S01E02— So how can I help?
Week Ending 6/9/24
A bit late with all the goings and comings of the seasons (autumn is officially here), but here it is, the second weeknote. It’s been a month since I joined NHS England, and I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating where I add value in an empowered, high-performing team. In most settings, I’ve usually found myself to be the voice of the customer, bringing user-centred design (UCD) to an otherwise business-led approach to what needs to be built. However, in this new role, I find myself in the strange position of having an elevated design function that already does that well.
I would imagine that’s the ideal position to be in — maybe I can let the team be and just support them when they need it. But what I find is that there is a more active role I need to play, funnily enough its to balance out design. Simply put, UCD can’t solve everything.
Without input from functions that define viability and feasibility, design becomes tactical instead of strategic. We want our decision-making to be strategic.
I’ve often emphasized that listening to users is non-negotiable for building a good product. Yet how we act upon user research is where much of the craft lies, and its open to fields outside of design to feedback on.
Often people ask me what do you do, and I say I’m a Product Manager. Some people assume I said Project Manager & then assume that I boss people around and get worked up about deadlines. But for the more curious ones who would ask what my role is, I use the analogy — engineers define the how, designers have the why and product comes up with the what. But I confess I don’t actually believe that’s true. It’s probably me being lazy to not have to go on an entire 45 mins lecture. But the fact is that a good team shouldn’t bifurcate the answering of the questions. Everyone needs to have a say in the what, how and why of the product. Everyone needs to hold a piece of the truth in what we’re putting into the world.
Recently, I came across a different definition by Adam Nash, which I think could help me more in social situations like the one above. I imagine a TikToker, finds me loitering around Brick Lane and asks me, “What do you do?” I would say:
As a product manager on a team, I help answer these two questions:
- What game are we playing?
- How do we keep score?
Simple questions, with straightforward answers, no product jargon. If I have to put in product jargon, it’s answering questions like:
- What’s the product strategy?
- How do we measure success?
- What’s our Go-To-Market?
- Who are our stakeholders?
It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day of agile ceremonies, but these questions pull me back to the bigger picture. And that’s essentially where I believe I can add value as a PM on the team.
Strong opinions, loosely held.
Judah Armani said this in a tutorial once and it’s stuck with me because it captures the tension of this role. You’re responsible for the product — and in a way, the team that’s delivering it. You need to somehow know what to do but also change course when new information comes to lot. That’s heavy, and combining it with the weight of working in Urgent Care Products, I’ve found myself hyperventilating a bit in the first 2 weeks.
But the weight gets lighter when you think of everything as a work in progress, something that’s always open to change.
This mindset turns pressure into curiosity. Instead of aiming for perfection, it’s about making small bets, testing, learning, and iterating. The frameworks we use? They’re not rigid. They’re just tools to help us think.
Every Deliverable is a Prototype
Every Decision is a hypothesis.
I really like this phrase by Roman Pichler — If you find yourself strongly disagreeing with someone, take a second to reflect — there might be something in their perspective that adds value, even if it doesn’t feel like it right away.
Not a Zero Sum Game
One of the interesting things I’ve noticed is how inevitable silos are within organizations. In any team, bonding and loyalty are essential for working well together, however it often creates strong internal dynamics at the expense of external collaboration. When stakeholders challenge a strongly bonded team’s priorities, it can feel like a threat, and any new initiatives suggested by them can start to feel like a burden. This, of course, is counterproductive. Challenging each other isn’t just helpful — it’s essential. It’s how we keep pushing forward. Disagreements? They’re often the easiest way to return to first principles and uncover hidden assumptions.
Some of these silos comes from teams wanting to be the best at what they do. Teams measure themselves against others in the org and this gives them a yardstick for competition instead of collaboration. A better yardstick could be a competitor in the market. But where I work, that also doesn’t stand, the NHS actively promote, procure, and support third-party technology that can improve patient care hence we have to not just collaborate within our team, our company but the wider market as well. I think the fundamental issue is that we misunderstand the game we’re playing — it’s not a zero-sum game.
Quick illustration of the difference from a redditor.
Zero Sum Game
I am a lawyer. If I win a case, my opponent loses a case. If my opponent wins a case, I lose my case. For me to win, someone must lose.
Non Zero Sum Game
I am a doctor. If I save a life, every doctor who worked on the case also saved a life. The patient had his life saved. If I lose a patient, every doctor who worked on the case also lost the patient. The patient lost his life. For me to win, no one has to lose.
— — —
The key is to remember that we all want the same thing — a better product for our users. We’re playing on the same field, even if we see the game differently. And this difference of opinion is never a difference in intention, something I hope to embibe in the team moving forward.
Interesting Stuff Consumed
Writing a weeknote late gave me enough time to binge-watch, toilet read and jog listen to stuff. Here are some highlights —
Reading:
- Animal Farm — I can’t believe I’m so late to the party with this George Orwell masterpiece. I read 1984 as a teenager, which helped me recognize authoritarianism and the curtailing of freedoms. Animal Farm takes it further, showing how revolutions that promise freedom can quickly turn totalitarian and oppressive.
Listening:
- The Empire podcast — If I could call myself a fanboy of an author, it would be William Dalrymple. Though I still have a lot of his books to read, I love the bite-sized history from The Empire. It’s a brilliant way to get my history fix, and I’m glad it exists.
Watching:
- Kaos — Most things I enjoy can be traced back to childhood, and this one’s for anyone who loved Percy Jackson. Greek gods in modern times, funny, cunning, and ridiculously egotistical. The best part? How they fit ancient lore into present day Greece. Good stuff.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in this weeknote are my own and do not represent the views of my employer.
