I’m Max, a father of two, Product Director & Product Coach from Sydney. I write about leadership, product management and life.
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  1. 2d ago

    Chasing Less

    You don't need to unlock that new revenue stream or build another new product that will "definitely be a hit".

    A lot of leaders fall into the trap of chasing every opportunity, thinking they can manage it all. Then they delegate putting more on the team's plate. The team gets overwhelmed. Bottlenecks get created. The progress stalls.

    Instead, focus. Success comes from deliberate, intentional decisions.

  2. Let Go to Move Forward

    Centralised decision-making will always create bottlenecks. Sooner or later, this will prevent your company from growing.

    Traditional and rigid organisations value hierarchy, and leaders often think they need to control every decision.

    But this slows innovation, delays time to market, and prevents teams from learning.

    Create a culture of ownership at every level. Empower your team to make decisions within their areas of expertise. Trust fuels faster progress.

  3. Feb 12, 2025

    Starting Strong as a Leader

    Joining a new company as a leader is tricky and sometimes it does feel like stepping into chaos.

    There’s so much for you to process – new people, culture, challenges, expectations, competing and unclear priorities and pressure to deliver results.

    I like to slow it down. I don’t try to fix everything on day one. I focus on the context, the big picture first, understand the team and what they need my help with. Once I get where we are going and why, I can focus on the culture and processes to get to the destination faster with stronger teams.

    Starting Strong as a Leader

  4. Feb 7, 2025

    Know Your Team

    It's crazy how many leaders don't know much about their team. They are not curious about their motivations or aspirations, not only professionally but also on a personal level.

    Get to know your team. What are their hobbies? What are they exploring? How are their families? Where are they planning their next trip? What are they watching? What are they reading?

    Make it a weekly session. It takes just half an hour but builds a much stronger connection. This is important. Stronger connection = more trust. More trust = better feedback, better communication, higher quality of work and more motivation.

  5. Feb 4, 2025

    High Standards

    Push the people around you - peers, colleagues, and your boss. Hold them accountable. Push yourself even harder.

    Start small. Don't force all your standards overnight. Patience wins.

  6. Criticism Fuels Growth

    Yes, It’s hard to hear criticism.
    When someone points out your flaws, the natural response is WTF or in business language "defensiveness".

    Of course you want to protect your ego, explain yourself, prove them wrong or even tell them to fuck off. Tempting, isn't it?

    But defensiveness shuts down learning.
    Instead: Pause. Breathe. Ask yourself, “What can I learn from this? Even though i hate this”

    You'll start growing as soon as you start listening not reacting.

  7. Feb 1, 2025

    I don’t like running in the morning. Or rather, I don’t like the idea of it. What I really want is to have breakfast first, drink my coffee and then, a couple of hours later, think about exercise. But once the run is done, it feels great - like I’ve earned that big breakfast.

    This morning, I went for an easy, scenic 10km run. My legs were still sore from Thursday’s hill session, so I didn’t (and honestly couldn’t) push too hard.

    Overall, I’m pretty happy with my progress (112km) in January. I’ve built up mileage quickly, especially considering I was struggling to run 3km at the end of December.

    Running Monthly Report Garmin Feb 2025


    And I snapped a few pics of beautiful Sydney along the way.

    Sydney Harbour Bridge & North Sydney 1 Feb 2025

    Sydney Opera House Feb 1, 2025

    Sydney Harbour Bridge 1 Feb 2025

  8. Feb 1, 2025

    The Trust Battery Effect

    The concept of a Trust Battery is that it typically starts at 50% and then every interaction charges or drains the trust battery.

    It's interesting how, once you pass a certain percentage—let's say 80% (mind you, it's a bit abstract)—on the other person's Trust Battery, a shift happens. Walls drop. And suddenly the next level of collaboration unlocks.

    Love these moments.

  9. Progress motivates action

    Progress motivates action. It’s not just the reward; it’s the feeling of progress that drives commitment.

    Two groups of customers were given punch cards awarding a free car wash once the cards were fully punched. One group was given a blank punch card with eight squares; the other was given a punch card with ten squares that came with two free punches. Both groups still had to purchase eight car washes to receive a free wash; however, the second group of customers—those that were given two free punches—had a staggering 82 percent higher completion rate.

    Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

  10. Jan 30, 2025

    It’s Thursday, which means hill running day. I can feel the gradual improvement compared to my last two hill runs—I’m feeling much stronger. It’s still tough, but I’m covering more distance and tackling more elevation.

    Today I did 12km, 437m elevation. The first 9km, I didn’t switch to walking—I ran all the hills, which is a huge improvement! Looking forward to an easy run on the flats this weekend though!

    Running hills Jan 30 2025

  11. Jan 30, 2025

    Engagement Isn't a Number

    What's the point of measuring employee engagement?

    If you want to know if people are unhappy, ask them.

    Then listen carefully.

    You need insights, not stats.
    You need truth, not pie charts.

