product management

Impediments: Square Pegs, Round Holes, and The Art of the Possible

Impediments: Square Pegs, Round Holes, and The Art of the Possible

There’s a great scene in the movie Apollo 13 where a group of stranded astronauts must manufacture a “square peg” to fit into a round hole using only spare parts available to them on their spaceship. In fact, their life depends on it. We teach a Hard Yards Accelerator module on dealing with impediments. In it, we have three different designations for things that slow teams down. Doug Rosenberg’s post helps clarify the differences.

Wax On, Data On: Unleashing Your Potential in the Data Dojo

Wax On, Data On: Unleashing Your Potential in the Data Dojo

Unleash your inner data warrior in the Hard Yards Data Dojo, where the powerful art of data mastery meets the spirit of martial arts. Immerse yourself in a 5-day experience that goes beyond traditional training, diving into the depths of enterprise architectures and the realms of data understanding, preparation, and modeling. With a commitment to "learning by doing," our Data Dojo will equip you with the skills and mindset to wield data as a weapon, empowering you to make informed decisions and grow your inner tree of data mastery. Step onto the mat and bring your headband – it's time to find your strong data roots.

The Flaw of Tracking Individual Performance

The Flaw of Tracking Individual Performance

In an effort to make teams better, it can be tempting to track individual "performance" in a few ways. Without realizing it, team members are often pitted against each other with these kinds of metrics, when what really matters is solving problems for our customers and users.

Heavy Weight: Bodybuilding and Portfolio Management

Heavy Weight: Bodybuilding and Portfolio Management

As organizations proliferate agile practices across the organization and seek to gain business agility, rethinking Portfolio Management practices becomes essential. We have found that the scope of Portfolio Management is typically much larger than our clients anticipate.