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Mind the Product

Podcast

Why product managers are getting fired – Dave Wascha (CPTO and Advisor)

#mtpcon

The key principles of PLG: Leah Tharin at #mtpcon London 2025 (Product Advisor)

B2B product management

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML)

Building Product Teams

Business Strategy

Data Driven Product Management

Digital Transformation

Diversity and Inclusion

Minimum Viable Product

OKRs

Prioritisation

Product Design

Product Research

Product Development Process

Product Ethics

Product Discovery

Product Leadership

Product Management Career

Product Strategy

Stakeholder Management

🌎 <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/world-product-day/" style="color:#FFFFFF;text-decoration:underline;">Happy World Product Day!</a> Be sure to celebrate product, yourself, and your peers today! 🎉

Three unconventional ways to be a better product manager 

What product leaders can learn from mergers and acquisitions – Vincent Jong (CPO, Dealfront)

Inside Amex’s mobile app redesign – Jose Quesada at #mtpcon London 2025 (VP Product, Amex)

Breaking into product management: A practical guide for aspiring product professionals

The best resources for product managers in 2025

Louron serves as the Editor at Mind the Product, bringing nearly a decade of experience in editorial positions across business and technology publications. For any editorial inquiries, you can connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Louron Pratt

Dear Santa,
It’s me again – your favourite product manager! You haven&#8217;t from me in a while. The past few years have been&#8230;.interesting, but all is well. I am writing to let you know that I’ve been very good this year. I have been completely focused on my users, talking to them regularly and not pretending that I am them. I have made a concerted effort to be data-informed over data-driven, and have been focused on outcomes over outputs. All. Year. Round.
Of course, we can’t forget that time earlier in the year when I ended up overengineering my product by making features too complex for our users, but that’s all water under the bridge….if you’re not winning, you’re learning…am I right or am I right?!
So in the hope that I have done enough to find my name on the Nice List, here is my wish list for this Christmas:
<ol>
<li>Knowing when my <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/how-to-write-okrs-that-dont-suck-by-adrian-howard/">OKRs don’t suck</a>, this year I’ve fallen into the trap of cargo-cult OKRs, where I’ve expected the rituals to solve their problems while losing sight of my thinking. Anything to understand how to use them well would be GREAT.</li>
<li>A lesson in <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/effective-communication-with-software-engineers/">communication with Software Engineers</a>. Like me, engineers need long periods of uninterrupted work to be effective. I don’t know when to interrupt them, and whether it’s worth small talking about the weather. Sometimes I would love to have a step-by-step guide on what to do more of, and what to avoid.</li>
<li>Understand what product manager role best works for me. As much as I’ve loved seeing the role grow, when I go to a talk or event with so many different types of product managers around, I see myself regurgitating a similar question “what exactly is it, that you do?” it would be desirable for you to expand on <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/the-rise-of-product-ops-independent-function/">product operations</a> is as well. Thanks in advance…</li>
<li>For my sanity, please provide me with a list of measuring the right metrics. For Christmas I’d like to know what to measure to build successful products, I want to be efficient with my data and not be overloaded with spreadsheets. Please help me to keep things <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/hicks-law-keep-it-simple-and-straightforward/">simple and straightforward.</a></li>
<li>And finally on my list (as it always is…) is to master <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/sunday-rewind-just-say-no-hard-decisions-in-product-management/">the art of saying no</a>. This might be a big ask, but even when I want to say no, I somehow end up saying yes? Teach me the ways of the no’s. Feel free to say no to this request though…</li>
</ol>
I haven’t got around to finding the best stocking yet, it’s somewhere on my to-do list. But I promise it will be in the same place as always, next to the whiteboard and on top of my pile of sticky notes. I have the finest milk and cookies on arrival. Looking forward to seeing what Christmas brings!
Merry Christmas!
Sincerely,
Overstretched Product Manager

core/freeform

Product Management Community

The role of an AI product manager by Hiroki Nakamura

Unusual business in the product discovery stage by Kristian Collin Berge

The good, bad, and ugly of OKRs by Jenny Herald

What we learned at #mtpEngage Hamburg 2022

Robotics and society by Cynthia Yeung

Building an industry product by Nick Eales

How to encourage clicks without shady tricks by Paul Boag

Mindset – Being Empowered To Manage Your Stakeholders With Papa Akuffo

Mindset – Blaming the Framework, Core Team Communication, and Remote Working With Matt LeMay

Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas this year…

Louron Pratt

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