Make Things That Matter

Randy Silver: The conversations that create impactful products

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Episode notes

Randy Silver is a product leadership advisor, podcast host, and global product community weaver. We explore the conversations needed to drive impact and perception of value.

You can also read this episode here.

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Topics discussed:

(04:00) Moving from a journalistic editor to product editor

(07:34) Parallels between product management film production

(09:53) Missed opportunities & the need for collaboration

(15:21) Alignment with stakeholders

(18:24) Sales misalignment and restructures

(21:10) Diagnosing teamwork challenges with partners

(25:02) Diagnosing your new org via informational interviews

(28:05) Creating a manager README

(30:11) Roles and responsibilities convo for better understanding

(35:19) Guiding conversations and change

(44:22) Did reorganization at Airbnb address strategy misalignment?

(46:18) Defensive reaction within product community to Airbnb

(52:14) Coordinating while scaling

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Links & resources mentioned

Find the full transcript at: https://podcast.makethingsthatmatter.com/randy-silver-conversations-create-impact#transcript

Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email

Randy Silver: website, LinkedIn, Twitter

• MTP talk: “Getting aligned with your exec team by Randy Silver”

• Podcast: The Product Experience

• Book: “What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of Crisis”

• The product environment canvas

• Stakeholder Informational interview template

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Related episodes:

• Andrew on Randy’s podcast, The Product Experience

• #72 Pam Fox Rollin: Growing groups into teams

• #44 Teresa Torres: Habits for clear thinking and better product bets

• #18 Josh Seiden: Create clarity with outcomes thinking

• #5 Rich Mironov: Building a thriving product organization

• #3 Christina Wodtke: Unleashing potential with extraordinary teams

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People & orgs:

• Georgie Smallwood

• Matt LeMay

• Alan Albert - value based pricing

• Itamar Gilad

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Books:

• Growing Groups Into Teams

• Evidence Guided

• The Team That Managed Itself

• Continuous Discovery Habits

• Outcomes Over Output

• Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management

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Other resources:

• Product, it’s time to grow up

• Rich Mironov: The slippery slope of sales-led development

• The Journey to Empowered Teams - Twitter, Airbnb & Tumblr

• Product Strategy Acid Test

• OODA loop

• Manager README: The Indispensable Document for the Modern Manager

• Roman Pichler - the decision making chart

• Relentless equanimity