Productly Speaking

In this episode of Productly Speaking, we dive into the challenges of high-stress environments and how to avoid negativity and burnout. Our guest, Kevin Bailey, founder and CEO of DreamFuel Coaching, shares his journey from leading Indiana's fastest-growing tech startup to founding a company focused on mental performance coaching. Kevin discusses the importance of mental health, the concept of perceived stress, and practical tools to maintain peak performance. Key Topics Covered: Introduction to Kevin Bailey Kevin's Entrepreneurial Journey Dealing with Burnout Understanding Perceived Stress Tools for Mental Performance Flow States and Productivity Managing Negative Thoughts Building Grit and Resilience Quotes: "The vast majority of our stress is perceived stress. If you're, you know, on a bench press or something trying to put up your max weight, that's going to be real stress in the moment. But the vast majority of our stress is fear of the future, rumination on the past."   "In order to be able to get into flow state, you have to be able to recognize what pulls you out of flow state."   Guest Information: Kevin Bailey: Founder and CEO of DreamFuel Coaching Website: https://www.dreamfuel.com/  LinkedIn: Kevin Bailey Podcast: The DreamFuel Show Call to Action: Visit DreamFuel's website to learn more about their coaching services. Connect with Kevin Bailey on LinkedIn for insights on mental performance. Subscribe to The DreamFuel Show for more discussions on mental health and performance. 

In this episode, Karl and Richard Cawkill delve into the critical intersection of sales and product management. They discuss the challenges and synergies between these two roles, emphasizing the importance of collaboration for business growth. Richard shares his unique insights from his dual roles at ProdPad and the Sustainable Watch Company, offering valuable perspectives on how sales and product teams can work together more effectively. Key Topics Discussed: Sales and Product Management Dynamics Richard's Experience and Insights Challenges in Sales and Product Collaboration The Role of AI in Sales and Product Collaboration Richard's Entrepreneurial Journey Quotes: "Product and sales are so heavily dependent on each other. It's almost like a classic brother-sister relationship." "The importance of feedback can unlock a lot of opportunities for both product market fit and sales dialogues." Call to Action: Follow Richard Cawkill on LinkedIn for more insights on sales and product management. Check out the Sustainable Watch Company for eco-friendly timepieces. 

In this episode, we dive into the vital relationship between product marketing and product management. Our guest, Austin Fuller, a go-to-market expert with over a decade of experience in technology, shares his insights on how these two disciplines intersect and why getting this relationship right is crucial for business success. Key Topics Discussed: Defining Product Marketing Techniques in Product Marketing Differences in Feedback from Prospects vs. Customers Types of Product Marketing Roles Importance of Customer Feedback Aligning Sales, Product, and Marketing Product Lifecycle and Marketing Focus Challenges and Solutions in Product Marketing Memorable Quotes from Austin Fuller: "Product marketing is taking your understanding of the product and the magic of the product and taking an understanding of the market and connecting the two."   "A lack of alignment with product and marketing creates a lot of dysfunction for the customer. Expectations for the customer become misaligned with what you can deliver, which results in churn."  "It becomes difficult to launch products and features when product and marketing aren't working well together."   Call to Action:Follow Austin Fuller on LinkedIn.

Episode Summary: In this episode of Productly Speaking, Karl sits down with Keith Allen Johns, a seasoned career, business, and life coach. Keith shares his journey from climbing the corporate ladder to the C-suite and eventually transitioning to coaching. The conversation delves into the challenges of product management, focusing on handling stress and influencing without authority. Keith offers valuable insights and practical tools for becoming more self-aware, managing stress, and effectively influencing others. Key Topics Discussed:  Challenges in Product Management  Handling Stress  Influencing Without Authority  Keith's Coaching Approach  Keith's Personal Insights Memorable Quotes from Keith Allen Johns:  "The change you want to see in your life can all be driven from the inside out."   "How you choose to handle stress is a choice."  "Influence begins with understanding the motivations and drives of the people you work with." Call to Action: Listeners are encouraged to connect with Keith Allen Johns on LinkedIn or visit his website at www.keithallenjohns.com to learn more about his coaching programs and upcoming events. 

