Skip to content
Menu
Anshumani Ruddra
  • About Me
  • Videos and Talks
  • Story Stack
  • Fiction
  • Courses
  • Playbooks
Anshumani Ruddra
January 26, 2016January 20, 2020

Parenting and Product Management: Speed vs Haste

People who build products and run them live learn some lessons the hard way. For example: speed and haste are not to be confused with each other. This is true in product management and it is definitely true in parenting.

Ask any parent and they will tell you: putting a baby to sleep is a tough task. Gibberish sounds and songs, oil massages, change of clothes, feeding, burping, rocking, humming, bouncing, swaying, some more feeding, pleading, crying, laughing (but mostly crying) and more bouncing and swaying. Finally, the crying/ wailing/ sounds of general irritation stop. The baby sighs deeply. Its breathing becomes more rhythmic. It shuts its eyes. It is asleep. Phew! The night is cold but you are sweating with all the effort. You put the baby down and try and extricate your arm from under it. Ah oh. A leg twitches. A hand moves. And just like that the crying resumes.                    

The baby is up.

So close yet so far. The whole cycle begins again. You remind yourself a millionth time – be patient. Let the baby get into deep sleep in your arms. Keep humming and swaying. Wait an extra minute. It will save you a lot of extra effort later. Haste is the enemy.

Product managers face similar dilemmas.

The product/ feature looks ready to ship. The company is counting on it. A lot of effort has gone into building it. The team prides itself of its execution speed. From concept to completion it took only a few weeks. Go go go. The product is launched with fanfare.

It’s a dud on arrival. The metrics are awful (or you couldn’t measure anything as someone forgot to add instrumentation – “Hey! You wanted this to be released fast.”). In the startup world, speed and haste are often confused. While speed is important (and critical for survival), nothing kills products faster than haste.

So wait an extra minute or an extra day. It could save you countless sleepless nights and development cycles.


By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

Recent Posts

  • The Mahabharat Mega Thread
  • Do Transformers Hallucinate of Softer Skin?
  • Why Manage?

Recent Comments

  • Shortlisting Ideas - Anshumani Ruddra on Generating Ideas
  • Shruti Singh on The Fire Born
  • Karan on Product Roadmap Shapes

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • November 2022
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
©2023 Anshumani Ruddra | Powered by WordPress and Superb Themes!