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Top Hacks from a PM Behind Two of Tech's Hottest Products

135 points by ca98am79 13y ago

mdkess 13y ago
"Compliments should always go to the team. Credit should be handed out freely and generously. Success belongs to the team but failures belong to you." This is a distinguishing trait of every great manager that I've worked with.
- yesimahuman 13y ago
  It's not always so simple. Taking blame of others' mistakes can come across like regret for hiring or trusting that person. Sometimes part of giving people responsibility is letting them deal with the mistakes they make.
  - joshyeager 13y ago
    In this framework, you don't take the blame for others' mistakes. You take the blame for your team's mistakes, and take responsibility for fixing them. You explicitly do not place blame on the person who actually made the mistake, nor do you imply that you should not have hired or trusted them. Obviously, all this assumes that it actually was a valid mistake. In the rare case where the failure was caused by gross negligence or intentional misconduct, then you should take responsibility for hiring and trusting them, and then you should fire them.
  - mdkess 13y ago
    Within the team, I think that is entirely appropriate. People thrive on, and should be given responsibility. Individuals should be rewarded or disciplined appropriately. That is part of the manager's job. Outside of the team, ultimately the manager is responsible for delivering. That is their job, and with a good manager, the buck stops at them - without exception. If they don't deliver, it is their failure - even if that failure is a result of their reports failing to deliver, or unrealistic requirements from their superiors. Perhaps the appropriate internal action for that failure is to discipline their reports, but ultimately they are the captain of their ship, and should be the first one on and the last one off.
- deleted 13y ago
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  - deleted 13y ago
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- incision 13y ago
  >"This is a distinguishing trait of every great manager that I've worked with." If it's genuine, or at least convincing, I would agree. I've witnessed a few attempts at this which clearly didn't meet that criteria and it was nearly the most off-putting managerial song and dance I've ever witnessed. I get the impression there's a certain group of people who read lists like these online or in a book somewhere and go about mimicking them without understanding the underlying prerequisites. Eating the failure and giving the success necessarily requires a total understanding of the actual successes and failures. Without that, the selfless routine is doing everyone a disservice by hiding the actual problems and quashing further discussion that might reveal them.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - shrikant 13y ago
    > I get the impression there's a certain group of people who read lists like these online or in a book somewhere and go about mimicking them without understanding the underlying prerequisites. As a somewhat of an aside, I notice this disturbing tendency a lot in rookie salespeople. One of the bits of sales advice everyone appears to have read in some list somewhere is something about mirroring and first names. It would creep me out (and trip the "douchebag alert!" signal) every time I spoke to a salesperson who would poorly imitate my mannerisms and keep jamming in my first name between their words.
    - sukoto 13y ago
      Fake it till you make it?
- donaq 13y ago
  It depends on the execution, I think. http://thecodelesscode.com/case/106 http://thecodelesscode.com/case/106
- lazyant 13y ago
  This is the standard for (good) coaches too regarding teams winning or losing.
jansen 13y ago
Todd is awesome, really glad to have him as an investor!
sailfast 13y ago
These are some great points and I would say they apply to general management as much as they do to technology and product management. Sounds like a great person to work with - trust, empathy, and transparency tend to make everything smoother and more productive.
brianpgordon 13y ago
> Larry suggested we go way beyond this. His idea was to ‘just OCR’ the entire computer screen continuously so that you could easily search and find anything you had ever seen on your computer. This guy founded Google? I wish I could have seen the horrified look on the engineers' faces when they heard this idea.
- nostrademons 13y ago
  Larry is legendary for absolutely crazy ideas. One of his other ones was to remove all the buttons from the Google home page: http://skrubu.net/2009/10/07/the-day-google-was-blank/ http://skrubu.net/2009/10/07/the-day-google-was-blank/ I think this goes to show that the secret to having better ideas is to have more ideas, and nobody cares about the million that suck, they care about the one that makes you a million.
  - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
    but you cannot work on a million ideas - you have to pick the few that are actually good. Having a million ideas clearly makes it more likely you have the Big One, but I am interested in the mental process in picking and in committing. or has Mr Page done a ridiculous amount of crazy that will never work things?
    - rhizome 13y ago
      I am interested in the mental process in picking and in committing. In order to pick, you must have things to pick between. I'm not sure you can even practice picking without having a backlog.
      - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
        most of us have explicit or implicit backlogs. I think there is however something about just starting a project that tells you if it is feasible, problematic or interesting that somehow looking at a list does not. Would be interested in how Page chooses the ones he will invest personal energy into
ojbyrne 13y ago
The words "hack" and "hackers" are rapidly becoming meaningless marketing buzzwords.
- vezzy-fnord 13y ago
  Not really. They're just very misunderstood words and have been used to refer to contradictory concepts.
  - ojbyrne 13y ago
    That's ancient history. We now have: Typing Hackers (people who type fast): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6659161 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6659161 Growth Hackers (Marketers): http://growthhackersconference.com/ http://growthhackersconference.com/ and with this story, Project Management Hackers (which is a pretty good oxymoron). I'm sure there's plenty more instances of it being used as a meaningless buzzword.
    - cylinder 13y ago
      As a Typing Engineer, I am appalled at this denigration of my profession.
    - SkyMarshal 13y ago
      True hackers should celebrate every instance of that word being associated with anything positive, non-black hat. Typing hackers, growth hackers, PM hackers? Great, bring it on. Finally, people starting to use the word "hacker" in a way that's true to its real meaning.
joshdance 13y ago
Love the article, but I don't think the tactics and suggests are hacks?
lifeisstillgood 13y ago
this sounds like the epitome of a balanced hard working manager / team leader. It's just that it is a lot of work - and so much of it is based around keeping everyone onside, talking and not taking their ball home with them. but am I getting too old ? I prefer people learning to take no for an answer and still knuckling down to work, knowing there will be a yes around the corner. this gets more often and so easier the faster you go. tiptoeing round Larry Page is clearly good for your career and future prospects, but few of us will work in an office with such personal power differentials. most bosses of us are the same peons as we are - so honesty should have little opportunity cost. in short, conflict well handled is a good thing.
deleted 13y ago
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andyl 13y ago
I'm not impressed - this is leadership 101.
- jasonshen 13y ago
  And yet it is rarely done. So we need to keep advocating for it.
gabemart 13y ago
This is a very small niggle, but I've noticed at least one other website that invites me to tweet select quotes from the article. I find this invitation obnoxious and smug. It suggests (incorrectly, I'm sure) that the author is a little too pleased with their own profundity.
polskibus 13y ago
I read that as project manager not product. I'm glad it turned out not to be about project management, tracking people, managing budget and schedule.
exo_duz 13y ago
This article is really good and it gives a lot of information about how Todd Jackson is a good PM. A lot of what is written can be used in one's own daily experience as a PM and startup owner. Looking forward to using some of the points mentioned to work. :)
jasonwatkinspdx 13y ago
> This is also the logic behind ‘Eating Your Own Dogfood’ as Google has monikered it. facepalm How has tech media gotten so myopic to any history or context outside it? Hell, even within tech Microsoft and Oracle have used that phrase for decades before google was a big deal.
poissonpie 13y ago
Don't know why but I read "be a shit umbrella..." as "don't be a good umbrella" and really had to do a double take on that sentence before I realised what he actually meant.

