Description

This episode explores creative leadership techniques that drive outcomes as well as the pitfalls of survivorship bias in building a product. Kelsey Nichols discusses her unconventional path into product management and building a product way of thinking that focuses on failure patterns and how to adapt.

(0:05) - Introduction to the podcast and hosts

(0:57) - Welcome to Kelsey Nichols, CTO at Landing

(1:07) - Kelsey describes her career journey from PE teacher to engineer to product manager and back to engineering

(3:36) - Kelsey talks about her transition from engineering to product management

(8:14) - The benefits of having a diverse background in product development

(9:33) - The event that led Kelsey to focus more on the "why" of product development

(10:57) - Areas where product leaders might miss the mark according to Kelsey's experience on the engineering team

(13:19) - Challenges of integrating a new product team and common friction points

(14:36) - Building a product department from the ground up and how it's similar to building a product

(16:33) - Initial challenges and concerns about the success of the product department at Landing

(17:40) - Why looking at failures can be just as valuable as looking at successes (concept of survivorship bias)

(21:15) - The importance of embracing failure and creating a safe space for experimentation

(23:34) - Kelsey's experience as the longest-standing product leader at Landing (in jest)

(24:29) - The importance of creating a safe space for product development

(25:12) - The reality of failure and success rates in product development

(25:28) - Transitioning from Engineer to Product Leader

(28:34) - The Danger of Saying No in Product Management

(29:03) - Creative Strategies for Handling Feature Requests

(32:18) - Building Relationships with Stakeholders

(34:33) - The Importance of Business and Customer Focus

(36:09) - Problem-Solving as a Core Skill

(36:58) - The Value of Customer Research

(38:21) - Learning from Mistakes