Engagement Isn't a Number

Most engagement surveys don't measure engagement.

They measure vibes.

The problem isn't the intent - it's the output. You run a survey. You get a 67.8% “engagement score.” Someone builds a deck. Charts go up, comments stay anonymous, nothing changes.

That number doesn't tell you who's struggling. It doesn't tell you why trust is low. It doesn't tell you where the rot is starting. It just tells you people clicked a box.

Real engagement isn't a metric. It's a conversation.

Ask them how they're feeling. Ask what's blocking them. Ask what's making their work better - or worse. Then shut up and listen. Not just in surveys. In 1:1s. In retros. In offhand comments. The signal's already there. You don't need a dashboard. You need ears.

Pie charts don't build trust. Conversations do.

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!

The secret to a message that sticks

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

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.

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.

Start Ugly

Struggling to write? Shrink the task.

Blog post too much? Write a tweet.
Tweet too hard? Write a sentence.
Sentence still suck? Write a shit one.

Start small. Start ugly. Start anyway.

The point isn't brilliance. It's movement. You don't find your voice by thinking. You find it by writing. Quantity leads to clarity. Bad drafts build muscle.

Write badly. Then write better.

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.

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.

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

• 2km warm-up
• 1km @ 5:00 pace x 6, with 2 min rest in between

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.

Sometimes I walk past the Sydney General Post Office - it's a cool spot right in the centre of Sydney.

Underneath it, there's this whole network of tunnels and basements (not sure if the public has access to it). Back in the day, they were used for postal operations and deliveries.

These days, though, it's now there: the Fullerton Hotel Sydney, shops and restaurants.

The Cost of Indecision

Misaligned leadership doesn't announce itself. It creeps in. Slowly. Quietly. Then it wrecks your team.

Leaders think the damage is minor. Temporary. Invisible. But it's not. It's heavy. It's real. It shows up in whisper networks, in backchannel Slacks, in passive standups where nobody commits because no one knows where things are going.

You see it when smart people play it safe. When the loudest voice wins. When meetings drag on because no one wants to be the first to say what everyone's thinking. You feel it in the hesitation. That's the real killer.

Disagreement isn't the problem. Lack of alignment isn't even the real issue. Teams can live with that. What they can't survive is hesitation. Leaders who won't commit. Who won't decide. Who stay neutral until it's too late and now the team's solving the wrong problem. Again.

Indecision isn't neutral. It's destructive. Especially when disguised as “consensus-building” or “being thoughtful.” Teams need a decision. Even the wrong one. Because wrong moves can be corrected. Hesitation can't.

Leaders, pick a path. Say it out loud. Then stand behind it until you know it needs to change.

Make the fucking decision. Your team's already waiting.

Caught the UFC at on of the pubs in Manly. I was supporting the Russian fighters, Umar and Islam. Absolute machines. They're incredible athletes, sharp and relentless.

Watching with my mate, we couldn't get over how insanely well they understand movement - both their own and their opponent's. Every single move is calculated and lethal.

Me in the cage? I wouldn't last 10 seconds.

Trust breaks when promises break

Trust breaks when promises break. People notice, even in silence and they remember. Honour commitments - trust depends on it.

Sydney tonight ❤️

One of my posts on LinkedIn went viral'ish. It wasn't exactly groundbreaking or full of deep insights.

But it's certainly a topic that has two completely opposite camps and no one in between.

I've written better and more helpful content (at least in my opinion), but LinkedIn's algorithm doesn't promote it because it doesn't drive engagement.

That's why I don't like algorithms. Instead of promoting good content, they push controversial or clickbaity posts that spark engagement.

Thoughtful and insightful content stays invisible.

Empowering Without Overdirecting

This afternoon I spoke with the team about the challenges for any leader and their team in finding the balance between telling them what/how to do (Directive Leadership) and letting the team figure it out themselves, make some mistakes and learn (Empowering Leadership).

The balance is hard.

You definitely wouldn't want to over-index on either side. So you've got to find a sweet spot.

But it also could be multidimensional, and the balance might shift depending on the area.

For example, you might want to give more direction in terms of the problem the team is solving compared to how the problem is solved. Or you might want to give less direction in the team's communication style but more direction in terms of the standards of produced work.

Regardless, it might be helpful to be open about that balance and have a regular conversation about it.

Because that balance isn't static either. As the team gets better and better, it requires you to adjust the balance.

Hack Constraints

When your team isn't experimenting enough, it's most likely due to experiments taking too long to build, track and measure.

But every missed experiment is a missed opportunity. Insights go untapped. Ideas remain untested. Innovation stalls.

If the bottleneck is tech, hack it. Find workarounds even at the cost of degrading user experience but push forward.

Constraints spark the best solutions.

I took a leg rest day yesterday and today I felt so much better. My legs were much fresher than they were on Tuesday and felt pretty good, especially considering it was hills training today.

Ran 9km with a total of 300m elevation. I couldn't run all the hills and had to walk about half of them, but I'll keep pushing!

No Plan, No Progress

Fixing something messy is hard. Starting over is easier but starting from scratch doesn't always work.

If want to make real progress, get a plan done. Make sure you know the problem you're solving, what you want to change and how long you'll give yourself. When you're clear about the why, tough choices are easier. A decent plan keeps you on track, even when shit hits the fan.

No plan. No focus.