Leading when the

Floor is Lava

Radha Narayan
1 Product Management Festival 2021
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Seems pretty innocuous…

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But…

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5
AAAAH!
The floor is lava!
No, really. It’s LAVA.

“This seems like a thorny issue. How “Let’s build it, but not talk about why we
many users will really benefit?” built it. Privacy isn’t a gender issue.”

“Is it imperialist to suggest that access to “Can we really make a difference? What if
mobile phones is a good thing?” we make things worse?”
How can I tackle a problem this big?

● New to Product Management

● Not a VP / Director

● Not a manager of the relevant teams

● Not a subject matter expert

● Not first on the scene

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1. Authenticity is an accelerant

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2. Conviction is contagious

Your skills

YOU

Your
Your role
network

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Privileged & Need to Know
But the floor is
LAAAAVAAA!!
Have I mentioned I love lava?
3. Velocity is a Vector Quantity

× Know where you’re going and why.

× Invest in aligning on direction, don’t just focus on speed.

× Make the case for the problem, don’t sell a solution.

× Master the elevator-pitch and the single-slide.

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The Elevator Pitch
× Dinosaur theme park
× Children fight to the death on national TV
× Left behind… on Mars
× Gossip Girl, in Saudi Arabia

Use High-Concept to:

- Cut to the chase
- Grab attention
- Drive immediate understanding
- Broaden audience-appeal
The Single Slide
4. See the system
× Rapid changes make the problem more complex

× Multiple stakeholder groups, priorities & incentives

× Many perspectives and possible solutions

× High inertia / resistance -- conflict in achieving outcomes

× High uncertainty -- unpredictable side-effects of any solution

 Systems Thinking

Level of Typical Questions Mindset

Now Understanding

Events What is happening? What’s the fastest way to react? Reactive

Patterns Why does this sort of thing keep happening? How to prevent? Adaptive

Structures What systems and incentives led to these patterns? Creative

Future Vision What values and goals led to these structures? Generative

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 Using Zwicky boxes to align your
organization’s incentives
Board of Executives Legal Human Managers Community Grassroots
Directors Resources Coalitions

Uninformed Disinterested Unskilled Nonexistent Malicious Nonexistent Despirited

Aware Aware Aware Aware Aware Aware Aware

Motivated Motivated Motivated Motivated Motivated Empowered Motivated

Skilled Skilled Skilled Incentivized Incentivized Skilled Empowered

Courageous Courageous Courageous Skilled Skilled Resourced Skilled

Accountable Resourced Accountable 19

 An imbalance almost always means
a cancelled project
Board of Executives Legal Human Managers Community Grassroots
Directors Resources Coalitions

Uninformed Disinterested Unskilled Nonexistent Malicious Nonexistent Despirited

Aware Aware Aware Aware Aware Aware Aware

Motivated Motivated Motivated Motivated Motivated Empowered Motivated

Skilled Skilled Skilled Incentivized Incentivized Skilled Empowered

Courageous Courageous Courageous Skilled Skilled Resourced Skilled

Accountable Resourced Accountable 20

 Spend time managing up to
bring execs where you need them
Board of Executives Legal Human Managers Community Grassroots
Directors Resources Coalitions

Uninformed Disinterested Unskilled Nonexistent Malicious Nonexistent Despirited

Aware Aware Aware Aware Aware Aware Aware

Motivated Motivated Motivated Motivated Motivated Empowered Motivated

Skilled Skilled Skilled Incentivized Incentivized Skilled Empowered

Courageous Courageous Courageous Skilled Skilled Resourced Skilled

Accountable Resourced Accountable

5. Do it sustainably or don’t do
it at all
× Put on your own oxygen mask before helping others.

× Remember the outcome, don’t attach to the current solution.

× To change the system, change its inputs and incentives

× Find some tiny diamonds and early wins, not just big rocks.

× Bite-size the change and make it an organizational habit

× Operationalize the change and walk away.

Bite-sizing the change
Operationalizing the change

× Grab the entry gate: new adopters go this way.

× Grab the exit gate: block the paths that lead to backsliding.

× Incentivize incremental adoption for everyone else.

If you can’t walk away, you’re in the way.

Summary
× Authenticity is an accelerant

× Conviction is contagious

× Velocity is a vector quantity

× See the system

× Do it sustainably or don’t do it at all

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“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.”

-- Leonard Cohen