Podcast appearances and mentions of kirsten butzow

What if you approached your career the same way you approach product management—strategically, iteratively, and with a clear roadmap?  In this episode of Product Chats, we're joined by Kirsten Butzow, product leadership expert, to explore a structured, strategic approach to career management. Kirsten introduces a three-phase career framework—Do, Build, and Catalyst—each lasting approximately 10-12 years, guiding professionals through skill development, leadership growth, and long-term impact.  She explains how early career phases focus on honing skills and defining a niche, mid-career success depends on achieving through others, and later stages are about accelerating people, systems, and processes. Kirsten also shares why planning your exit isn't a final step, but an integrated part of career growth at every stage.  Tune in for insights on managing your career with the same strategic mindset you apply to your products.  For detailed takeaways, show notes, and more, visit: www.pragmaticinstitute.com/resources/podcasts  Pragmatic Institute is the global leader in Product, Data, and Design training and certification programs for working professionals. Learn more at www.pragmaticinstitute.com. 

I think elevator music exists for a reason, but isn't really what you should strive for” - Kirsten Butzow   What do the phrases “thinking outside the box,” “give 110%,” and “new normal” have in common?   Answer: They. Mean. Nothing.We've overused these phrases so much that they, at best, mean nothing and, at worst, harm your messaging. In this episode, our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, interviews Kirsten Butzow, Senior Vice President at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, about the problems these phrases cause and why we should stop using them.   They discuss: What to say instead of common corporate jargon Why corporate speak drifts out to the marketplace Why you shouldn't work 110% Want to Improve Your Efficiency as a Product Manager? Enroll in Foundations Our battle-tested framework helps product professionals learn how to listen to the market, prioritize projects and drive results. Take your first step to becoming truly market-driven by enrolling today.

“I am pleading for everybody, working in any job, at the start of every one of your projects to say, ‘are we date-driven or are we scope-driven?' Then, when something unforeseen comes our way, we will gleefully and joyfully make the adjustments and celebrate and move forward.   And we will take the human nature desire to have a punitive discussion at that moment in time off the table because it ultimately inhibits the workflow and the culture.”   -Kirsten Butzow   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirsten Butzow, senior VP at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, discussing the often overlooked and hidden cause of tension and bad culture in organizations—workflows.Kirsten Butzow is a product management enthusiast, passionate mentor, leader, and former Pragmatic Instructor.   During this episode, Kirsten and Rebecca Discuss: How to determine if a perceived cultural issue is actually rooted in a problem with workflow Why unexpected rework is a sign of a workflow problem Why starting with customer data will bring clarity to workflows The importance of agreeing to adjust either scope or date deadlines to better manage resource and time constraints   Additional Resources: Enroll Foundations to take the first step in truly understanding the market and the problems it faces. In this course, you'll also master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. Learn More

“We try to be pristine in our application of the definitions, and what it is we're actually trying to accomplish can sometimes get lost in the shuffle” - Kirsten Butzow   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirsten Butzow, Senior VP, customer operations at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt   They discuss: Sprints and how the market cares about usefulness and impact—not methodology Who is driving the release planning discussions How to collaborate for a launch Why requirements should start with data and market research The helpful role of a retrospective Additional Resources Want to learn more about effective launches?   Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today  

Customer success isn't just a department, especially in subscription businesses. In this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirsten Butzow, senior VP of customer operations at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, who explains why companies have to earn their customers business on a regular basis and how to do it. They discuss that even know the product team understands the market problems, it's the customer success team that will reveal whether or not the product team hit the mark. They also outline the natural checkpoints along the way to know if the organization is staying grounded in the problems and personas.

The term "NIHITO" or "nothing interesting happens in the office" promotes getting outside the comfort of your office and speaking with customers directly, but that certainly can't be the only way to get good market data, can it? Especially in the time of Covid-19, what else can product professionals tap into in order to compile this type of data? Former Pragmatic instructor and SVP of customer operations at Houghton, Kirsten Butzow, joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, to discuss how her current position is a treasure trove of market data, and how product professionals can better understand their customer segments in order to tailor their products to their customers.

Data is changing the way we do business. But how is it changing product marketing? Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Marketing, is joined by former Pragmatic instructor and product marketing expert Kirsten Butzow to discuss the importance of being both market- and data-driven to tell the right story to your audience and market. Kirsten details examples of businesses that have utilized data to improve their business or struggled without using data.

This week on Product Love, a podcast about product, I sat down with Kirsten Butzow, who is so prolific in her work that it's hard to easily introduce her. Kirsten has more years of experience as a product management leader than almost anyone I know and has served in senior product management roles at a diverse set of companies, including Fujitsu, Pearson, and Blackboard. She is now a certified instructor and product coach with Pragmatic Marketing, and a speaker at many of the leading product events around

Data is changing the way we do business. But how is it changing the way we do product marketing. Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Marketing, is joined by former Pragmatic instructor and product marketing expert Kirsten Butzow to discuss the importance of being both market- and data-driven to tell the right story to your audience and market. Kirsten details examples of businesses have utilized data to improve their business, or struggled without using data. Get the insider’s look at product marketing and data and listen now! Do you want to learn more about the importance of data for your business? Make sure you register for one of our upcoming The Business of Data Science courses and get all the details you need to know. Make sure you subscribe to our podcast series and never miss another great moment.