  12. Jan 29, 2025

    A quick training session tonight: SkiErg, rowing machine, plus some shoulders and arms work.
    Went all out on the SkiErg 500m, then rowed 500m too. Hit a PB on the SkiErg at 1:42.7!

    Strangely enough, I’m actually looking forward to the hills session tomorrow!

    Hyrox training Jan 29, 2025

  13. Jan 28, 2025

    The secret to a message that sticks

    Success comes from repeating the right words, not just saying them once.

    The secret to a message that sticks

  14. Outsourcing kills your product instincts

    The best way to kill your product instincts is to outsource your customer research.

    When you get answers neatly packaged in a fancy PDF with cool graphs and slick design, you feel good about it. It looks like the hardest part has been done, and you just need to look at the numbers and insights. On the surface.

    As you go through the research prepared by someone else, you realise you only gain surface-level knowledge of the space.

    Real research is about developing a good understanding of what your customers are experiencing - the small problems they face, along with all the nuances and frustrations.

    You have to speak to them. No surveys or written responses will give you true insight into their challenges.

    When you outsource research, someone else builds that understanding - not you.

    Your product instincts start to fade over time.

  15. Jan 27, 2025

    Getting used to running hills is definitely going to take some time. Feeling good about building up to running them without needing to switch to walking.

    On Thursday, I had a decent go at the hills in my local area. Did 9km in 1h 8m with 307m of elevation. I ran more this time compared to the week before, cutting my walking time down to 7m 24s. Last week, for the same distance, my walking time was 19m 50s, so that’s already solid progress.

    Running hills Jan 24 2025


    Yesterday, I tackled the Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach run and back—on tired legs. There are plenty of hills and steps along that route, adding up to 283m of elevation. It was just over 14km in total. I managed to run all the way to Coogee but walked the hills on the way back. Calves were sore. Legs felt a bit heavy, which makes sense as I’m ramping up both mileage and intensity.
    Run Bondi to Coogee Jan 26, 2025


    Overall, I’m pretty happy with the progress, but there’s still plenty of hard work ahead before UTA50.

    110 days to go!

    Coogee Beach Jan 26, 2025

  16. If you are struggling to write a blog post, write a tweet.
    Struggling to write a tweet? Write a sentence.
    Struggling to write a sentence? Write a shit sentence.

    The quality is less important than quantity when you're starting out. You'll find your voice, but get the momentum first.

  17. Jan 24, 2025

    Write It Down Before Misalignment Costs You

    This is such a great example of how important written communication is. Misalignment happens all the time - on the problems, the solutions, the details and even the language we use. So, as soon as you sense there's misalignment and nothing is written down, the best move is to put it into words.

    User Story Mapping: Shared Understanding


    At least this way, you're making your position clear.
    Invite others to review, comment and challenge your perspective.
    Get everyone on the same page before moving forward.

    If you don’t, that misalignment will come back to bite you later. The cost will be much higher.

  18. The Two Types of Product Teams

    There are two types of product teams - the slow-learning and the fast-learning.

    The slow-learning team wants to deliver. They manage projects, write tickets, attend internal meetings and ask colleagues for design feedback. They mostly care about delivery and managing expectations.

    The fast-learning team wants to learn. They talk to customers, read market news, push hacky code to production, and sometimes break things. They embrace ambiguity, but they learn fast.

    The difference? The slow-learning team builds products for their bosses, and the fast-learning team builds products customers actually need.

    Shift your focus. The best products come from deep insight, not just efficient delivery.

  19. Jan 21, 2025

    It’s Tuesday - sprint day, yay! I mixed things up a bit this time and here’s how it went:

    • 2km warm-up
    • 400m x 3
    • 200m x 3
    • 100m x 3

    I hit a PB for the 200m (39.5s @ 3:18 pace) but couldn’t quite beat my PBs for the 400m or 100m, even though it felt like I was flying!

    The 400m x 3 was brutal. It’s basically an all-out sprint the whole way.

    Next Tuesday, I’m thinking of switching things up again and focusing on training for a 5km PB. The plan:
    • 2km warm-up
    • 1km @ 5:00 pace x 6, with 2 min rest in between

    Let’s see how it goes!
    Sprints Jan 21, 2025

  20. Jan 21, 2025

    Framing is Everything

    Recently I wrote about the most important skill for Product Managers.

    Regardless of whether you are a Product Manager or not, the communication will help you with all aspects of your career. If you want to manage or be a leader, you have to be a good communicator. Specifically, you need to get better at framing.

    What’s your goal? Are you looking for feedback, sharing information, wanting to influence, asking for approval or something else entirely?

    What are you sharing? Is it a problem? Maybe a solution? A vision? Or a mix?

    How much detail are you planning to share? Is this a helicopter or detailed view? Or perhapse, both?

    Who’s your audience? Your team, the entire organisation or the executive group?

    Your communication needs to be adjusted depending on the answers.

    Early in your career, you use the same message no matter the context.

    To grow, you need to get better at tailoring your message - what you say, how you say it and when to say it.

Feel free to reach out: [email protected].