In my opinion, there are two conversations that are a waste of time. One is “should designers learn […]
Why Design Needs Entrepreneurship (and Entrepreneurship Needs Design)
My Warm Gun Talk on OKRs
Is up! Enjoy!
Why We Can’t Get Things Done
UPCOMING! Tuesday I have a virtual seminar on OKRs! Sign up now to join me. We all have […]
Execution is Everything
Every published writer has had it – the people who come up to you and tell you that […]
The Sunday Report
I’m going to try something new here, and round-up the cool stuff I found each week while doing […]
Cascading Your Objectives and Key Results
In 2014, I was working with startups and this was fine. it is not fine now, and I […]
The Extra-Chunky Internet
When I first read Malcolm Gladwell’s Ketchup Conundrum in 2004, I knew it was important to the work […]
What do I call this thing?
Since I started blogging and speaking about OKRs and how to use them, it’s been clear that OKRs […]
Diversity Is Hard
The opening keynote was a woman, the closing keynote a black man. In between there were 16 white […]
An OKR Worksheet
The first time you set OKRs can be a struggle, and many folks make mistakes.
To make setting OKRs the first time easier for companies I help, I’ve written this lightweight worksheet.
OKR Mistakes (and how to fix them)
I’ve been having a lot of great conversations lately about the nitty-gritty of implementing OKRs as people try […]
Customer Development with Participatory Roadmaps
When we talk about Minimum Viable Product, we often forget to discuss what it means to be viable. […]
Designer as Founder Week Five
The big win of the week was an exercise we did together. Students went through the user research […]
Monday Commitments and Friday Wins
Many companies who try OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) fail, and they blame the system. But no system works if […]
Designer As Founder Week Four
I return from Amsterdam to my class in varying states of uncertainty. One is already on their first […]
Designer Founder Class Week Three
This week I was off to Amsterdam to present Executioner’s Tale at Interactions 14. The lovely Ms Erin […]
The Executioner’s Tale
A story about a company using OKR’s to help a team focus during a pivot (yes, you may […]
Lean is Listening
I have a lot of conversations with entrepreneurs. In them, I’ll mention something I found confusing or offputting. 99 […]
The Art of the OKR
Read the updated post, Art of the OKR Redux instead! A lot has changed since 2014…. […]
Designer as Founder: Week Two Class Notes
This week the students presented the insights they gained from talking to users and how the evolved the […]
Designer as Founder: Week One Class Notes
I’ve begun teaching a class at CCA called Designer as Founder. Having made that transition myself, and with […]
27 Thoughts on Product Management
Riding the train this morning, I thought about what it takes to be a Product Manger. I was […]
Use Me, Don’t Abuse Me
My daughter and I are excited to see the second Hobbit movie. We expect to be scared, worried, […]
What the Agency Doesn’t Know
Watch this Webstock ’13: Mike Monteiro – How Designers Destroyed the World from Webstock on Vimeo. I […]
Users don’t hate change. They hate you.
Recently, more than the color of the leaves on the trees has been changing. Everyone seems to be […]
The Dreaded Weekly Status Email
I remember the first time I had to write one of these puppies. I had just been promoted […]
5 Quick Changes That Will Make Meetings Suck Less
Meetings don’t have to be bad. They are where you get together with your crew and figure out […]
The Most Important Interview Question
My favorite interview of all time happened at an early-stage start-up. The last interviewer of the day sat […]
Three Dilemmas
Recently three friends have reached out to me. 1) The person I thought my partner was isn’t, according […]
Career Choices
I know a lot of zen stories. I started reading this book in college and I never stopped. […]