awareness: your "will not do" list

When planning season comes, do you linger over what you explicitly decide not to accomplish - and why - as much as you focus on what you plan to accomplish? In the course of planning do you capture and maintain a "will not do" list?

I've found my "not doing" list is a bittersweet asset; it helps me explain past decisions and puts current activities into an historical and hopefully strategic context, but it also reminds me of my personal limitations.

For individuals understanding what I "can not do" is more instructive than what I "will not do", but organizations with money to invest often feel that they "can do" anything. What they choose to do, and whether they should do those things, is the rock that product managers get to move up hills. It's the "not doing" list that prevents that rock from rolling back on top of you.

How like a winter hath my absence been
From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!
What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!
What old December's bareness every where!
And yet this time removed was summer's time,
The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,
Bearing the wanton burden of the prime,
Like widow'd wombs after their lords' decease:
Yet this abundant issue seem'd to me
But hope of orphans and unfather'd fruit;
For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,
And, thou away, the very birds are mute;
Or, if they sing, 'tis with so dull a cheer
That leaves look pale, dreading the winter's near.

William Shakespeare, Sonnet Ninety Seven

news: ack/nak added to alltop + reader feedback

I got a nice note from Guy Kawasaki this morning with the news that ack/nak has been added to the Alltop product management page.

"What's Alltop? And why are you telling us this?"

You can learn what Alltop is all about here.

"You still haven't explained why you're telling us this."

That's easy. I'm delighted to have ack/nak considered in the same company as those other Much More Serious Product Management blogs. It's a nice little ego boost for a Monday morning.

"Your blog got added to an aggregation page. Don't get all frothy. Besides, who knows what it will look like when they get enough traffic to get sponsors, it'll be a nightmare of dancing shadows and free iPod offers."

Don't get frothy? That's tough talk coming from a phantom voice.

"Ummmm. . . ."

And that's also no way to talk about a start-up. It has an old-school Yahoo feel to it, as opposed to all those other "pile links on a page based on what a spider tells you". It looks like it's created by people who pick a topic and then select what blogs get associated with it. From a product management perspective, it's a perfectly good product idea that addresses an unmet need with a nice, clean interface and a sound idea of how to communicate with contributors.

"I guess you're right."

Of course I'm right. Now what do you say to Mr. Kawasaki?

". . . ."

I didn't hear you.

"Sorry Mr. Kawasaki."

That's better. You don't want him showing up at your house with a hockey stick.

"Heavens no."

status: still alive + something you can do to help

Hey all - happy October. The frost is on the pumpkins and the hay is in the barn.

Here in ack/nak land, all is going swimmingly:

1. Work = good = busy as all get-out, but in a positive way.

2. Home = good = kids still pissed off at having to go back to school, but that's life.

3. Projects = good

Here's some more on #3. I'm creating a radio show (at first in a podcast format) and the "topic" of my first show is France. Future shows will be on fun topics like particle physics and cocktails, or whatever else catches my fancy (or yours - recommendations are welcomed).

At the end of each show is a "call-in" section in which I field questions from my audience. I've set up a voicemail box that you can call to leave your questions about France.

Here are the instructions:

1. The questions don't have to be serious (but they can be). Extra points for playing along with the "radio show call-in question" theme. "Love the show", "first-time caller", etc.

2. You need to call a phone number and record your question. The phone number is a local one if you live in the Chicago area - 773-362-4618 - and goes directly to a voicemail box. Pay Close Attention To The Greeting - it might influence how you leave your message. I won't spoil the surprise.

If you elect to leave a message, you need to know that I may use the recording of your question in the podcast. And if you have friends who may have questions about France, feel free to refer them to this post.

On another topic entirely, I'm also in the process of writing my product management book, since everyone who is anyone these days has to write a book. Product Management the Ack/Nak Way will be as irreverent and practical as this blog has been on the topic of product management, with occasional bouts of philosophy, poetry and story-telling.

Reviews of my preview chapters have been positive, which is good. Now it's up to me to just grind the rest of it out, which is also good, but is real work. I have suddenly gained a lot of respect for professional writers. It is not easy.

Correction: it is easy to write poorly and in great volume. It is hard to write well in an economical way.

So if you're interested in learning more about either the radio show or the book, let me know.

More posts coming, thanks for hanging in there with me.