As a PM, between meetings, Slack, and emails, I often felt like I had no time left to do “real work”. And yet, in business school, my friends had nicknamed me “T2K” because of how I got things done with robot-like efficiency. What had happened to the machine that I used to be?

I found the answer in “Indistractable” by Nir Eyal. Not only was I nodding along as I read the book (as odd as that is when you’re in a room by yourself), but it has been one of my favorite books that I’ve read this year. In this post, I’ll share my key learnings from Indistractable.

What do you want to be when you “grow up”?

What are you doing to make it happen?

In today’s post, I’m sharing the Product Decagon framework that I created. It’s a tool for product managers to clarify your vision of what you want to be when you grow up, assess your skills and gaps, and plan your career development. I hope you’ll give the Product Decagon a try, and would love to hear what you think in the comments.

The past two weeks, I’ve felt heavy hearted about the state of our nation: racial tensions, protests, and looting, all in the backdrop of a pandemic and economic recession. It felt reminiscent of the Rodney King riots that occurred nearly thirty years ago when I was a child, and I was discouraged to think about how little had changed. I went through the initial stages of feeling overwhelmed and defeated. I wanted to do something, but I was scared that I’d do or say the wrong thing.

Then, a chance encounter with a spider helped me remember that as a product person, I believe in experimentation and having a growth mindset. It’s ok to not feel certain that you have the right answer. Try different solutions, test them out and learn from it. Taking action moves you closer to the right answer, whereas standing still leaves you right where you were when you started. Whether it’s building a new enrollment flow or fighting for equality, take action, even if it means you might fail sometimes.

How often do you watch an ENTIRE ad on YouTube, without hitting ‘Skip ad’ after the requisite five seconds of playback are up? For me, the answer was never… until I experienced Chris Hadfield’s ad for MasterClass. Read on to see why this ad captivated me, and what we, as product leaders, can learn from it about the power of telling a darn good story.