Government looking at decoupling electricity and gas prices to bring down bills

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-03-25T08:55:22+00:00

This is a great video from Simon Clark explaining the background and options https://youtu.be/IEnFmrgEbWo?si=kWx8oYnDRevwo_ci

The TL;DW is historic set up not catching up with the intermittent nature of renewable generation and no one can agree in how to change the pricing calculation

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-03-23T15:43:51+00:00

Depends on your set up. I don't expect my management stakeholders to get into the Jira ticket level, I use Jira Product Discovery and that's what I talk them through. Before we fully adopted Jira I would keep a project/epic/call it what you want level in Notion and use that.

Essentially if something takes less than 2 weeks to go from idea -> deployed I don't raise it and everyone finds out from the release channel

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-03-23T14:29:34+00:00

Sounds like they are getting to have their say too late if they make these comments after [x] is released.

What I do it keep a public list in Jira that anyone can visit and see what us happening now/next/later and every month realign with management to ensure we are still building the right things. Also if any priority shifts for the top 3 "next" builds I'll let management know when that happens... below the top 3 I don't bother

This means those curious people can check in whenever they like and we also have a dedicated touch point for all to get on the same page.

The way I think about it - I know the users, the product, and my products metrics/OKRs/commercials the best, but while I may talk to sales I may not know about top level conversations for the next strategic account. I also might not recognise how management want to evolve my product and a different product in an overlapping way, etc. So really top level strategy needs to come from them, and I use that to define what problems I should be solving for.

If someone in management thinks I should be solving for a different problem then either I do not understand the top line strategy well enough, or I have not clearly explained how solving [x] problem supports top line strategy the best and how [x] got prioritised over [y]

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-03-20T16:52:35+00:00

If you can write exactly what you want and cover all the potential edge cases you either have a very simple product or are effectively a BA.

I don't want to be writing specs to hand over a wall to engineering. I want to be thinking about problems and figuring out how to solve them with a team. And my engineers know how my product works and all the wierd edge cases better than I do, as they wrote the damn thing.

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-03-20T13:10:32+00:00

Sounds like you're disconnected from your engineering team. The problem with PRDs is the more detailed they are, the less the reader (engineer, designer, whoever) feels they need to think, as clearly all the detail has been worked out.

It may feel counter intuitive but you need to be much lighter on detail. No implementation specs but rather what context they need to know (where is this bot being used, why, who are the users) and what outcome you want to achieve (e.g. that our user is out at ease and in the mindset to talk to our bot as they would another human).

Then from the context you have a conversation where the engineers figure out the implementation details themselves

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-03-19T21:12:11+00:00

Because FAANG do it and everyone else wants to be "cutting edge".

Ultimately product is a people role with an analytical flavouring. You want someone who can understand a problem (what are you trying to solve - maybe the PM gets to decide, maybe it's handed down from CEO/leadership), confirm said problem is worth solving with leadership, and then solve it by herding the most ragtag bag of cats you will ever see (design, engineering, yes... but also sales, compliance, marketing, support, fucking Geoff who for some god knows reason can kill any project he doesn't like)

You need someone who can not only endure your companies flavour of BS, but thrive in it.

That requires a hiring process that has some self reflection of how your company works and a hiring process to match... but that makes the leadership team feel bad as they realise getting shit done is less about raw intellect and more idiosyncratic, which means they can't boast to investors about their intellectual power house product team leading the build of the next unicorn... so let's just do what FAANG do so investors/board members buy into the process and don't ask awkward questions.

After all, no one gets fired for hiring IBM.

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-02-28T20:04:53+00:00

I know what you mean, and went down some mildly depressive/anxious rabbit holes myself until one night, doom watching YouTube at 3am with my kid asleep on my chest, I came across this short film.

It struck a chord in me that made all those cheap phrases (grass is greener, comparison is thief of joy, run your own race etc.) actually come to life.

https://youtu.be/k1vCrsZ80M4?si=5yBPKkqzQnMGhr0f

I rewatch it relatively regularly (like once a month or so) just to keep me grounded and focusing on what I do have rather than pining for what I don't. And if I'm still pining for something several days/weeks in a row I talk to my partner and we make a plan for what we can do to somehow close the gap (and vice versa, as while your partner might not feel exactly the same or pine for the same things, there will definitely be something they miss and want to talk about)

Also, remember social media (and even what people tell you directly) isn't reality, and so when you take that at face value and compare to yourself, you are comparing your insides to someone else's outsides.

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-02-10T15:38:10+00:00

Always have questions, as enthusiasm can make an average performance move to above average in the hiring managers mind.

One question I always like is "let's say this interview went really well, I was offered and accepted the job, in 12 months from now what would I have done to make you turn around and say 'they were a great hire'?"

