It has been over 5 years since I learned about hashtag#productdevelopment.
During March 2019, I sat in one of our classrooms at Improving as part of a two-week practicum that helped me understand how to build software products.
Since then, I have focused my effort on understanding how teams could build delightful products that deliver an experience they tell their family, friends, and colleagues.
One of the most beneficial actions I took was to attend meetups (also known as user groups) to learn the concepts and language around product development.
In Dallas, we host groups that meet monthly to discuss what is happening in their professional space. This includes programming languages, innovation, ways of work (like hashtag#scrum), and database systems.
Technology is in product development DNA. Take time to learn from professionals in the field by joining a meetup hosted by one of our offices.
You can find listings for those groups on our website at improving.com.
P.S. What professional development group have you most recently attended? Please share in the comments below.
Being scared is a part of life. Courage is acknowledging fear and yet, not being overcome by fear.
Product development is a risky business.
❔Will people feel connected to it?
❔How will the market receive it?
❔What will the critics write or say?
❔Can we profit from its creation?
❔When will we need to revise it or update it?
❔How will we handle demand?
❔What will happen if it fails?
Questions are good, but decisions are better. It’s all about decisions.
“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not making decisions.” – Catherine Cook
Asking the right questions while taking action on what is known is a secret to progress in product development.
Setting specific goals while answering the questions is a hallmark of teamwork.
Doing “safe to fail” experiments, on a small scale, lead to actionable insights via lean thinking and using frameworks like scrum.
P.S. What decisions are you delaying due to failure fear?
If this post bothers you, please take time to consider the intent behind it.
Much of the content I write is focused on product development, teamwork, scrum, and lean. As well, I write about life at Improving to show what happens in and around our Dallas office.
So, here goes.
No amount of education can cure you of your own stupidity.
I share this because I sense a miss guided belief that more education is going to help solve complex problems.
In fact, education might be getting in the way of problem-solving.
I have and continue to work with brilliant people that don’t have college degrees. They know how to solve problems I am unable to completely understand.
My colleagues have focused on enhancing their strengths, developing their skills, and taking the concept of life-long learning seriously.
Maybe it’s time we reconsider the value of a college degree and instead focus on developing the right skills at the right time to solve wicked problems.
Let’s follow successful examples and avoid getting tied up with which college or university someone graduated from.
BTW, I am NOT saying college education is bad. I am asking that a college degree NOT be a barrier to starting or continuing a career in product development.
P.S. What do you think? Am I wrong, if so, please share your thoughts.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
