This is a newsletter about big bets, explored through conversations with the product leaders who worked on them. In this first one, I catch up with my former colleague Tom Loosemore to talk about BBC iPlayer and more.
What a great, informative read! Really enjoyed this. Thanks Alice and Tom : ) I frequently hear product leaders talking about strategy and innovation as if they are mutually exclusive or worse one is the antithesis of the other. So while everyone loves talking about their big idea, sprints, and fun stuff this is a brilliant reminder that great ideas are a commodity, but strategy and execution are still priceless
Great first Substack article Alice! You can definitely tell that this is an experience of someone working at a large org.
I’m curious, do you share the opinion of outcomes from design sprints or hackathons? Some of the best ideas product teams come up with are from them in my opinion.
Thanks Sarthak! In my experience, design sprints and hackathons can be really useful if you run them in the framework of a broader org strategy, i.e. with a theme or ground-rules.
Amazing read, thanks for sharing! I'm curious about your last point though about "inexperienced team" - there are advantages of being inexperienced: eg. the team might approach it from a fresh perspective that may have not been explored before vs. an experienced team might be biased from past approaches to solving the problem.
yes, I see your point - experience certainly isn't everything. The most important thing is not to put a *weak* team on a bet because you feel like you can't risk your best teams on something that might not come off.
What a great, informative read! Really enjoyed this. Thanks Alice and Tom : ) I frequently hear product leaders talking about strategy and innovation as if they are mutually exclusive or worse one is the antithesis of the other. So while everyone loves talking about their big idea, sprints, and fun stuff this is a brilliant reminder that great ideas are a commodity, but strategy and execution are still priceless
Great first Substack article Alice! You can definitely tell that this is an experience of someone working at a large org.
I’m curious, do you share the opinion of outcomes from design sprints or hackathons? Some of the best ideas product teams come up with are from them in my opinion.
Thanks Sarthak! In my experience, design sprints and hackathons can be really useful if you run them in the framework of a broader org strategy, i.e. with a theme or ground-rules.
Amazing read, thanks for sharing! I'm curious about your last point though about "inexperienced team" - there are advantages of being inexperienced: eg. the team might approach it from a fresh perspective that may have not been explored before vs. an experienced team might be biased from past approaches to solving the problem.
yes, I see your point - experience certainly isn't everything. The most important thing is not to put a *weak* team on a bet because you feel like you can't risk your best teams on something that might not come off.