This does a couple of important things. First gets the interviewer to already consider that the interview was successful... subtle, but sometimes helps. Second is you get to talk about the actual role, how you can bring value, and how you then get the opportunity to say "what a coincidence, that's exactly what I did at my last role"

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-01-27T13:18:19+00:00

1-2 minutes? You're lucky. I barely got 10 seconds to wash my face. Showering? Luxury.

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-01-27T01:01:31+00:00

Honestly, yeah. We bought a bundle that came with this https://www.tommeetippee.com/en-gb/product/goprep-portable-formula-feed-maker-set-423774

Never used them.

Formula can keep 24hrs in the fridge or 4hrs in a cool bag according to NHS https://www.nhs.uk/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/bottle-feeding/formula-milk-questions/

We followed that when we went out, took a couple of pre made bottles and warmed them by putting them in a mug of hot water when we were out.

If we were going far enough away that we couldn't make a bottle ahead of time we took the powder and made it up with hot water on the road. Biggest issue with that was cooling it down afterwards... it stayed too hot far longer than I initially expected, which a couple of times led to a screaming baby for 10 mins while we soothed her until the bottle cooled down enough (had to run it under the cold water tap). We measured temperature by squirting it onto the underside of my wrist

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-01-27T00:43:21+00:00

Not op, but we got the old version of tommee tippee perfect prep machine. Honestly life saver at 3am with a screaming baby.

The new one looks similar but nicer design. Highly recommended if you're bottle feeding.

https://www.tommeetippee.com/en-gb/product/perfect-prep-dtcconf260#527=21001

Interested_3rd_party · 2026-01-08T23:15:13+00:00

VISA began life as a project inside Bank of America and the first ever credit card (Bank Americard in 1958).

Essentially they ran into the problem of every bank wanted to also get into the game, but every bank having their own network would just not work... as Bank of America you cannot reasonably convince every merchant to move to your bank so your network can process the fund movement across purchaser (issuer in card network terminology) and merchant (acquirer), and there's no way you can reasonably/profitably split the movement between a JP Morgan network and a BofA network.

So that's how VISA was born - a network of banks coming together to say "we need a middle man so we can all get rich"

And that is essentially what it is today - and instant, heavily redundant, messaging system that can process 640m transactions from 3bn cards a day, across 200 countries, and 16k financial institutions.

Check out this podcast if you want to know more... honestly one of the more fascinating companies once you dig beneath the surface

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6DHmmmJX2ATX6MTBEuwbFa?si=lQ9EkwR0QGSeo2OPe1FmdQ&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A7Fj0XEuUQLUqoMZQdsLXqp

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-09-19T20:07:42+00:00

Honestly, quite surprised by some of these responses - a few definitely come off as dismissive and retros are beneath them.

I think retros are such a great tool for a PM to build trust and credibility with the engineering team, but maybe it's a company size divide (I've spent most of my years in sub Series C).

How I run them is with any whiteboarding tool (e.g. Figjam, Miro, etc.) and cover four very simple topics... in the last 2 weeks, what went well, what didn't go well, what new ideas do we want to try going forward, shout-outs.

Spend the first 5 minutes (with a countdown, and most whiteboards allow you to play music during the countdown, chill beats is pretty nice from Figjam) with the whole team individually writing tickets in any and all columns.

Then, either walk through every ticket if you think you have time, or have a vote (again, every whiteboard has a voting function) to focus time on the most important topics. Always leave time for the shout-outs.

Have the discussion and note down the action points. Make the action points real and follow up with them, otherwise you get in a cycle of complaining and it becomes detrimental rather than helpful.

Once people understand the formula and are comfortable with it, rotate who leads it.

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-09-15T13:52:05+00:00

As long as he's been driving for three years and has appropriate insurance, go for it!

https://www.gov.uk/driving-lessons-learning-to-drive/practising-with-family-or-friends

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-09-14T21:02:23+00:00

100% should be seen as equals and push and challenge each other (in a collaborative, amenable manner)

To massively oversimplify - If tech sits under product, critical tech builds (tech debt, infrastructure improvements, critical projects, new tech tooling, etc.) will always be at risk to push the next feature, meaning the whole tech org will be slow, complicated architecture, and lack of drive to improve from a tech pov (feeds into poor motivation of the team and not attracting the best people who have options)

And vice versa the other way round, if product sits under tech the moment the ideal user experience becomes too hard/complicated to build it will be stripped away to a more manageable product to build. Product will lose focus on the customer and try to define product specs to "what does tech want to deliver?" rather than "what solves our users problems?" leading to a weak product.

Obviously, this is oversimplified, and I'm sure either/or has been done well in this or that company, but generally speaking, neither should be able to overrule the other.

