2017 passed by faster than I expected but it was a productive year for me. Great opportunities came on my way: I finished my work wrapping up epost transformation, learned a ton and made great friends in Canada Post. I joined Index Exchange and have learned a lot about Advertising and ins and outs of it (although there is still a long way to go) and made new friends. I also stepped up to take on more responsibilities on the business I am running with my friend. This meant that I ended up not writing blogs as much as I wanted to but I am still committed to continue this blog.
It’s hard to believe that I have written this blog for the past two years and although writing is not easy, it is certainly rewarding to organize my thoughts and distill what I have learned into posts that I share with others along the way.
This year I managed to read 11 product/business books which reviewed some of them but I also read many product related blogs, watched product videos and attended some local meet ups. Here are the ones that stayed with me:
Blog posts:
- In a world where focus and deep work is increasingly getting harder I really liked this post and its practical advise: Facebook VP of Product on Mastering Focus and Intentional Work
- This post makes an excellent argument on types of decision to make quickly and the ones to analyze patiently: Making Good Decisions as a Product Manager
- I’m learning more and more about the importance of product discovery along with delivery: Dual Track Development is not Duel Track
Videos:
- Gail Goodman is one business-savy, brave and honest person. I loved both of her talk at BoS: Lessons Learned in 17 Years Building and Exiting a SaaS Company and The Long Slow SaaS Ramp of Death
- I met Janna Bastow at one of the local Product Tank meetup. Even though I feel the way she gave this talk was a bit theatrical the content was good: The Hardest Part of Product Management
- I wrote a complete blog post about Opportunity Solution Tree that Teresa Torres has invented. Here is another good talk about it: Critical Thinking for Product Teams
- And finally since AI is topic du jour this presentation by Aparna Chennapragada was fascinating and scary at the same time: Building Products AI-First
Meet Ups:
- Product Tank last (Dec) meetup done by Johnathan Nightingale was a fantastic one it confirmed my beliefs on how the career success is non-linear and you have to take control of it. I wish you were there with me. He was quite an entertaining and experienced speaker and I will going to read his book as well.