#AB015: Stop trying to look smart, the holy grail 🏆 & a week in Anaheim, CA
> 10k impressions: check out my video about roadmaps
In today's bento…
🧠 Reflections on the journey from "expert with all the answers" to something more useful and authentic
🎬 My latest video: A unified roadmap across discovery and delivery
☀️ A week in Anaheim, California for Atlassian's annual conference
🎤 Are you going through a transformation to the product model?
Drop me a note, I’d love to speak with you. (See end of post)
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A unified roadmap across discovery and delivery
“Axel, this brought an organisational tear of joy to my eye…”
This is what a senior leader at a SaaS company told me when I showed his team how to create a unified roadmap across discovery and delivery.
Many teams I speak to actually see this as a bit of a “holy grail”, their words, not mine. 😅
So I thought I would share how that’s possible in the video below.
Check it out on LinkedIn here.
When I Stopped Trying to Look Smart
Let me share something I've been thinking about.
Product managers (myself included) spend too much time trying to look smart.
We've all done it. That meeting where you drop an odd framework just to show you've read the latest product book. Using fancy words to dress up what you think you know. The stand-up where you talk about "growth curves" when "this helps users" would work fine.
I caught myself doing this in my first 3 months at Atlassian. During a strategy workshop, I looked around and told myself "I need to share something clever here." Looking back, I was just too keen to prove myself too soon.
Why do we do this?
I think it's because product managers are expected to lead. We've told ourselves that leading means having all the answers and acting like a CEO.
Entrepreneurship is romanticised across social media. Becoming a founder seems like the only way to gain status.
Fort 3 years before joining Atlassian, I worked with large scale-ups wanting to adopt the product model—not always for good reasons. Sometimes it was just the new trend.
I thought every company wanted to work like the "best" firms. I was wrong. Even if they want to, it doesn't mean it makes sense or it will work.
This belief took me to places where teams didn't grasp the changes they were going through or why. I had to meet them where they were, but I was stuck thinking teams could only win by adopting mindsets that were far removed from their reality.
And by the way, saying “think from first principles” doesn’t solve everything.
The turning point
My last job before Atlassian had me work with a product leader and coach teams. The leader and I, both thought there was a better way (the product model), but effective change takes many ingredients (the right setup, the will to change how you work, the “right” people,…).
You can't rush it.
We were fed up with the old ways and wanted quick change. 💥
What I've learned
The best product work happens in open talks where, really, it's more of a chat.
This sounds trivial but so much of what we used to call collaboration, coming together to solve a problem, has faded away behind tools and frameworks.
The rules are basic:
Let people speak freely
Don't judge them or their ideas
Stay curious
Ask questions
Be kind
This past year, I’ve observed that the more open I am about what I know and don't know, the more I'm honest about where I'm happy to learn with others, the better others respond. This is particularly true when working with customers.
Part of this is the culture at Atlassian. They believe new staff often come with a "coat of business polish" that takes time to wash off.
I've felt this. It's not easy. It takes time and work to unlearn old habits. But it's worth it for the growth.
The results speak for themselves
A good coach shows there's a path to get better and helps teams believe they can reach the goal with the right tools.
People shouldn't have to trust us just because we've seen this movie a few times before. That's something we take for granted.
When I stopped trying to look smart, our conversations got better. Trust grew faster because I showed where I was weak and what I didn't know.
We're all figuring things out. The sooner we admit that, the sooner we can do good work.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. I will be very happy to read and of course reply to anyone who shares their story.
Worthy eateries
I was in London recently for work and had the opportunity to dine at Sollip⭐️, a michelin-starred Korean restaurant in London Bridge.
I’m a big fan of K-food but this was something else (in a good way).
We had the tasting menu and it was a delightful experience from start to finish.
See for yourself (grabbed some photos online, mine were rubbish).
The food was exceptional.
Service was perfect and the wine list is pretty good (mostly conventional but probably what one would expect in this type of establishment) .
I would highly recommend. ✨
I’m in Anaheim this week for Atlassian’s annual conference, TEAM25
It is one of the highlights of the year.
I love it because I get to
meet so many customers and partners in a special setting,
connect with my fellow co-workers,
share our learnings and insights with the
+ there are going to be some pretty cool announcements this week!
I can’t wait.
I’ll be sharing more from the conference on LinkedIn in the coming days.
And of course, if you’re there, come find me at the Jira Product Discovery booth.
Don’t forget to drop me a message if you’re going through a product transformation. I’d love to learn more about your approach and how you’re getting on.
Peace out! ✌🏽