Bring the Donuts – Ken Norton
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A product management blog
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Latest Posts
Designing Better Working Relationships
Being intentional about how we relate with coworkers - Some years ago, I was in session with a newish client. This leader was expressing their frustration with a peer. This...
Best Books for Product Managers [2026]
Essential product management reading - Updated for 2026. There are lots of excellent books about product management and product leadership, but these are the 44 books I’d consider essential to...
A How to Hire a Product Manager Retrospective
My perspective twenty years later - That's me in the JotSpot office in Palo Alto, Summer 2005, a few months before we were acquired by Google. This is my retrospective...
Why Great Leaders Embrace Humor and Playfulness
The case for humor, play, and letting go - Gregg Popovich. Photograph by Soobum Im, USA TODAY Sports Gregg Popovich, the legendary basketball coach, has retired from coaching and will...
Product Leadership is Lonely
Why this job feels so isolating and what you can do about it - Product leadership is lonely. While you may be surrounded by other people, it often feels like...
The Power of Not Knowing
Embracing uncertainty by confronting our inner stories - “I don’t know.” When were you last willing to say that in front of your team? How does it make you feel...
Storytelling for Product Leaders
Learning to be a better storyteller in the workplace - My coaching clients often ask for help becoming better storytellers, one of the most important skills for product leaders. What...
The Drama Triangle – The Roles We Play in Conflict
What it is and how to use it - In the last newsletter, I introduced the concepts of Reactive and Creative leadership. I want to continue to explore that today....
From Reactive to Creative Leadership
Evolving from fear-driven to purposeful leadership - One of the most powerful frameworks I’ve come to deeply understand over the past few years is the distinction between Reactive and Creative...
Zone of Genius and Flow
Express your full magnificence by living in your Zone of Genius - Iremember countless evenings as a teenager in the 1980s when I’d retire to my family’s Apple ][+ computer...
Ken Norton on the Product Thinking Podcast
Leading with vision and purpose - I joined Melissa Perri’s Product Thinking Podcast to talk about the evolution of product management, the stark difference between empowered and unempowered product teams,and...
Preparing to Have a Difficult Conversation
What to do when it’s time for some tough talk - Frequently, a coaching conversation orbits around a difficult conversation: everything from firing an employee, confronting a disrespectful co-worker, delivering...
Personal User Manuals
Sharing guides to working with one another can lead to psychological safety - I learned a lot over the years from Urs Hölzle, Google’s eighth employee and the company’s first...
Ken Norton on Lenny’s Podcast
Making the shift from reactive to creative leadership - I joined Lenny’s Podcast to talk about coaching, product leadership, and the transition from reactive to creative. Listen to the audio...
CEOs and Product Leaders: A Better Relationship
A relationship built on communication, candor, and trust - In my coaching sessions with CPOs and other senior product leaders, the relationship with a CEO is a frequent topic. Sometimes...