapes of data that drive the businesses who rely on Customer.io. I can't wait to see how you use them!

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