The Context MatrixDear Reader, Every level of product management involves two areas: creating context and making sense of it. While creating the context partially depends on the environment you work in, making sense of the context mainly depends on the hard skills a product team has. For Product Strategy, the context consists of internal and external data points about the market, your capabilities, how you plan to differentiate, your mission, and long-term goals. Making sense of it means forming the right relationships between these areas, making choices, and communicating and executing these the right way. For setting Product OKRs, the context contains inputs such as the purpose/mission/vision, Product Strategy, Company OKRs, and Roadmaps. Making sense of these means identifying KRs that capture the product from as many angles as possible, describing changes in behavior (Outcomes), and allowing the team to adjust their actions (leading indicators). The context of Product Discovery results from defined goals and strategic priorities, as well as existing qualitative and quantitative insights about your customers. Making sense requires creating a narrative around the problem space, prioritizing the right research questions and interpreting insights, ideating solutions based on proven challenges, and validating before building. Thank you for practicing Product, Tim What did you think of this week's newsletter?
As a Product Management Coach, I guide Product Teams to measure the real progress of their evidence-informed decisions. I focus on better practices to connect the dots of Product Strategy, Product OKRs, and Product Discovery. |
1 tip & 3 resources per week to improve your Strategy, OKRs, and Discovery practices in less than 5 minutes.
This is the last newsletter before my annual summer writing break. I will be back in your inbox on August 17. Have a wonderful summer! ☀️ Product Practice #370 My 2025 Mid-Year Review READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Jul 4, 2025 READING TIME 4 min & 06 sec Dear Reader, What I focused on in the first half of 2025 Writing and Editing My Book After a big writing push from February to April, I was able to share the first complete draft of my book Real Progress - How to Connect Product Strategy, OKRs,...
Product Practice #369 Product Discovery Triangulation READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Jun 29, 2025 READING TIME 4 min & 47 sec Dear Reader, To get to an informed conviction through Product Discovery, product teams often need to be creative. It can be challenging for Product Discovery collaborators to make real progress, especially when they lack an environment that provides the right amount of guidance without being too constraining for Adaptable Product Discovery.That’s why today’s newsletter is...
Product Practice #368 How a Product Vision Board saved my Strategy READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Jun 20, 2025 READING TIME 3 min & 53 sec Dear Reader, I once led a newly formed product team that aimed to develop a product to increase the monetization of a specific user segment. I co-led a long Discovery effort that validated and scoped this product. At one point during our Delivery journey, my boss approached the team while I was on leave and asked them what they were trying to accomplish....