Steve Jobs once said he'd rather fire someone than force them to buy into a decision they disagreed with. This flies in the face of popular leadership advice like Amazon's "disagree and commit" philosophy. In this episode, we dive deep into Jobs' consensus-driven approach at NeXT and explore why expert-driven decision making might be superior to top-down mandates.

We examine how Jobs' 8-person policy team made only 25 major decisions per year, the importance of psychological safety in decision-making, and why paying people to tell you what to do (rather than just do what you say) creates better outcomes. Other topics include...

• Consensus vs. "disagree and commit" leadership styles
• Expert-driven decision making vs. ivory tower decisions 
• Building psychological safety for real alignment
• Scaling decision frameworks in growing organizations
• When to fire vs. when to coach through disagreement

Perfect for product managers, agile coaches, and leaders looking to build more effective decision-making processes.

#DecisionMaking #Leadership #ProductManagement

LINKS
Watch on YouTube

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@arguingagile
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596
Website: http://arguingagile.com

REFERENCES

• Source Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_W6dLP09MQ
• Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon, by Colin Bryar & Bill Carr, 2021
• Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers Into Leaders, by L. David Marquet, 2013
• AA208 - Jamie Dimon's Rant: Leadership Lessons on Trust and Effectiveness
• AA201 - Mastering Stakeholder Communication & Management

INTRO MUSIC
Toronto Is My Beat
By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)
CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Last episode, we talked about Instant Pot's failure via financial engineering that most product teams may never see coming.

In this episode, we explore why financial literacy should be a core competency for product teams, not something left to the "adults in the room."

We break down why reading basic financial statements, understanding customer lifetime value, and making data-driven decisions that actually consider the cost of building features are essential and how you can start moving toward a future where you have more transparency into financial matters.

Key topics covered:
• Why whoever controls the budget is the real product manager
• How financial complexity hides exploitation and manipulation
• The curriculum gap in product management education
• Practical metrics every product team should track
• How to bring finance people into your product discussions

This isn't about becoming accountants - it's about understanding the financial impact of your product decisions and building something that lasts.

#ProductManagement #FinancialLiteracy #AgileLeadership

REFERENCES
----------------
AA219 - How Private Equity Killed Instant Pot (And Why Your Product Could Be Next),
AA217 - Extreme Ownership: Military Leadership Lessons for Professionals,
AA201 - Mastering Stakeholder Communication & Management,
KIRO 7 News Seattle: https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/instant-pot-pyrex-parent-company-instant-brands-files-bankruptcy/VLWFB4OF75FHLERB7B5KCMXUFI/,

LINKS
YouTube: https://youtu.be/Xbub7ZKTMKo
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596
Website: http://arguingagile.com

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Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)
By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)
CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Instant Pot had $300M+ revenue, passionate users, and $100M cash on hand. 

So why did they file for bankruptcy? 

The answer lies in the pattern of how private equity systematically destroys beloved products through financial engineering! 

In this podcast, Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Coach Om Patel examine the acquisition of Instant Brands and discuss how leveraged buyouts, special dividends, and debt loading likely turned a kitchen innovation success story into a cautionary tale for every product team. 

Watch or listen to learn: 
• Real reasons successful products fail under PE ownership 
• Why "professional management" really means cutting the people who built the product
• How debt servicing kills innovation budgets
• The one question every product manager should ask their CFO 
• Why product-led growth can't survive private equity's playbook 

This isn't just about Instant Pot - it's about protecting the products and teams you care about from becoming the next casualty of financial engineering.

#ProductManagement #PrivateEquity #InstantPot

References:

• New Lawsuit Accuses Private Equity Company of Plundering Assets of Instant Brands; Michael Wolf, Nov 2024; https://thespoon.tech/new-lawsuit-accuses-private-equity-company-of-plundering-assets-of-instant-brands/
• Arguing Agile #61: AA61 - Experiences in Corporate Buyouts (Mergers & Acquisitions)
• Arguing Agile #96: AA96 - Stages of Company Decline, or When Companies Hate Their Customers

Tags
#ProductManagement #InstantPot #ArguingAgile

LINKS
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@arguingagile
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596
Website: http://arguingagile.com

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Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)
By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)
CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Today we're examining Palantir's "Forward Deployed Software Engineers" - and separating fact from the hype!

Everything old is new again! Move over companies that have been doing this for decades such as SAP, IBM, and countless consulting firms!

https://blog.palantir.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-palantir-forward-deployed-software-engineer-45ef2de257b1

Listen as we break down Palantir's 2020 blog post about their Forward Deployed Software Engineers (FDSEs) and discover what these engineers actually do versus what the marketing claims...

Key topics covered:

• What FDSEs actually do, day-to-day
• How this compares to traditional consulting roles
• The difference between software configuration and software engineering
• Why embedded customer roles aren't new
• Career advice for aspiring technical professionals

If you're interested in understanding the reality behind tech industry buzzwords, this is your episode!

#ProductManagement #SoftwareEngineering #TechCareers #Consulting #Leadership #AgileCoaching

LINKS
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YouTube: https://youtu.be/SGvJK-aruJ8
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596
Website: http://arguingagile.com
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Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)
By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)
CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Today, we're delivering a not-your-typical-leadership-book review: "Extreme Ownership" by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin!

