How I do customer development interviews
Customer development interviews are one of my favorite things to do. I really like learning about people’s lives even though what I learn most often is that my ideas or my client’s ideas are wrong. My...
View ArticleA simple equation to drive change in your organization
Sales people have a saying PV + BV = CV It means personal value plus business value equals contract value. Contract value equals $$$$. This equation is as effective as driving change as it is at...
View ArticleAgile alone is not the solution to your product development problem
I think of an agile team like a swimmer in open water. They can have a very effective stroke that carries them far each time but if they don’t look up and adjust for currents or obstacles they aren’t...
View ArticleAdvice from my mom: “Make them tell you no”
After graduate school I was having a tough time finding a job. I was getting rejected for jobs I thought I was qualified for. Then I came across a fellowship opportunity at the Smithsonian and I really...
View ArticleHow I prepare for customer development interviews
When I’m doing a customer development interview my goal is to have an open and meaningful conversation that helps me really understand my subject’s pain, behaviors, needs, goals and how I can help...
View ArticleIf you want to run a good customer test, ask these quesitons
When I’m planning a test with my teams these are the questions that we ask ourselves. It really helps us to focus our efforts in planning, recruiting and creating a a prototype or other artifact to...
View ArticleHelp me design an exercise for diagnosing broken processes
I work with all sorts of teams in lots of different places and I see a lot of consternation about internal processes. People think that everyone should know the process but not everyone does. We don’t...
View ArticleAsk simple questions to drive change
Who is our customer? What are we trying to accomplish? How did we get here? What did we learn? I like simple questions about important things. They strip away marketing speak. They force us to make...
View ArticleGetting to Meaningful Feedback
I’ve spent this year getting feedback from small business owners, high school students, doctors, entrepreneurs and bankers. Every few months I start working with a new group of customers and every few...
View ArticleAdvice from my parents: Always Negotiate
“I was raised by a professional negotiator and I will be in trouble if we don’t negotiate this offer” is how I usually open a salary negotiation. My parents have always strongly pushed me to negotiate...
View ArticleMy favorite posts from 2015
Happy New Year! I wish you and yours all the best. Here are a couple of my favorite posts from the last year: Getting to Meaningful Feedback How I do customer development interviews Getting the Most...
View ArticleWant to drive change internally? Here are two reasons you shouldn’t skip the...
I’ve spent most of my career being a troublemaker trying to push an organization into trying new things. Sometimes I’ve failed miserably and a few times I’ve succeeded. As an outside consultant I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Determining the First Release
Note: This originally appeared on the 3Pillar Global Blog The first thing you release needs to put the solution to your customer’s most important problem in their hands. Deciding what the most...
View ArticleProduct’s Role in DevOps
I recently sat down with my friend Dan Greene to talk about the role of the product team in DevOps. He and I like to joke that DevOps is the new hotness, since most of the sales and senior technology...
View ArticleWhy are so many people struggling with ownership and roles? Part 1
Debates about ownership seem to be all around me. I see them on our teams, client’s teams and online. Holding onto the idea that I should own the design meant disenfranchising my non-design coworkers....
View ArticleLessons from an accidential facilitator
I never chose to become a facilitator. Right after joining 3Pillar I had clients come in from North Carolina for the day and I decided to do a series of exercises with them that I read about online so...
View ArticleYou’re funding technology wrong
Occasionally I work with clients who fund technology based on project business cases that are evaluated on a periodic or annual basis. These business cases require your leaders and their teams to spend...
View ArticleMy first year (and change) as working mom
I expected to be sleep deprived, to sometimes have spit up on my shirt, for my house to be a mess, for pumping to be a chore and for my schedule to become even busier and unpredictable. But my first...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to design a successful workshop
Note: This originally appeared on the 3Pillar website Workshops are a great way to get your team aligned and moving quickly. I design workshops to meet my client where they are and get them to their...
View ArticleMeeting people where they are
I took some friends skiing not long ago and one of them was having trouble making turns. Years of training and experience have taught me how to quickly look at someone and immediately know what one to...
View Article
