Going Back to My Roots

I cannot believe that it's been over 2 years since I've posted.  When I think about what I want to do in 2019, I'd like to get back to my product management roots and more generally need to invest in learning again.  For the past several years, I've been very busy with my day job as a leader in product management and as a board member for a volunteer run non-profit.  I need to make more space for learning.

I've still been connected to the local product management community via the Atlanta Product Camp but it's not enough.  In 2019, I'd like to get reconnected to the broader Product community. This includes meet-ups, in-person connections, reading blog posts, sharing what I learn, and taking what I learn from others and bringing into practice.  

Looking forward to a great 2019!

Plates Still Spinning

It’s been over 9 months since I posted about adding another plate to my rotation.  We just finished up conducting our first 5k in Atlanta.  It’s also the first ever race that I’ve personally organized. To be clear, I can’t organize anything – my closet, my fridge, my desk, etc. Turns out I can organize if I’m motivated enough.  Things I’ve learned (or have been reminded of) along the way:

Ask for Help

I reached out to other local 5k organizers to ask for guidance. They were a wealth of information.  One planner in particular told me not to sweat the small stuff.  I had his guidance in my head for several months. He made me aware of a great local organization, the Atlanta tool bank. With out the tool bank we would have been scrambling to find affordable tables, garbage bins, megaphone, etc. We also had volunteers from local colleges: Morehouse, Clark Atlanta and Kennesaw State University. Co-workers participated as well.  Whether they participated by running/walking or volunteered their time and skills  And of course friends showed up.  Loaning that last minute gas can or answering the frantic phone call wondering how I got myself into it. It took a village to pull this off.

Ignore the haters

One person I reached out to told me that we’d never get anyone to sign up.  He said we’d be one and done.  Atlanta was saturated with races and no one would sign up for a cause as enigmatic as “peace”.  Turns out he was wrong. :)

One Step in Front of the Other

Along the way I was faced with things I have not done before (ever fill out a 22 page assembly permit?) but I just did each thing the best I could.  I found that people were willing to guide as long at they felt I was trying.  Each week was another lesson learned and another obstacle climbed. 

Trust in your Support System

Others from my organization live outside the state of Georgia. Even though they were remote, they were able to handle many of the to-dos needed for a successful event. From signing up community tables to finding the rock star speaker and even renting the porta-potty.  The morning of the event while I was out marking the course, I came back and everything was just magically happening!  We divided, conquered and trusted that each other was following through. 

Pay it Forward

We had several local 5k's promote our race.  They did not treat us as a competitor but as an organization part of a bigger community that was trying to do some good. They helped get the word out via social media and their races all while promoting their own. We will do the same and pay it forward. 

Reflecting among these lessons, they are likely solid lessons for current and future leaders. Especially the last lesson. 

Peace.

Spinning Another Plate: Races for Peace

It’s been a while since I posted.  Like everyone that’s in product management, my day job is hectic, fun and bat crap crazy.  Being a professional plate spinner, I elected to add another plate to spin.  I’m helping a friend start up a new non-profit, Races for Peace.

A couple of months ago, my childhood friend put out a call to action out on Facebook.  She was spurred by the events on Charleston in June 2015 where nine innocent worshippers were killed at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church.  This seemed to be just the latest in the string of violence in America brought on by hate.  Rather than get angry and then put it behind her, she decided to do something about it.  This is where she came up with the idea of Races for Peace. 

It’s the counter message to the teachings of hate in this country.   It provides opportunities to come together in community race events to demonstrate our collective desire for peace. It raises funds to support programs and services that promote peace, teach tolerance, and assist victims of violence and hate crimes. It is a way for you and I and everyone to do something more than mourn.

She inspired me to do something about it and help.  I’m Treasurer of Races for Peace and leading a 5K in Atlanta.

We need your help! Please read our President & Founder’s complete message at our site.

Peace,

Kellie

Challenge Accepted.

The past two weeks have been fun filled with company work related events, two of which were on leadership.  I was able to participate in our Women in Leadership meeting & our Leadership Summit.  The best part of these meetings was the interaction with leaders throughout the organization, sharing stories and learning from their experiences.  Even though I’ve been with my organization for 6 years, I was able to make new connections and learn from new peeps.  These types of events always instill a new energy in me. 

The one non-work related event in all of this was a book-signing event for Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson.  The author drove home what it means to be a leader, is the definition of authentic, vulnerable and brave and is impacting many people’s lives by sharing her story in a very public way.  I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to hear her speak and feel inspired after hearing her.  She’s a reminder that great leadership is around us and we need to watch, listen and learn. 

The past couple of weeks weren’t just about being a better leader…but being a better human. Challenge accepted. 

If you haven’t heard about Jenny Lawson, please check out her blog. 

PechaKucha

Like many people, public speaking makes me very uncomfortable.  Fifteen years ago, I was co-presenting a training class to 100+ people and my voice quivered for the first 30 minutes of the session.  Eight years ago, a different organization sent me across the country to present our product roadmap at a variety of user groups.  I was presenting on things I didn’t even understand (mainframey things).  What that year did for me was get me more and more comfortable speaking in front of people until I was almost sorta good at it.  

