Here’s a few things I’ve learnt over the past few years in product management:

• Responding to the community is not the same as reacting to the community
• Good communication does not mean ‘I sent you an email’
• ‘Agile’ does not have to be fragile
• ‘Now’ means ‘now’, not later
• Managing remote teams is difficult, but it is a great way to learn about another culture
• If you’re not failing somewhere, you aren’t trying hard enough
• Extreme programming does not require a crash helmet
• Team bonding often occurs late at night (usually coinciding with server meltdowns or releases)
• ‘Ruby on Rails’ is not a new Mattel product (nor a porno)
• Just because you can use Photoshop, it doesn’t mean you know good design
• Metrics and site statistics are only part of the story
• People can hear when you are smiling
• When communicating with your legal team, the term ‘privileged’ comes in handy
• Sometimes it’s helpful to be a ‘jack of all trades’
• A ‘no-one leaves the building’ policy is handy around release time

So, before I sign off and head to #shtbox for drinks, a huge thanks to the following people:

Rob & Nick – Thanks for all your support. I appreciate the confidence you have in me and look forward to working with you again in the future.

To the team at Pollenizer… You know I love you guys (esp. Jon, Mick & Phil – but the rest of you rock too)! Thanks for all your wise words and advice. And Mick – thanks for ensuring focus and helping me define my path.

To the X-Minds team… It’s been a fun journey and I appreciate all your hard work over the last 2 years.

To the Exist/Sydneo team… You guys are truly awesome! Jason Torres – it was such a pleasure working with you and getting to know you! I hope to meet you and the team F2F one day

To @armyofdolls … Thanks for supporting me through the craziness. I hope to return the favour one day.

And to all the people I met with, leached ideas off, explored new ventures with, and especially to all the Product Mavens… you really inspired me to do so many, many, many things (not least of which included setting up Product Mavens and taking a last minute holiday to Thailand over Xmas!).

So who’s joining me for drinks?

Over and out.

Mishy

Ps. If you’re thinking that this post was inspired by @dekrazee1 then you are 100% right! Rai, you are the community queen & I wish you the best of luck for the future!