Strong Product People

Make sure there are a variety of ways to tell this one story: short, medium, and long, as well as written, spoken, and illustrated; and

Short is equivalent to an elevator pitch—no more than approximately 150 words or about 75 seconds. (Research indicates that, when you tell a short, informative story to an executive online, their attention span maxes out at 75 seconds.181)

So, be very human. Show your fears, doubts, and vulnerabilities—along with the passion and joy you feel when things go right. Show your people that you care.

“Which metric is directly influencing our North Star?”

Agile. Are they just following what others exemplify as an agile way of working or do they fully understand Agile values, principles, and ways of working?

1. Create it. Creating your narrative—including parts for product vision, strategy, goals, and principles—requires looking to see what is going on around you: the current situation, the diagnosis, and the reality (what is). This includes: Customers, noncustomers (a.k.a. humans), behavior changes; Market, industry, competition; Trends, macrotrends; and

4. Refine it. Find your cadence for periodically reviewing these elements.

when they come into the picture. If not, it’s a good idea to help the team define its own team values.

Learn more about the art and science of coaching. Read about the GROW model (or even better, listen to Christina Wodtke’s podcast on how she’s actually using it),48 and