Category: 2024
- Jesse Welles is like an angry Josiah & the Bonnevilles. His new album Hells Welles is a cathartic teardown of modern society. Think Arlo Guthrie singing about Boeing whistleblowers.
- Second Dinner by slimdan has been in my heavy rotation for a few weeks now. I am simply loving his pop-driven songs. They’re smart and catchy, and carry melodies that seem both familiar and fresh at the same time. My favorite track on the record is Wimbleton White.
- Font is scratching my indie-rock itch these days. Elaborate and angular, the songs on their 2024 release Strange Burden swell with substance. Complex time signatures and counterpoint lines weave throughout. But you can still feel the groove and dance to it.
- If you’re looking for some chill, instrumental tunes to put on while working or relaxing, Glass Beams may be of interest. Hailing from down under, their trance-inducing vibes are feel-good and groovy. You can be productive and bounce your head at the same time.
Sylvan Esso has remixed The Postal Service classic The District Sleeps Tonight. It’s a glitchy slice of heaven that does honor to the original, but adds some interesting flavor.
Today’s Indie Media Circus track at XOXO looks🔥. Of particular interest to me is the discussion between Jason Kottke and Craig Mod, two ‘people of the internet’ I greatly admire for their sustainable approach to independent publishing online. The good folx from 404 Media are also on the bill.
The new CEO of Starbucks will be supercommuting three times per week via private jet from his home in Southern California to company headquarters in Seattle. Seems a bit hypocritical for a company that touts its environmental efforts to customers.
Implications and Insights of the Modern Product Leader
I’ve been a subscriber to Implications, a monthly Substack newsletter written by Scott Belsky, for some time now. The issues I’ve read so far have been quite enjoyable, as Belsky provides deep analysis that explores what we might expect to come from rapid advancements in technology, shifts in culture, and the evolution of product design & management.
The latest installment includes a section called Insights from the Modern Product Leader and there are some great thought nuggets for product managers to consider as we work on our individual practices.
On the topic of resources versus resourcefulness, and the nuances that exist between them, Belsky writes:
I like to say, if resources are carbs that you can throw at your problems, resourcefulness is muscle that has far longer lasting power and is worth building (despite the pain of doing so).
This is great context for approaching resourcefulness with a growth mindset. It’s something the triad of my product team works on consciously and regularly. Building that muscle is important to ensure our resiliency through ongoing organizational change.
And on product vision, he proposes a thoughtful triad of considerations:
Clarity In Product Strategy: Does every product have a flag planted and a roadmap for how to get there? We should always have a 3-year vision coupled with an annual plan, and your teams should be aligned around what this is throughout your organizations.
Great product teams have a clear strategy and are able to articulate the path to achieve it. Great organizations position product teams to ladder their product strategies up to a broader set of strategic objectives for the company._
Steward The Narrative for Your Segment or Function: The narrative of why your work matters and how your strategy impacts customers is yours to write, share, and iterate.
The internal PR for a product is often overlooked by teams because they are largely, and rightly, focused on executing the work. Telling the story of the work – the impact it will create, the benefits it will provide and the process used to deliver – is an important piece to a product team’s success, and can lend weight to the resiliency efforts outlined above.
Optimistic About Future, Pessimistic About Present: Do you lead with a balance of excitement and vision for the future of a segment/function — and willingness to take big bets — coupled with a pragmatic focus on obstacles and tasks to be done? Are you direct with what is going right and what is going wrong?
This is great. Balance is vital. Great product leaders are simultaneously able to understand long-term goals, but are also realists about current state. They can see either the stepping stones of incrementality and/or the seismic shifts they need to force in order to get to the objectives, and they have the wisdom, empathy, and creativity to understand when to employ each.
Legendary punk photographer Jim Saah will give a talk tomorrow (8/22) at The Government Center in Pittsburgh. The talk will be followed by a performance from J. Robbins of Jawbox. Looks like an awesome event.
Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle Inc. is selling off their GetGo banner, a move impacting 270 locations and more than 3,000 employees: www.post-gazette.com/business/…
Alpine Connections: Kilian is bagging 4,000m peaks in the Alps:
Kilian Jornet began his adventure in Bernina, in eastern Switzerland. From there, he made his way to Grimsel Pass, linking up with Mönchjsoch Hut and finally reaching Blatten. Along the way, he summited ten Alpine peaks, including Lauteraarhorn (4,042 m), Finsteraarhorn (4,274 m), and Hinter Fiescherhorn (4,025 m).
Hear No Evil: Jesse Welles, slimdan, Font, Glass Beams
As summer winds down, here are a few artists & records that have been in my heavy rotation lately.