The Secret Power Of Speaking God 39;s Word Free Pdf
Hollis Abdelkarim
Product Management is a life of tradeoffs. On one hand, there is always too much to do with too little time and too few resources. On the other, there is a stigma placed on quitting or walking away from opportunities perceived to be a quick win. This tightrope walk can cause a PM to stick with uncomfortable or unhealthy situations well beyond their sell by date.
Astro Teller, CEO of X (the Moonshot Company within Alphabet) can help us and our stakeholders to think differently. He is obsessed with quickly exploring and leaving behind ideas as a way to get more valuable information more rapidly. He uses the analogy of monkeys and pedestals.
Feedback Loops: By addressing the most challenging part first, you gather input which informs the rest of the project. Success or failure in training the monkey provides critical input to the overall project and definition of success.
Sunk Cost: Focusing solely on easier tasks (the pedestal) without considering the hardest part (the monkey) can lead to wasted effort and resources. Improving the approach can prevent you from spending work that is unnecessary.
Looking at situations differently and considering the individual steps can save you time and effort whether it be in your career, project, or desire to improve. The action that will have the most impact both today and in the future is where you want to focus. Through this lens, and yes, being nice, we can effectively guide people through the options and navigate a tricky situation in a new and more efficient / effective light.
When I want to help a person see a situation differently, at the core I am nudging them out of their comfort zone. Changing the way we are wired is tricky, especially when it calls for a new way of thinking and potentially taking a risk. Yet in order to improve, we must push ourselves to be open to new ideas and approaches.
By quickly going through the storyboarding exercise, you are able to identify the gaps you need to explore with customers and internal experts first as they will impact the approach and necessity of future steps.
Through this exercise you may find you do not need to prioritize a step in the storyboard just yet, because a prior assumption must be explored first. The subsequent learning informs how you proceed.
Do. We return to the monkey and the pedestal or systems thinking. By identifying the riskiest assumptions and exploring them first, we increase our capacity to learn and improve more rapidly.
Consider drafting a story or drawing a sketch which reflects who you are and what brings you joy. This quick exercise helps you to determine what risks you want to take and hone in on your goals. Here are a few principles to keep in mind:
Be heroic: You are the hero in your own story. Components of a powerful story include: how you became the you that you are, themes you have identified, and depth as you learn more about yourself along the way.
Companies have their own stories too. Recalling them can help align and improve upon how individuals work together, especially when the lead has a viewpoint which differs from their team. One approach is the Elephants, Dead Fish, and Vomit approach I wrote about previously.
In a recent coaching session, I felt one word right in my gut. It\u2019s a seemingly innocuous word which packs a big punch; it\u2019s the word \u201Cnice\u201D. In the work environment, nice can imply easy to get along with or welcoming, which is beneficial for product managers who are constantly navigating cross functional dynamics. Nice also can be cringeworthy when a manager says you are \u201Cnice\u201D during a performance review. The implication often being the individual is not sufficiently visible to be considered for advancement.
Different words and situations can be seen in many ways. For example, although Fred Astaire was a great dancer, Ginger Roger\u2019s feats were extraordinary as the quote above highlights. People described as \\\"nice\\\" may be stronger than they appear. When considering various viewpoints, think about how they affect you and look at them from another angle to find questions that could help you grow and progress.
For example, other words grouped with \u201Cnice\u201D are \u201Ckind\u201D and \u201Cconsiderate\u201D. With these traits a person can navigate potentially difficult situations without being perceived as difficult to work with or lead. When asking to take on a desired project, a manager is likely to be more receptive to the request made by a truly kind and considerate person given their history of sincerity and conviction than someone whose sense of self is turned up to 11.
Cultivate trust by demonstrating authenticity and truly wanting to learn and improve based on the responses. The insight puts you in a more informed position to redirect preconceived notions and help others to see you or the situation differently. By embracing calculated risks (such as asking for more information), you can take steps towards both personal and professional development. Today, we\u2019ll explore these themes further.
Often people jump to building the pedestal as instinctively we know a pedestal could be built. It\u2019s a nice item to mark off the to do list. In fact, building the pedestal is an illusion of progress as the answer is already known. You\u2019re not proving anything new. Instead you\u2019re creating a sunk cost. What\u2019s the real tricky thing - the riskiest hypothesis - you want to explore first? It\u2019s training the monkey. Why? If the monkey is not trainable, you don\u2019t need the pedestal.
I know I\u2019m guilty of wanting to cross things off my checklist. It feels good to have an indication of achievement. What would it take to feel good about not doing or tackling something? Consider what is important to you or your company right now. If you identified a way to potentially save time or resources would it be a win?
If speaking of monkeys and pedestals is not going to seal the deal with your execs, Teller\u2019s approach to innovation is reminiscent of the problem solving technique, systems thinking. In systems thinking a whole \u201Csystem\u201D is broken down into its intrinsic components. The relationship between how the items in the system interrelate or impact each other vs. in isolation is the focus. Commonalities between the two methods include the following:
A technique to apply builds on work by Scott Young, the author of the Ultralearning. He describes \u201Cpractice loops\u201D, where we see examples, practice for ourselves and get high-quality feedback.
Feedback. Improvement is not a straight line; it requires adjustment. Sometimes, feedback looks like the red stroke of a teacher\u2019s pen, but more often, it comes from direct contact with the reality we\u2019re engaged with.
Begin by storyboarding what is already known, e.g. what does the customer do today. As you go through this journey, you will identify gaps where \u201Cmagic happens\u201D. We\u2019re not sure what took place, but somehow the customer progressed to the next step.
See. By storyboarding first, we are seeing what information we have already gathered from others. The \u201Cmagic happens\u201D gaps are the areas where improvements and learning occur.
In our world which appears to be getting more and more competitive everyday, being nice or kind or considerate can feel like the biggest risk. When you start to wonder if you need to be something you\u2019re not to succeed, ponder what do you want to be known for. Jesse Pujji from Bootstrapped Giants describes the benefit of being \u201Clikeable\u201D.
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