135 points by ca98am79 13y ago

"Compliments should always go to the team. Credit should be handed out freely and generously. Success belongs to the team but failures belong to you." This is a distinguishing trait of every great manager that I've worked with.

yesimahuman 13y ago
It's not always so simple. Taking blame of others' mistakes can come across like regret for hiring or trusting that person. Sometimes part of giving people responsibility is letting them deal with the mistakes they make.
- joshyeager 13y ago
  In this framework, you don't take the blame for others' mistakes. You take the blame for your team's mistakes, and take responsibility for fixing them. You explicitly do not place blame on the person who actually made the mistake, nor do you imply that you should not have hired or trusted them. Obviously, all this assumes that it actually was a valid mistake. In the rare case where the failure was caused by gross negligence or intentional misconduct, then you should take responsibility for hiring and trusting them, and then you should fire them.
- mdkess 13y ago
  Within the team, I think that is entirely appropriate. People thrive on, and should be given responsibility. Individuals should be rewarded or disciplined appropriately. That is part of the manager's job. Outside of the team, ultimately the manager is responsible for delivering. That is their job, and with a good manager, the buck stops at them - without exception. If they don't deliver, it is their failure - even if that failure is a result of their reports failing to deliver, or unrealistic requirements from their superiors. Perhaps the appropriate internal action for that failure is to discipline their reports, but ultimately they are the captain of their ship, and should be the first one on and the last one off.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
incision 13y ago
>"This is a distinguishing trait of every great manager that I've worked with." If it's genuine, or at least convincing, I would agree. I've witnessed a few attempts at this which clearly didn't meet that criteria and it was nearly the most off-putting managerial song and dance I've ever witnessed. I get the impression there's a certain group of people who read lists like these online or in a book somewhere and go about mimicking them without understanding the underlying prerequisites. Eating the failure and giving the success necessarily requires a total understanding of the actual successes and failures. Without that, the selfless routine is doing everyone a disservice by hiding the actual problems and quashing further discussion that might reveal them.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- shrikant 13y ago
  > I get the impression there's a certain group of people who read lists like these online or in a book somewhere and go about mimicking them without understanding the underlying prerequisites. As a somewhat of an aside, I notice this disturbing tendency a lot in rookie salespeople. One of the bits of sales advice everyone appears to have read in some list somewhere is something about mirroring and first names. It would creep me out (and trip the "douchebag alert!" signal) every time I spoke to a salesperson who would poorly imitate my mannerisms and keep jamming in my first name between their words.
  - sukoto 13y ago
    Fake it till you make it?
donaq 13y ago
It depends on the execution, I think. http://thecodelesscode.com/case/106 http://thecodelesscode.com/case/106
lazyant 13y ago
This is the standard for (good) coaches too regarding teams winning or losing.