Ed Martin joins hosts Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Coach Om Patel for a chapter-by-chapter review of how military leadership principles directly translate to product management, agile coaching, and team development. 

The core message? 

True leadership isn't about barking orders - it's about taking complete ownership, empowering others, and leading with discipline and humility.

Some quotes from our discussion include:
• It's not what you preach, it's what you tolerate
• If you can run retrospectives people actually want to attend, you've got leadership skills
• Communication isn't just part of your job as a product manager - it IS your job
• There's no 100% right solution, but leaders must act decisively amid uncertainty

Listen to discover the striking parallels between leadership skill and "agile practices" such as decentralized command and the ability to prioritize and execute under pressure. Whether you're leading a development team or coaching organizational transformation, these principles apply.

#ExtremeOwnership #Leadership #ProductManagement

LINKS

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@arguingagile
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596
Website: http://arguingagile.com
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Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)
By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)
CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

The Scrum community is buzzing about a new 55-page expansion to the Scrum Guide. Is this the depth practitioners have been asking for, or is it turning the lightweight framework into bloatware? 

In this episode, Enterprise Business Agility Coach Om Patel and Product Manager Brian Orlando critically examine the "DLC" that claims the original guide was "deliberately oversimplified." 

We explore new concepts like outcome vs output definitions of done, the "supporters" role, and the inclusion of complex frameworks like Cynefin.

Stick around as we debate whether these additions help teams navigate complexity or create more confusion, while highlighting crucial omissions around organizational structure and practical implementation guidance. 

#Scrum #Agile #ProductDevelopment

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LINKS

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http://arguingagile.com

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@arguingagile

Spotify 

https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3

Apple

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596

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Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)

By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)

CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Jensen Huang has 60 direct reports and does no 1:1s, so neither should you - right?!? 

Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Coach Om Patel examine NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's claim that he champions "radical transparency" and his policy of no one-on-ones. 

Join us as we explore what this means for the rest and listen or watch as we agree that one-on-ones should be employee-driven, focused on growth over status updates, and designed to build the trust that actually gets work done, as well as other topics such as:

• Jensen Huang's leadership philosophy analyzed
• Employee-driven vs manager-driven agendas 
• Building trust through private conversations
• Remote work and relationship building
• Practical frameworks for better 1:1s

Whether you're a product manager, team lead, or individual contributor; whether you own a snappy leather jacket or not, owning your 1:1 agenda is crucial for career development.

Now accepting all takes (hot or not) in the comments - do you vote for mass transparency or intimate coaching conversations?

#Leadership #OneOnOnes #ArguingAgile

LINKS 

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@arguingagile

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596

http://arguingagile.com

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Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)

By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)

CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

We're talking about either the terrifying or totally mundane new world of "vibe coding" - using AI to generate code without deep technical expertise. 

Joining Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Coach Om Patel for this podcast, we're happy to welcome back to the podcast Lenar Mukhamadiev, CEO of iDelsoft (https://idelsoft.com)!

Listen as we discuss how this trend is changing product development, software engineering careers, and business innovation. Stick around while we argue over resistance, how vibe coding enables faster market testing and many more points, including:

• Accelerating time-to-market for new ideas
• Evolving role of professional developers
• Understanding business problems is more valuable than coding
• Emergence of "product engineers," or not
• A future where everyone is a software creator

#AIinTech #ProductDevelopment #FutureOfWork

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YouTube

Subscribe on YouTube

Apple

Spotify

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Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)

By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)

CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Do you want to hear a story about stifling growth and creativity through the lens of one developer's personal story?

You're in luck! 

Join Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Coach Om Patel as they watch and react to Theo's YouTube video: "Being a good engineer kinda sucks," April 28, 2025.

It's a tale about the tension between excelling at your craft versus navigating organizational politics and dysfunction. 

That's right, today, we're talking about themes of career development, team dynamics, and leadership, so feel free to stick around for our thoughts on these and:

• The sustainability trap of overworking to meet unrealistic expectations
• How organizational politics can punish innovation and excellence
• The importance of product sense vs. documentation-driven development
• Finding and nurturing relationships with like-minded professionals

#Leadership #ProductManagement #CareerDevelopment #TechCareers

LINKS

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YouTube

Apple

Spotify

REFERENCES
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Check Out Theo's Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VuM1GCadt4
...and his YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@t3dotgg
...and his website: https://t3.gg/

MUSIC

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Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)

By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)

CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Who coaches PMs if Directors or CPOs don't understand how features get built? 

...or don't understand how to build a strategy?

Join Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Coach Om Patel as we analyze Ravi Mehta's PM competency framework and debate which skills actually matter at each level of product management!

#ProductManagement #Leadership #ProductStrategy

REFERENCES

"How to Become a Peak Product Manager" by Ravi Mehta: https://www.ravi-mehta.com/product-manager-skills/

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LINKS 

• Arguing Agile: http://arguingagile.com
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/d9byEWuGbBo
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3
• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596

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Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)

By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)

CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)