May 2, 2026
When you have a decent structure and process, it does feel like you are making progress, so PMs grab (R)ICE frameworkA lightweight way to compare product ideas using Impact, Confidence and Effort.Learn more, HEART or whatever the latest prioritisation framework is and push ahead.
A lot of decisions, however, are made without any frameworks, just with experience and judgement.
Strong PMs ask good, thoughtful questions (internally and customers) that are hard to dodge and they do reach for (R)ICE eventually, but by the time they do, the uncomfortable critical thinking is already done.
Frameworks serve as a sanity check, not a brain.
Nobody lets a spellchecker write the email but that's more or less what's happening today.
Anyway, you do not gain product perception by templating. I'm not even sure "perception" is the right word here, but you know what I mean.
The template, though, is never the best option.
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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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