I write weeknotes to record what I’ve done, and to reflect on my practice as a product manager. I’ve used a couple of formats over the years, but the headings in my weeknotes template don’t provoke reflection. Though I do reflect by actively remembering and writing down what I did…

Getting hold of knowledge is harder than we think. Most of what a search engine returns is information, and it’s our job to piece it together and generate knowledge: facts and things we know. Google is really, really good at giving you information and lots of it. But, on average…

For organisations that use computers to get stuff done, the Internet means you can spread bits of your organisation out geographically and temporally. Spreading a workforce geographically is usually called remote working or distributed working. That’s when workers aren’t necessarily close to the location of the main office, they live…

Each weekend I spend around 2 hours writing about what I did in the ~38 hours I spent at work that week. Why? Good question. Here’s a few reasons why spending more time than is necessary writing about work is a good thing. It helps me think Writing is a reflective practice. By going…

Weeknotes S09E09 — Stiffkey saltmarsh is a vast muddy creek on the Norfolk coast, exposed as the tide retreats to the North Sea. It’s a haven for wildlife, a lovely little spot. Where the marsh meets a sand bank, you dip below sea level and the horizon is above your head, waves crashing…

Weeknotes S09E08 — Every day I wake up around 5.30 a.m. This is not because I choose to, it just happens. Most of the time I’ll just lie in bed until my alarm goes off but every other day I go for a run. Except today it’s cold and wet outside and I…

Over the years I’ve managed several product teams, always from first principles, and as I’ve matured as a product manager I’ve written a few memos to myself. Things that got us over a hump or feedback I received from colleagues. Every so often I’ll glance back at these memos to…

Originally published at https://visitmy.website on February 22, 2020. Being a product manager can often feel like being a lone wolf. Despite working closely with a team of designers, developers and other digital specialists, you’re usually the only member of the group representing the product discipline. …

Originally published at https://visitmy.website on January 25, 2020. This is a talk I gave to the GDS product management community a year ago. It’s mostly aimed at other people working in digital transformation of government, but actually I think everyone should blog a bit. There’s lots of ways of working…