This week we take you back in time to one of our best previous episodes of Pragmatic Live. Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing and Kirsten Butzow, a Pragmatic Marketing instructor, do a deep dive on what defines these essential roles and how they play a pivotal part in building the right produc   Learn how to build and market products people actually buy. Take a look at our complete course offerings today!

* This podcast was captured during our recent webinar (4 Steps to Successful Product Teams). Your business depends on the ability of your product teams to identify the products customers want to buy and then bring them to market successfully. But how do you build and motivate your product team so that everyone functions and performs at their highest capacity? Kirsten Butzow, product veteran, industry thought leader and instructor at Pragmatic Marketing, will share the four major steps to take in order to transform your product team into a well-oiled machine which develops and markets successful products. Kirsten will show how you can leverage the Pragmatic Marketing Framework for each of these four steps to achieve optimal team performance. Register for our next webinar on August 14th, 1 p.m. EDT: Speak With Confidence: Presentations and Pitches That Actually Work Hosted by Jon Torrens, expert communication coach.

Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you the next episode of... The Everyday Innovator with host Chad McAllister, PhD. The podcast is all about helping people involved in innovation and managing products become more successful, grow their careers, and STANDOUT from their peers. About the Episode: If you have ever had to explain what you do as a product manager to people you work with, you are in good company. Most product managers find this necessary. Further, the role means different things in different organizations. The leaders of your organization may have a perspective of the role that is not really accurate, or as I have seen more often, they don’t understand the leverage the role provides them. In this discussion, we explore what organizational leaders need to understand about the role of product manager. But, we don’t stop there as product managers also need to have a clear understanding of the needs of the organization. This discussion will help you better talk to the leaders of your company about your role and to understand your very important role more deeply. To discuss the topic, I invited Kirsten Butzow to join us. She is a product veteran, serving as VP Product Management at Person and Blackboard and has held other product roles. Now she is a product coach for Pragmatic Marketing.

Becoming a product leader is simpler than you might think. If you have ever had to explain what you do as a product manager to people you work with, you are in good company. Most product managers find this necessary. Further, the role means different things in different organizations. The leaders of your organization may […]

Becoming a product leader is simpler than you might think. If you have ever had to explain what you do as a product manager to people you work with, you are in good company. Most product managers find this necessary. Further, the role means different things in different organizations. The leaders of your organization may […]

This week on Product Love, a podcast about product, I sat down with Kirsten Butzow, who is so prolific in her work that it’s hard to easily introduce her. Kirsten has more years of experience as a product management leader than almost anyone I know and has served in senior product management roles at a diverse set of companies, including Fujitsu, Pearson, and Blackboard. She is now a certified instructor and product coach with Pragmatic Marketing, and a speaker at many of the leading product events around the world. She’s also an esteemed member of the ProductCraft debate club.

Do you know what separates the two?  In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing and Kirsten Butzow, a Pragmatic Marketing instructor, do a deep dive on what defines these essential roles and how they play a pivotal part in building the right products. Ready for an in-depth look at how to work most effectively with a UX design team?  Check out our brand new partner offering through the Pragmatic Learning Network: UX Essentials by Ascest  

The following podcast was captured during our live webinar (Six Ways Product Management's Role Will Change in 2018). The role of product management is undergoing a dramatic rethink. Success is shifting from measuring velocity and roadmap delivery to measuring how well a product performs, how much value it drives and the loyalty of its users. In this episode of PragmaticLive, Kirsten Butzow, a Pragmatic Marketing instructor, and Eric Boduch, founder of Pendo.io, discuss these emerging shifts in product management. Want to learn more about Product Management's role? Register for a Pragmatic Training today!

At Pragmatic Marketing, we teach the Pragmatic Marketing framework, those 37 key activities needed to build and market winning products. But in this episode, Kirsten Butzow, Pragmatic Marketing instructor extraordinaire, is going to talk through how you can use those same activities and strategies to improve a product closer to home, yourself. So, to find out how to use product management and marketing strategies on your own personal brand and change the trajectory of your career, listen now!

Join Pragmatic Marketing instructor Kirsten Butzow as she explores the three main traps that keep companies from delivering truly innovative products: culture, focus and discipline. Find out what many of today’s companies are doing wrong, and what you can do to enable innovation within your organization.   Got an idea for another podcast? Have some feedback on what we could be doing better with our podcasts? We’d love to hear it! Please take a moment to complete our survey.