In this episode of Productly Speaking, Karl sits down with Michael Palmer and Evie Brockwell, hosts of the Product Confidential Podcast, to discuss various aspects of product management. The conversation covers stakeholder management, product market fit, career growth, and the role of AI in product management. Key Topics: Stakeholder Management Product Market Fit Career Growth Advice for New Product Managers The Role of AI in Product Management Quotes: "If you're a product manager and you're not speaking to users, are you really a product manager?" - Michael Palmer "The best experiments are the ones if they don't work, because you can learn everything about why someone might have hated that and then work out how to grow and improve." - Evie Brockwell Resources Mentioned: Marty Cagan's book "Inspired" Product Confidential Podcast Call to Action: Follow Evie Brockwell on LinkedIn for updates on her workshops and coaching programs. Check out the Product Confidential Podcast on Spotify for more authentic product management conversations. 

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 the criticality of having a healthy work-life balance and the need to value self-empathy and avoid self-gaslighting. We highlight some of our favourite learnings from the season, including understanding customer feedback, picking the right customers, and figuring out how to achieve product market fit. We then touch on imposter syndrome and the importance of authenticity in leadership. We also talk about teamwork, remote work, and using the two-hour design sprint to help bring people together. If that weren't enough, we also talk about the ever-present but elusive inspiration and readiness required for product managers to seize opportunities. Lastly, we discuss the critical role that product managers play in understanding the jobs to be done and bringing value to the table. Enjoy this whirlwind journey as we look back on Season 1 of "Productly Speaking". Show Notes

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. While there is no coffee talk in this episode, we do discuss Fig Jam, which is a critical ingredient in Fig Cakes. Show Notes

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 five-day format, and highlights the importance of customer empathy. Additionally, she addresses challenges related to remote or hybrid teams and provides strategies for driving alignment. We also discuss the origin of the two-hour design sprint and Teresa's journey from writer to product manager. Show Notes

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 of bulletproof coffee with a side of wisdom, resilience, and a dash of humour. Show Notes: https://www.productlyspeaking.com/2024/04/02/episode-5-navigating-the-beautiful-mess-with-john-cutler/

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 from prioritizing features that didn't resonate with the market and emphasizes the importance of talking to less satisfied customers to gain valuable insights. The episode also delves into the strategic aspects of defining an ideal customer profile, the risks and rewards of joining a startup, and the complexities of transitioning from a single product to a multi-product company. Additionally, it covers the importance of storytelling and communication in product management, concluding with final thoughts on the subject. Click Here for the Show Notes

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 experienced SaaS executive and customer success thought leader with 15 years in the IT industry and 25 years of leadership experience. Amy serves as the CEO of Real Success International and was previously the Director of Customer Success Americas at Juniper Networks. Amy is passionate about the customer experience and continous learning. Trevor Mishler is an accomplished professional with over 20 years of experience in engineering, technology, financial services, sales, and military environments. He is the Chief Customer Officer at Real Success International and was previously the Director of Global Support at Element and before that a Senior Manager at Red Hat. Trevor is passionate about the customer experience and leadership.

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 him move into the Systems Storage Group at Sun Microsystems. He was at Sun during the time that Oracle bought Sun and he continued at Oracle for just over 7 years. After Oracle, he moved on to Red Hat where he is a product manager for Red Hat Enterprise Linux covering in-place upgrades, conversions, and live patching. His breadth of experience on industry leading products makes him a valuable asset to Red Hat and brings a unique perspective on product market fit to the table.

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 managers working with telecommunications customers at Red Hat. She has the unique skill of being able to listen to what a customer says they want and to then ask the right questions and lead the right conversation to understand if that's what they truly need. 

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 your communications.

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.