Leading Through Layoffs

Roadmaps, why do we have them? Do they help? Is there a better way to do them? These are all topics near and dear to Janna Bastow's heart. We're honored to have her as our guest.

In this episode, we go deep into talking about the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of traditional roadmaps, and about her pioneering Now Next Later approach. The show is full of gems and insights from Jenna on how to build great products and reduce waste. Thank you Janna! Enjoy!

SHOW LINKS:

Why I invented the Now-Next-Later Roadmap

ProdPad

Perfecting product roadmaps with Janna Bastow

Minimum Viable Product, what is it that all about? In this episode, Howard and Glenn dive in:

• What is MVP and its purpose?
• Where does the term come from?
• What common misconceptions, misunderstandings, and fallacies about MVP?
• How does MVP relate to tech debt and scale?
• What are the variations of MVP? Minimum Lovable Product, Minimum Effective Dose, Minimum Marketable product

We had a great exchange of ideas and shared our raw personal experiences and perspectives.

Enjoy!

SHOW LINKS:

• The Lean Startup
• A Review Of The Minimum Viable Product Approach
• The Minimum Lovable Product
• The Minimum Effective Dose 
• My short interview with Nils Davis on MED

In this episode, Glenn and Howard talk about the value of mentoring, both in serving as a mentor as well as having a network of mentors who can help in various aspects of personal and professional life. Additionally, mentorship and coaching are compared from the perspective of both techniques used and expectations set.

Show links

Men: want to increase diversity in tech? Be a mentor

Let's talk about Mentoring - Cascadia JS

Supporting black employees with mentorship

GROW Model

It's been a while, but Glenn and Howard are back at it, and in this episode are answering some of the questions sent in by you! To send in a question for a possible future episode, email us at untiltheicecreamtruck@gmail.com.

Some resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Atomic Habits
• Traction

In this episode, Howard and Glenn spend some time talking about the leadership principles they apply in their roles as managers of people and as leaders within their respective disciplines. The guys also spend a few minutes talking about some of the tech behind producing the podcast.

You can reach us with questions or comments at untiltheicecreamtruck@gmail.com.

Some resources mentioned in this episode include:

• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6452796-drive
• https://youtu.be/u6XAPnuFjJc
• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/949515.Coaching_for_Performance
• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29342515-the-coaching-habit 

In this episode, Glenn interviews our first guest on the show, Jessica Tucker. Jessica transitioned into tech as a software engineer and then moved into more of a product role. She's now left her corp job, has her own tech consulting company and has launched her own wearable-tech company! We have a rich conversation on her journey, what she learned moving into different roles and becoming an entrepreneur, also what it means to be a Black woman in tech, and the challenges and trauma that Black women face navigating the tech world.

I, II, Senior, Staff, Principal, Distinguished, Fellow.....ahhhh!! What does it all mean? In this episode, Glenn and Howard take a look at the various levels and titles found in many technology companies and then break it all down into some guiding principles for thinking about leveling at your own organization. We delve into topics like what the difference is between levels and bands, how levels match up when you switch roles or move from a different geo, how levels equate to pay, fixed vs variable comp, and we touch on the elephant in the room, the pay gap. Don't miss this episode!

Resources:

Levels.fyi - Compare different levels across large tech orgs

https://faangpath.com/blog/faang-companies-salary-bands/ - On bands for Faang companies

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106041 - On the gender pay gap

While it's existed in nearly every organization for as long as anyone can remember, technical debt has taken center stage recently in a number of high profile outages, including those at  Southwest Airlines and the US Federal Avaiation Administration. In this episode, Glenn and Howard talk cover the topic of technical debt from several angles, including:

• What is technical debt?
• How does it accumulate in an organization?
• What are some strategies for reducing it?

Resources

• https://youtu.be/Ed94CfxgsCA
• https://youtu.be/SxdOUGdseq4 

In this episode, Glenn and Howard go a level deeper into the world of product management and look at some of the specific activities and deliverables of the discipline. They then take a look at what it means to be "product-led" as an organization and what steps need to be taken at a structural and operational level to ensure that an organization can achieve the desired outcomes promised by being product-led.

Resources

• https://productled.com/blog/product-led-organization-todd-olson
• https://www.spencerstuart.com/research-and-insight/product-organization-structure 
• https://www.prodpad.com/blog/invented-now-next-later-roadmap/

What is Product Management? Where did it come from. Tune in to this episode where Howard and Glenn answer these questions and more!

Resources

• History of Product Management
• McElroy's "Brand Men" memo
• The Secret Product Manager's Handbook