I speak annually at our user conference and have spoken over the course of the year to smaller audiences (<25)  as a regular part of my job.  I’ve come so far that I don’t want to lose that level of comfort (comfort is a relative term). To keep that edge, I elected to present at our local PechaKucha gathering.  Yep you read that right – “I elected to” and “PechaKucha”.  

I’m presenting this Sunday at Octane. It’s been an interesting process because its 20 slides/images, 20 seconds a slide.  Seems so simple – 6 minutes and 40 seconds.  I’m known for my less is more approach when it comes to words so this seemed relatively easy.  The template I received in powerpoint auto advances every 20 seconds.  During my first practice run the first slide advanced mid-thought.  How can that be? I’m not verbose.  

What I’ve learned in my limited preparation (I've got a lot of work to do Saturday) is that I better focus on getting my point across as quickly as possible, while still being engaging & using compelling images (no bulleted  powerpoints in this format).  It’s been a good exercise and I'm almost looking forward to Sunday night.  No matter what happens, I know it will be over in 400 seconds. If you’re interested improving your presenting skills in a safe environment look up your local PechaKucha, they are all over the world.

Races for Peace

Last week ended with the news in Charleston where hate took the lives of too many people...yet again. 

The violence in Charleston seems like a never ending cycle of violence based on hate and the undertone of racial divide in the country (although the hate runs much wider than race - just ask the friends/family of Mercedes Williamson). The events in Ferguson, Baltimore, NYC, Charleston... seem like a never ending wave of violence.  It ends up in the same cycle:

1. Outrage
2. Social media debates
3. Community protests
4. Key politicians and entertainers speak out
5. And eventually back into resignation that nothing will change

This time a friend of mine decided to do try and stop the cycle.  She posted on Facebook enlisting friends to work with and raise awareness and respond with something other than resignation.  She decided she is going to organize "Races for Peace".  She plans (or "is") to start a series of 5K's around the country raising awareness and let folks know this has got to stop. Several of us have signed up for in this journey.  I do know posting messages on social media doesn't help and definitely sitting on the couch binge watching the latest TV doesn't do any good - so it's time to step up.

Someone posted that money is the primary way to get change.  It worked in Indiana, financial pressure led to the religious freedom law being modified (and likely stopped other states from adopting something similar).  Similar pressure could (and should) be done in South Carolina to remove the confederate flag from flying at the capital building.  But that isn't solving root cause, I would also say education isn't the only answer either.  I was volunteering yesterday and missed the last one due to a vacation. Many of my clients commented on the fact that I missed the prior weekend. They noticed I was gone.  One remarked about the rookie driver not having a clue about where she was going. I serve those that on the surface appears that I have nothing in common with...yet I do. That's when I realized it is about connection.  We all have a tendency to stay in our lanes, in our comfort zone...for things to change, we need to change and get out of our lane.

What are you going to do?  Are you going to volunteer outside of your community in a way that breaks down this divide?  Are you going to work with the kids in your family/community and educate connect?  Are you going to start a Races for the Peace 5K in your city? #DoSomethingThatMatters

Follow on twitter for the latest updates: www.twitter.com/racesforpeace

Geeked out! My Day at the Mind the Product Conference

Last week I was able to attend the Mind the Conference for the first time. It is now one of my favorite conferences of all time – I felt like I was with my tribe.  It’s like ProductCamp but exponentially bigger.  I’ve come back jet lagged and inspired.  I’m motivated to continue to learn, get better and to take some of what I learned and infuse it into my day-to-day job as a product leader.

The diversity of speakers resulted in a diversity of topics for the day.  They ranged from the immediately actionable to inspirational as well some good reminders of what we often already know but too easily forget. Topics included Embracing Conflict, Learning to say No, Rapid Prototyping, Story Telling and Product Failures. My favorite topic of the day was by Kathy Sierra.  Her talk was inspired by her book BadAss Making Users Awesome.  It was a reminder that our products are supporting our users in a much larger context.  To support them we need to help them find flow through challenges and to help them feel more like a human being.  It was about reducing “cognitive leaks” and not making our users think about the wrong thing.   My co-worker has a great post on this topic and the overall experience for a user. This book is now at the top of my reading stack! 

A theme throughout many of the sessions is the concept of testing your hypothesis (your problem statement), creating experiments, getting feedback and pivoting.  Getting feedback throughout the process…not waiting until the end.  Most organizations believe they’re practicing agile development but are only applying it during the build process – this is something that needs to be expanded throughout our processes.  It’s a great opportunity for us to get back to the basics of agile and take our product teams to the next level. The speaker, Marty Cagan, posted about it after the conference - it's a great read.

Finally, my favorite part was the people.  The networking was a-w-e-s-o-m-e.  So many great folks that were willing to share their ideas and what they’ve learned.  I met many product people that I’ve been reading their books/blogs for years.  This would be the equivalent of someone meeting Sandra Bullock (or for me Tatiana Maslany of Orphan Black fame) but for the product space.  In addition to big names, it was so great to meet product people across industries.  I met a product manager also navigating through ACA but for the education space.  Who would have thought?  I can't wait to go back next year!