Lessons Learned from Coda CPO Lane Shakleton
I listened to a webinar in Product Club and distilled some ideas for myself.
This essay doesn't really represent the meat of what he shared, but the derivatives which can from listening to him.
Build Ritual and Systems
This is a familiar trope but one that can pay dividends.
I often used them in the past, but realize that I can use them even more.
He put it in a context where systems >> goals, and I think being able to describe the systems to get a specific goal and share amongst the team is an important one.
Spit balling here, but what are some common rituals and systems that I know I will need (he may have touched upon these himself as well):
- Talking to customers
- Managing stakeholders on decisions
- Product or feature elements
One of the systemizations he used was to create language systems when doing Kickoffs Product Kick Off Template could add these concepts!
- I am worried that....
- It is important to me that....
- I am good without any approach that....
- Success to me looks like....
Ritualized languaging is a powerful way to bring people onto the same page and tap into often unspoken cognitive biases and preferences, these are the things that will kill a project.
Why is it that a written idea will get an okay from a stakeholder but when it is shipping the same thing will get an allergic reaction?
For another time.
Extended discussion
Having a separate place for other people to help with synthesis, again, using languaging is good. His prompts include:
- I'm excited about
- we'd like input on
- i'd like to get i nput
- i had a thought
- fyi
- kudos for
- i feel uneasy about
- i'd like to understand
- who wants to be involved
- i'd like the team to
Decision making for every decision to track various categories:
- i don't need to be involved
- just le me know the decision
- i'd like to give input
- i may have strong feelings
Take Away
Language-based prompts creates very clear, atomic responses, and it gives visibility into who has a comment and what is the comment and make it available to everyone.
I think in an open ecosystem these decisions best live all out in the open. The transparency puts some accountbility and can help reduce thrashing. This definitely occurs inside of companies where people. harbor their dissent but then secretly object.
I think one thing that was missing would be what is the way actual stakeholders are going to be systemitized within the objective function (what will they do in an inspectable way to contribute?)
For example, someone may give their assent for optics, but they don't do anything in an individually inspectable and systemic way. The bottlenecks come often this way.