Product Nerds Only

Story Points Don’t Work the Way You Think

Post published:May 22, 2023
Reading time:8 mins read

If you've ever been in a backlog refinement meeting (maybe you call them "grooming" meetings instead—tomato, potato), you've probably heard more than one conversation that sounds something like this: Alice:…

The Power of “Good Enough”

Post published:August 16, 2021
Reading time:5 mins read

I've been working for the past several months on a hobby project with a few friends. It's been quite a case study in process, and it's taught me a lot…

Instead of Permission or Forgiveness, Ask for Support

Post published:May 21, 2021
Reading time:6 mins read

You've got an idea. Perhaps you've developed a phased plan for widespread organizational improvements. Or maybe you just want to change up the format of a meeting that seems to…

Listening to Customers is About Knowing What They Know, Not Doing What They Say

Post published:March 29, 2021
Reading time:6 mins read

You have to listen to your customers. This is well understood. If you don't, you're setting yourself up to fail. The heart of the product nerd's job is to understand…

Pictured: A Product Owner, being useless

Stop Saying Product Owners are Irrelevant for Clickbait

Post published:March 10, 2021
Reading time:7 mins read

Agile community, we need to talk. I love a good hot take, I do. And I absolutely believe that we are allowed to interrogate our ceremonies, roles, processes, etc., for…

“What” and “How”: The Theory of Everything

Post published:February 22, 2021
Reading time:5 mins read

Product nerds are in a unique position. We follow the lifecycle of an idea all the way from inception to delivery, and if we get a moment to breathe—a moment…

Stop Treating Your Successes Like Failures

Post published:February 15, 2021
Reading time:7 mins read

In our daily standup recently one of the developers on my team mentioned that he'd scheduled a meeting with the other engineers to go over the results of a spike…