AI Will Break Command and Control
Imagine a company where the CEO reviews requests and features, keeps track of what the product and engineering teams are doing and gets involved in a lot of the...
Aug 5, 2026
One thing I'm learning from building Sounding Board (peer exchange for product people)...what product people actually need is someone who's been through their exact problem, not another opinion.
There are plenty of books, frameworks, coaches and LinkedIn posts. But generic advice runs out pretty quickly when you're dealing with a founder who won't let go of product decisions, 7 projects already in progress or a customer request that sales has effectively promised.
The ask has to be specific. The more context you share, the easier it is for someone to say: "Yep, I've dealt with that".
There are about a dozen product people involved now and the most useful conversations tend to start that way.

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I'm a father of 3 from Sydney, a product and technology leader. I write about leadership, product management, technology and the messy reality of making work work.
I'm currently building and experimenting with a mildly alarming number of things. I also work as a fractional product leader, stepping in where the founder or CEO is still carrying product decisions on their own, and offer 1:1 product leadership coaching for senior PMs and emerging product leaders. I founded SoundingBoard, practical peer exchange for product people. Connect via LinkedIn, or follow me on X.
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