In the Season 1 Finale of “Productly Speaking”, we talk about what happened when Karl went ice skating for the first (and last) time and how this became lived experience that led to truly understanding the importance of accessibility in product design. This type of lived experience and a strong desire to tinker are key to product management. After this discussion, we delve into empathy, contrasting emotional empathy with empathic concern and addressing the challenges of burnout. We discuss...

In this episode of “Productly Speaking”, we discuss the relationships between product management, engineering, and design. Joined by Johannes Marbach, an engineer, and Callum Upfield, a designer, we delve into several key aspects such as feedback dynamics, role definitions, communication, PRDs, team structure and effective collaboration. The insights surfaced on this podcast episode come from much learned experience and represent valuable perspectives from the world of product development....

In this episode of “Productly Speaking”, Teresa Cain shares her insights on her creation of the 2 Hour design sprint. We explore how design thinking benefits product managers and how Teresa's condensed two-hour design sprints can be an excellent implementation of design thinking. Despite the shorter timeframe, participants can achieve meaningful outcomes by preparing beforehand. Teresa also discusses fostering an inclusive organizational culture, compares two-hour sprints with the traditional...

In this episode of “Productly Speaking”, we discuss John Cutler's journey into product management, his contributions to the product management community through The Beautiful Mess, and his thoughts on self-gaslighting and the doubt loop. We also talk about his audience, where he finds his inspiration from, his thoughts on getting started creating content for the PM community, and the different voices that are already out there. This is an exciting discussion that's like drinking a large cup...

In this episode, we explore the journey of becoming a successful product manager through Adam’s career transition from technical support to product management. Key insights include the necessity of embracing ambiguity, understanding people, and the significance of customer feedback, especially from those who are constructively critical. The discussion highlights the art of building products from scratch and the delicate balance of feature prioritization. Adam reflects on the lessons learned...

In this episode of “Productly Speaking”, we discuss how customer success teams can help a company understand customer needs and how these match the reality of a company’s products. We also discuss working to determine what the jobs to be done for a customer are and then how to address those as a whole company. We are joined by Amy Taylor Mitchell and Trevor Mishler, who are both customer success executives and together lead Real Success International.  Amy Taylor Mitchell is a highly...

In this episode, Karl and Danielle explore the challenge of product market fit with Bob Handlin. They talk about the difficulties that you can have breaking into an existing market and how you really have to understand the end user's problems to have a chance. They also talk about the importance of primary research, the say/do gap, and how to best decide what's important when you have limited resources and runway. Bob Handlin's product management career started at Prominet and then had...

In our inaugural episode of the season, Karl and Danielle talk to Jennifer Scalf about how to cut through noise to get to the signal. You often get feedback from customers on what they’d like to see done differently in a product, but this raises questions such as do they want it or need it and is this feedback indicative of one person or many different people. With Jennifer’s help, we explore how to start answering these questions.  Jennifer Scalf is a senior manager of technical account...

In this final episode of the season, Karl and Danielle explore the idea of a product manager being like a coach. But being divided by a common language, this idea hits differently depending on which side of the pond you’re on! This conversation covers the role of a product manager, the importance of taking care of your teams, the importance of nuance and whether or not we’ve lost that as a society, and finally, how you can use story to ensure that you’re conveying the important nuances in...

In this third episode, Karl and Danielle discuss what is going wrong with Zizzer Zoof seeds in Dr. Seuss’ Vale of Va Vode. Product market fit is elusive to achieve and isn’t guaranteed to stay once you obtain it! But before you even get to product market fit, you need to make sure that you at least have problem solution fit. Have a listen as we discuss this difficult issue. There are no silver bullets here, just a lot of food for thought and cake for dessert!

In this second episode, Karl and Danielle discuss why they started Productly Speaking. They also discuss the different stages of a product’s lifecycle and how different skills are needed for each stage. They also introduce the pickle jar. Further points of discussion include the difficulty of making an impact seven levels down in a large organisation.

In this inaugural episode, Karl and Danielle introduce themselves and discuss how they both “fell” into product management. Then the discussion moves into why product management isn’t taught in schools, why reading Marty Cagan isn’t going to make you a product manager, how there are no silver bullet answers, and finally a discussion of how artistic pursuits apply to product management. As a bonus, we also talk about that most important fuel to keep product managers going — coffee!

In this show trailer, Karl Abbott and Danielle Kirkwood introduce themselves and what you can expect from their upcoming podcast about product management or something, Productly Speaking.