From one of the three greatest product managers of all time:
[Reposted from: https://www.kennethnorton.com/essays/how-to-work-with-software-engineers.html]
Every once in awhile, people ask why I chose the word “Discover” over the word “Think” as the first step in the D3 Framework. The truth is I largely agree with its use in other frameworks to describe a very similar step in the productivity process. In fact, I originally started with the word “Think”, but it’s just not where I ended up.
Although choosing the word “Discover” was largely arbitrary, there was a modicum of thought behind the decision. The first, and most obvious, reason is that having three words start with the letter “D” makes for a nice framework title. More importantly though, Discover implies reaching some type of solution to a problem, whereas Think implies merely having considered the problem.
Sometimes, the solution to a problem is obvious. For example, in order to train for a marathon, you need to start running (D1). The much harder part is finding time in your schedule (D2) and getting yourself motivated to do it everyday (D3). Therefore, it doesn’t feel so much like discovering a novel solution, as it does simply spending a bit of time to think about the problem. In these instances, perhaps “Think” is more appropriate.
However, in most situations, the key outcome of this step is to discover a new answer to your problems. Only thinking about an issue is not enough, there must be some sort of outcome as well. The new discovery might not even end up as the best answer, but forcing that decision means taking a small action, and action is the only real ingredient in getting things done.
Everyone in Silicon Valley says that they want to start something on their own, but then they don’t. And I don’t blame them. Trekking out by yourself is downright scary. The lack of a steady paycheck, no health or medical insurance in sight, and the uncertainty each day brings are difficult for anyone to handle. So even though I’ve told others to take a chance and chase your dreams, I was always hesitant to take the leap myself. But 2013 changes all that. It’s time to eat my own medicine.
So here’s what happened. Back in late August of 2012, I started on my journey to learn programming, since my goal for awhile has been to become a rockstar Product Manager. I formed a study group through friends I met online, and we began meeting weekly to go through learning web development.
Since we were all starting from zero, our beginnings were pretty humble. The target was to get out a web app out by the end of year, but step one was just some basic HTML and CSS. Then, we moved onto advanced CSS3 and HTML5 with forms, so even though the pages were static, the content wasn’t. Next up was JavaScript, including some AJAX and JQuery thrown in. Each of these subjects took a couple weeks each, and as such, September, October, November flew by.
As November was coming to an end, I started learning Ruby, which was supposed to be the last step to making a web app. Wrong. It turns out that to program with Ruby, one must also master version control systems (Git), command line interface (Terminal), web server maintenance (Heroku), and databases management (PostgreSQL). And let’s not forget Rails – that Convention-over-Configuration, Don’t-Repeat-Yourself, Model-View-Controller monster of a framework.
Luckily, I had some SQL experience as a business analyst writing queries, and great co-workers who were willing to answer tons of my neophyte questions. More importantly, I was highly motivated to get something out the door according to the original timeline. So during the day, I worked on developing and executing mobile strategy as a full-time Mobile Product Manager, and at night, I coded. Over time though, I realized the window of opportunity was closing quicker than expected.
In the middle of December, a sudden move by the company would force my hand. The executives decided on performing some general restructuring, and due to no fault of my own, I was let go. In fact mobile traffic, mobile revenue, and mobile margins were actually the highest they’ve been in company history! As it turns out, this was quite a propitious event, as it gave me the free time to complete my project by end of year. Right now, it is a race against the clock to get something done.
In the short period I’ve been at it so far, my thoughts and feelings have been all over the place. The crazy part is that having read many start-up articles detailing the peaks and troughs, I knew this emotional rollercoaster was coming! Armed with this knowledge, I was determined not be swayed by my fickle emotions. But to no avail. In the past few days, I’ve experienced some of the most exhilarating times ever in my life, and when fear and trepidation set in, some of the scariest moments ever as well.
My dream is to get a job within the productivity industry, and I know I will make in someday. For now though, I’m just bleeding cash with the palpable feeling of risk hanging over my head. In the end, I don’t think there’s anything that could have fully prepared me for this journey. But frankly, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Need a quick jolt of energy to stay productive? Well, if music usually gets you pumped up then you’re in luck because there’s this little site called GetWorkDoneMusic that does just that. With only two modes (Fast and Faster), it will get you going quicker than other more gray area methods. Enjoy!
Today, I ran into Drew Houston (of Dropbox fame) at my local coffee shop, and generally acted like a typical fanboy. This made me realize a number of important truths, some of them harder to face than others:
If just one other person gets motivated to become more productive and finally get their act together, exposing myself this way will be totally worth it.
All the graphic really shows is that productivity in America tanks for two hours after lunch … and that no one works on Friday’s after 3 PM.
People who don’t sleep enough, aren’t productive during the day. So sleep more!
More thoughts to come later.
