Getting people on board
What this has to do with a late bus
A while back, I heard a phrase that can be translated as “We need to get the people on board” or “We need to take everyone along”.
One leader was told to "get the people on board" and replied, "No, I'm not a bus.”
It was a funny response, but it tells us a lot about motivation.
There are a lot of people sitting at a bus station waiting for a bus to pick them up. If they get somewhere late, they would claim that the bus was late. They need the bus to get somewhere. They could have walked or taken a taxi, but they chose not to walk so that someone needed pick them up.
Who are the people who move your organization/company/product forward? They are the people who are not waiting to be picked up, but who are actively figuring out how to get there.
Getting people on board is part of the motivation, but people also have to want to get on board. Intrinsic motivation is hard to provoke, but it can be brought to the surface.
You will achieve your goals with intrinsically motivated people who are not waiting for the bus to pick them up.
(Bonus tip: Here’s how to spot high-agency people.)
What I read
This is a separate section of this newsletter. I will list some of the best articles I have read on the Internet. They may or may not be related to the topic of this article. I will keep a list of the best articles (currently >700) at https://www.digital-product-management.com. These are today’s picks:
What is Product Management? The basics of product management.
Guide to the unFIX model: What the unFIX model is, how it benefits product management, and how to build an organizational structure around it.
Competitor Research and Strategy: An extensive guide incl. playbooks.
I enjoyed this analogy. Sometimes it is so hard to get people to take the initiative in product management. When you get them taking the initiative, then you have magic!
I think one of the hardest parts of product is figuring this out. If you can't help others understand why your initiative will be impactful, don't be surprised when they don't support (and don't get on the bus).