👋 Hiya, work bestie!
Lately, everyone's asking the same thing: What's gonna happen to our jobs as AI gets smarter? Fair question, and yeah, some folks are getting a bit sweaty about it.
Here's my hot take. Our jobs aren't vanishing into thin air, but they're definitely getting a makeover. The real winners in this next leap forward won't be the traditional code wizards. Nope, it'll be people who can use AI tools to tackle the right problems.
We're entering the golden age of generalists with solid product thinking. Ya know, someone who can sniff out what’s broken, decide if it's worth the trouble, and whip up a quick prototype to test in the wild.
So how do you level up your product thinking?
Let’s break it down. A product mindset is getting nosy about problems, caring deeply about the people you're helping, and staying flexible enough to learn and pivot.
It means asking stuff like:
Who's pulling their hair out over this?
What's the actual headache we're solving for?
How will we know if our solution slaps or is just mid?
Quick caveat before we go any further... I’m not saying everyone should get an MBA and ride off into the Product Manager sunset. There will always be a need for deeply specialized technical experts. But if that’s not the path you’re drawn to, I’m recommending you start borrowing from the Product Manager’s mental toolkit.
Ready to start building those product thinking muscles?
No fancy degrees or ten thousand hours on Udemy required. Just grab these four books, read ‘em in order, and you’ll have product juices flowing through your veins in no time.
📚 The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen. This is your beginner’s guide to product thinking. Dan walks you through a clear, step-by-step playbook for identifying the right problems, testing ideas, and making decisions based on real learning.
📚 Sprint by Jake Knapp. Once you’ve grasped the basics, Jake shows you how to turn an idea into a testable prototype in just five days. Perfect for solo or small teams, this method helps you skip the fluff and get real feedback fast.
📚 Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres. After launching or testing, how do you keep learning? Teresa teaches you to regularly engage with users, gather insights, and make discovery a sustainable habit instead of a one-off effort.
📚 Inspired by Marty Cagan. This one zooms out to cover what makes great product teams tick. Marty dives into strong leadership, how top teams operate, and staying focused on solving real problems. Save this for last to see how everything fits together.
Reading is cool and all, but knowledge isn’t sticky until it’s put into action.
Here's your homework assignment:
1️⃣ Spot a daily pain. Look around and find something that makes coworkers groan. Maybe it's a process that drags, a meeting that feels pointless, or a handoff that always goes sideways. Don't overthink it. Just find what makes people roll their eyes.
2️⃣ Think like a PM. Instead of jumping straight to solutions, pump the brakes and ask: Who's suffering here? What exactly is the trainwreck? What do people actually need? You're not fixing yet, just getting clear on what's broken.
3️⃣ Talk to actual people. Talk to folks who deal with this pain every day. Ask open questions and soak up their perspective. What drives them bonkers? What have they tried? What would make them do a happy dance? Your goal is to listen, not pitch your idea.
4️⃣ Sketch a rough fix. After soaking up their insights, draft a possible fix. No need to be fancy. It could be a quick diagram, a process tweak, or a one pager. Just make sure it gets the idea across clearly enough to test.
5️⃣ Ask for real feedback. Share your sketch with the folks you spoke to. Ask what lands, what feels off, and what they’d change. Listen more than you talk. The goal is to shape ideas with real feedback, not just your own hunches.
This isn’t about launching the next iPhone. It’s about building the muscle: spotting problems, understanding people, and making smart moves that actually help. The product mindset starts small and that’s exactly the point.
The deep dive? If you want one solid resource to keep building your product chops, check out Lenny's Podcast. His chats with product leaders are gold every time. Start with these three episodes: Ethan Smith, Elena Verna, and Brian Balfour.
Product thinking isn’t just for fancy product managers. It’s for anyone who wants to solve better problems and create things that truly matter. Spend some time learning this mindset, and the payoff will be huge, not just for your career, but for the quality of work you produce.
Go sniff out those headaches,
✌️ Kirby