Systems Philosopher, Source of Truth, A New TPM Voice
Welcome to 📮Monday TPM Field Dispatch 005 - Shortform thoughts on tech program management + curated content for further exploration, delivered every Monday to your inbox to kickstart your week.
1️⃣ Systems Philosopher
Systems thinking should be something all people must practice who participate in product development agnostic of title. However, Technical Program Managers and Product Managers must do more - they must be System Philosophers.
This concept is something I dug into my cohort course last week.
A Systems Thinker - adept at viewing the world through a systems approach or point view.
A Systems Integrator - can bring different systems and connect them together to make more effective systems.
A Systems Philosopher - able to combine the systems thinking and integration with synthesis capabilities to develop bespoke systems.
The grand value that truly Great TPMs bring is knowing what system to synthesize for the problem or issue at hand given the ecosystem (team, cross-functional group, organization/company) in which they operate without having to upend the entire ecosystem and remake from scratch. OR maybe that is exactly what they do because the ecosystem needs a brand new re-write.
How does this look like practically speaking?
Think about taking some pieces of scrum and adopting to the culture of the organization or team to improve team velocity rather than implementing it as is.
Think about taking Program Increment planning from SAFe to help senior leadership turn strategy to tactical execution more effectively without fully adopting SAFe.
Think about developing a lightweight documentation process adopted from Amazon 6-pager married to some other Engineering Requirements Document framework to clarify the scope of a program.
Suggested reading: Although Systems thinking is routed in biology and ecosystems, the applications can be wide ranging especially in tech. This wonderful symposium/discussion on Systems by Professor Humberto Maturana is pure gem.
2️⃣ Nature of Single Source of Truth
Our truths are relative.
It’s an odd statement to make but it is a phenomenon I have observed play over and over again in product development. Lets talk through this.
Your boss comes to you and says I need you to take lead on this Program.
TPM: Awesome, do we have requirements or documentation on the program goals to get me started?
Manager: We do but its in various heads and teams. Can you put a single source of truth for what we need to do?
You start putting together a program scope document. You compile the various in scope and out of scope items from the various members of the cross-functional team.
TPM: Okay, we have a single source of truth for our program, lets make sure we all agree then we can start tracking the progress?
TL: This doc is great but we need to get tickets to assign to the individual engineers. Docs aren’t great for tracking progress.
You work with the cross-functional team to build out the epic <> child task structure in your favorite issue management tool.
TPM: Okay we have all the tickets lets start making some progress.
Engineer: Okay but if the scope changes do you want me to update the doc or the tickets. Also - it’s getting hard to know which tickets to focus on. Can I get some sort of filter or a view of what tickets I need to work on?
TPM: I can create filters and dashboards.
You build out dashboards to help teams organize and stay focused.
Exec: This dashboard is useless, it’s too engineering focused. I want a regular check-in and let's use this lightweight slide deck to fill in the progress weekly.
TPM: Okay……
Engineer: Wait, so do I update the tickets or the slide deck or the what.
TL: This is getting too complicated. Why can’t we just have a single source of truth for what we need to do?
How does a TPM deal with this situation?
One option and the best is to always push back and see what exactly is not working about the current source of truth.
One option is to understand that for each stakeholder you might end up having to create multiple views of the truth but focus on a single source.
One option is to actively archive and close out documents and sources of truths as they are replaced. This is a rather drastic measure and might not always work.
Now that I have explained all this, I would like to amend my earlier statement:
How we want to see and consume the truth is relative and changes person by person but our source must always remain singular.
Question to reader: How would you handle this situation? Leave it in the comments
3️⃣ Career Advise + New Voice
I get so excited when a new thought leader and voice adds their lived experience and stories to the Technical Program Management space.
Today - I have another such amazing talent to share - Matt McDannel.
He launched his newsletter - Program Tactics - last week. He has been dropping such wonderful nuggets of how-tos, tips and tricks, career advice and everything in between. Take him up on coaching, resume tips or just follow his LinkedIn for amazing TPM advice. I met up with Matt and absolutely resonated with a lot of what he had to say about his non-conventional path to TPM and how he approaches the role.
Check out his first newsletter “Shifting Sands and Shifting Scope”.
Go sign up for his newsletter. You won’t regret it.
4️⃣ The Next Session of My TPM Course is Open for Enrollment
The inaugural cohort for my course - Become A Great Technical Program Manager - was a wonderful experience.
The people, the special guest speaker, and the engagement was beyond my expectation. However, the best part was the course feedback which was filled with such immensely valuable opportunities already incorporated into my next cohort which is now OPEN for enrollment.
More real world examples
More cast studies
More discussions
More deep dive into topics like Systems Philosophy, Influence, Shape of Power and much more.
Now 2 Days long (Cohort is scheduled for July 29-30. )
🚨 Spots are limited, don’t miss this chance → 🚀 Click here to enroll today
If you need convincing or are not sure, check out some reviews from the 1st cohort:
A fantastic mix of tools, information, and real world examples to increase my understanding and capabilities.
It was a very well thought out cohort. It is probably one of its kind as the focus and intent was not on interviews or on securing a job but rather on charting out a decision path that will make you a true strategic partner. It is important to note that the most of the companies, including but not limited to silicon valley tech companies, require TACT (a highly underrated skill) to be successful.
Aadil is an excellent presenter and speaker, and the material he left us with was thought-provoking and actionable. I took so much value out of this class and can't wait to use this new toolkit to become better.
Content [...] It was so well done--engaging without over-informing, minimalistic without being boring. I took so many screenshots, and I even printed out one of the slides to hang above my desk!
How was this week’s newsletter?
If you enjoy and love reading what I write, perhaps you know someone who could also enjoy and love reading these essays and dispatches. Share this with your friends and colleagues and lets grow together. 🙏 ☺️ ❤️
You can suggest topics or questions for me to write about in the future. It could be something you are curious about or maybe something you're struggling with right now.