Ant Murphy Profile picture
Jun 20, 2024 2 tweets 1 min read Read on X
High WIP (work-in-progress) is one of the worse viruses for you business can have.

It's damaging on two fronts:

1) It hurts your customers = lower quality, poor outcomes, slow work, etc...
2) It hurts your people = stress, overwork, disengagement, etc… Image
P.s. high WIP is often a symptom too, not the cause.

It's typically a sign of:
- a lack of focus
- unclear of missing strategy
- inability to say 'no' (yes culture)
- lack of transparency

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More from @ant_murphy

Jun 7
Hers's a tactic I use when Stakeholders come with solutions, NOT problems.

Don't work backwards, work forward.

What do I mean by that?

Commonly when a stakeholder comes w/ a solution we try to get them to work backwards to the problem.

But for some this is a stretch. Image
We hit a wall, there's resistance. The Stakeholder can't understand why they need to give a problem, when they have this amazing solution idea (after all it's an awesome idea, right?)

So instead of trying to work against their thinking, go with it.
Look forward not backwards.

Ask: "If we did deliver this solution, what does it mean?"

...what does it mean for us, the org, our users?

Rather than trying to get them to articulate the problem, get them to think about what would be true if we did deliver their solution.
Read 7 tweets
Nov 29, 2024
Driver + Navigator

This is one of my favourite models to encourage collaboration and bring clarity to the messy nature of product work.

Rather then having your typical RACI or accountability framework, map out:

🚗 Who is ‘driving’? and
🗺️ Who is ‘navigating’? Image
For example, let's take a look at the product process through the lens of the product trio.

At the start we're prioritising, setting the strategy and deciding on what to focus on. During this phase, it's typically led by the PM - they would therefore be the ‘driver’.
But any good PM knows they shouldn’t do this alone.

This is where the ‘navigator’ comes in.

They drive the activity forward and are responsible for making sure it happens but they do it collaboratively with design and engineering (and others). These people are ‘navigators’.
Read 4 tweets
Nov 1, 2024
Hers's a tactic I use when Stakeholders come with solutions, NOT problems.

Don't work backwards, work forward.

What do I mean by that?

Commonly when a stakeholder comes w/ a solution we try to get them to work backwards to the problem.

But for some this is a stretch. Image
We hit a wall, there's resistance. The Stakeholder can't understand why they need to give a problem, when they have this amazing solution idea (after all it's an awesome idea, right?)

So instead of trying to work against their thinking, go with it.
Look forward not backwards.

Ask: "If we did deliver this solution, what does it mean?"

...what does it mean for us, the org, our users?

Rather than trying to get them to articulate the problem, get them to think about what would be true if we did deliver their solution.
Read 7 tweets
Oct 15, 2024
Product vs Design vs Engineering

I’m regularly asked questions like:

“What’s the difference between a Product Designer and Product Manager?”
“There seems to be a lot of overlap between Design and Product Management? Who does what?” Image
All valid questions but they all have one problem.

They are coming from an individual perspective, not a team one. Image
When we seek clear role separation and individual accountabilities we discourage collaboration and form gaps.

Gaps where context, knowledge and information is lost.

To plug these gaps we often create admin and coordination roles “to manage the work” Image
Read 9 tweets
May 14, 2024
Energy Management > Time Management

About 18 months ago I made the switch from only managing my time to managing my energy.

5 changes I've made:
- Focus sprints
- Better sleep
- Exercising later in the day
- Work right away
- Scheduling everything in my calendar
1️⃣ About 18 months ago I started doing 1.5 hour focus sprints.

The notion was based on the neuroscience of ultradian cycles - which is essentially the internal body clock.

Our ultradian cycles are 90 minutes. Meaning that the max we can concentrate is 90 minutes. Image
2️⃣ Poor sleep = poor energy.

No amount of energy/time management can make up for poor sleep.

Sleep has been a big topic for me since my son started school this year so it threw it into disarray. Consistency is key.
Read 11 tweets
May 11, 2024
"Here’s a hack I use to dealing with stakeholders coming with solutions, rather than problems.

Don’t try to work backwards, work forward."

Let me explain.

No doubt you’ve been in this situation before. Image
A stakeholder has come back from a conference or read one of the latest Forbes article and they’re pumped to jump on the latest trend.

And you’re now being asked the implement it.

But it’s pretty clear that it’s a solution looking for a problem.
The typical advice is to work backwards and unpack the problem they’re trying to solve.

However, working back towards a problem can be a stretch for some stakeholders.

I’d also bet that you’ve run into some resistance trying to do so too. Image
Read 8 tweets

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