jansen 13y ago

Todd is awesome, really glad to have him as an investor!

sailfast 13y ago

These are some great points and I would say they apply to general management as much as they do to technology and product management. Sounds like a great person to work with - trust, empathy, and transparency tend to make everything smoother and more productive.

brianpgordon 13y ago

> Larry suggested we go way beyond this. His idea was to ‘just OCR’ the entire computer screen continuously so that you could easily search and find anything you had ever seen on your computer. This guy founded Google? I wish I could have seen the horrified look on the engineers' faces when they heard this idea.

nostrademons 13y ago
Larry is legendary for absolutely crazy ideas. One of his other ones was to remove all the buttons from the Google home page: http://skrubu.net/2009/10/07/the-day-google-was-blank/ http://skrubu.net/2009/10/07/the-day-google-was-blank/ I think this goes to show that the secret to having better ideas is to have more ideas, and nobody cares about the million that suck, they care about the one that makes you a million.
- lifeisstillgood 13y ago
  but you cannot work on a million ideas - you have to pick the few that are actually good. Having a million ideas clearly makes it more likely you have the Big One, but I am interested in the mental process in picking and in committing. or has Mr Page done a ridiculous amount of crazy that will never work things?
  - rhizome 13y ago
    I am interested in the mental process in picking and in committing. In order to pick, you must have things to pick between. I'm not sure you can even practice picking without having a backlog.
    - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
      most of us have explicit or implicit backlogs. I think there is however something about just starting a project that tells you if it is feasible, problematic or interesting that somehow looking at a list does not. Would be interested in how Page chooses the ones he will invest personal energy into

ojbyrne 13y ago

The words "hack" and "hackers" are rapidly becoming meaningless marketing buzzwords.

vezzy-fnord 13y ago
Not really. They're just very misunderstood words and have been used to refer to contradictory concepts.
- ojbyrne 13y ago
  That's ancient history. We now have: Typing Hackers (people who type fast): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6659161 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6659161 Growth Hackers (Marketers): http://growthhackersconference.com/ http://growthhackersconference.com/ and with this story, Project Management Hackers (which is a pretty good oxymoron). I'm sure there's plenty more instances of it being used as a meaningless buzzword.
  - cylinder 13y ago
    As a Typing Engineer, I am appalled at this denigration of my profession.
  - SkyMarshal 13y ago
    True hackers should celebrate every instance of that word being associated with anything positive, non-black hat. Typing hackers, growth hackers, PM hackers? Great, bring it on. Finally, people starting to use the word "hacker" in a way that's true to its real meaning.

joshdance 13y ago

Love the article, but I don't think the tactics and suggests are hacks?

lifeisstillgood 13y ago

this sounds like the epitome of a balanced hard working manager / team leader. It's just that it is a lot of work - and so much of it is based around keeping everyone onside, talking and not taking their ball home with them. but am I getting too old ? I prefer people learning to take no for an answer and still knuckling down to work, knowing there will be a yes around the corner. this gets more often and so easier the faster you go. tiptoeing round Larry Page is clearly good for your career and future prospects, but few of us will work in an office with such personal power differentials. most bosses of us are the same peons as we are - so honesty should have little opportunity cost. in short, conflict well handled is a good thing.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

andyl 13y ago

I'm not impressed - this is leadership 101.

jasonshen 13y ago
And yet it is rarely done. So we need to keep advocating for it.

gabemart 13y ago

This is a very small niggle, but I've noticed at least one other website that invites me to tweet select quotes from the article. I find this invitation obnoxious and smug. It suggests (incorrectly, I'm sure) that the author is a little too pleased with their own profundity.

polskibus 13y ago

I read that as project manager not product. I'm glad it turned out not to be about project management, tracking people, managing budget and schedule.

exo_duz 13y ago

This article is really good and it gives a lot of information about how Todd Jackson is a good PM. A lot of what is written can be used in one's own daily experience as a PM and startup owner. Looking forward to using some of the points mentioned to work. :)

jasonwatkinspdx 13y ago

> This is also the logic behind ‘Eating Your Own Dogfood’ as Google has monikered it. facepalm How has tech media gotten so myopic to any history or context outside it? Hell, even within tech Microsoft and Oracle have used that phrase for decades before google was a big deal.

poissonpie 13y ago

Don't know why but I read "be a shit umbrella..." as "don't be a good umbrella" and really had to do a double take on that sentence before I realised what he actually meant.