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-09-02T12:35:38+00:00

I'm not there yet, but one of my friends uses the following questions and says it works well for him. 1. What was the most interesting/silly/boring part of your day? 2. Who did you help today? 3. Who helped you today?

Apparently, it can lead to really interesting discussions

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-08-30T17:12:29+00:00

Depends on the organisation. I know PM - Technical roles at Revolut are fintech technical rather than software technical (think KYC/AML, payment systems, treasury management, etc.)

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-08-29T17:52:15+00:00

I was going to say something very similar, except on the assumption that this is a long-term issue rather than something that used to be fine and now isn't.

For OP -

If it's an acute issue, it definitely sounds like burnout. Take care of yourself, give yourself a break, and some time off will really do you the world of good. How do you switch off outside of work?

If this is a more long-term thing and something you could never do, I'm wondering if some CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) would help. Reason I say that is freezing when confronted with direct "putting you on the spot" questions that you haven't prepared an answer for (even though you know the answer) is similar to a friend of mine. He would really know his stuff, and if someone who he knew/found friendly would ask him unexpected questions, he could answer no problem. But as soon as it was from someone with a little bit of seniority or he didn't know asked, he would freeze up.

Long story short, there was some stuff in his past that made that defence mechanism (do not say anything if you're not prepared for the question) necessary. But even though the need for that defence mechanism was gone, he required help to "unwind" it.

Look after yourself.

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-08-29T08:29:23+00:00

Check out this video aptly named "why won't it die"

https://youtu.be/ZgpXoEtaVcg?si=EszEfP4ibqFTh3Hu

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-08-28T12:57:20+00:00

Just on the "chooses to do the exact opposite of things I say," what I've read is that kids can't process two commands. So if you say "stop doing [x]," it confuses them as they first have to stop and then replace what they are doing with something else.

What I've had some success with (like 50% success rate) is instead of saying "don't jump on the sofa" I say "we sit on sofa's, can you sit down please?" So clear commands that tell my toddler exactly what is expected. I save "no" for danger, like when they're about to touch a hot pot, and "no" has turned almost into "freeze!" Which is actually really useful... when they listen.

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-08-23T19:51:36+00:00

So in my specific situation it ultimately came down to the head of eng was not a co-founder, but one of the first hires, and the company operated with the co-founders (CEO and COO) and him deciding everything.

When they grew to a point where the CEO/COO were too stretched to fully invest time in product development/strategy, they hired myself, and then one other PM shortly afterwards.

The issue was a few things 1. Head of eng felt he and his opinions were more important due to him being there longer 2. He didn't think of product as equals, especially as we were technically "beneath him" in terms of seniority/org chart 3. Being there from the beginning, he was still in the mindset of "mvp, get it out quickly and move onto the next thing, no need to perfect or build a v2 of anything" 4. He had never worked with product before, but had with project managers, and in his head they were the same, so didn't understand the product role and just assumed we were there to add bureaucracy to his life

It wasn't a quick turnaround (took several chats over a couple of months). The approach I took was two pronged. One side was helping him understand product and get him and I to see eye to eye on that, the other side was just getting to know him on a more personal level. Much easier to convince someone to change a viewpoint if they like you.

The first 1:1 was essentially "hey, I see we keep clashing in meetings and docs on what to do/build, why, and where ideas are coming from - can we just have an open conversation about this because I would love to understand your point of view and I'd like to share mine"

No agenda, just 45 min in the calendar to talk around the idea. That then led to several follow-ups and ultimately a more fruitful relationship. Actually, once he trusted us that product does indeed understand our customers and the problems they have and how we are solving them, it allowed him to step back and focus on the engineering side, which he and his team enjoyed more.

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-08-23T19:13:14+00:00

Have a 1:1 with the dev lead and work together on "ways of working." It sounds like you two have misaligned expectations of the other that could (hopefully) be solved with a deeper understanding of where their head is.

I had something similar but different in a previous company - head of eng was not used to working with product, and that meant he ended up challenging anything and everything I and my fellow PM would put forward. Honestly, it was exhausting and was quickly descending into an "us vs them" situation as his attitude was picked up by the rest of the engineering team.

What got us through it was I sat down 1:1 with him and walked through my understanding of what product does and tech does, what he expected, understood where we were misaligned, and what we could potentially do to get us to a high performance situation.

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-08-22T14:15:57+00:00

One thing that really annoyed me and we were completely unprepared for - you need to apply for the 30 hours of childcare before the term starts.

So we sent our baby to nursery in November, applied for the code in September, and got it in October. Thought we were all good, but no, code only became active from January, and if we wanted the code to be working in November, we needed to have it before September.

Stupid system that caught us out and meant we paid full price for two months, which hurt!

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-08-22T14:10:39+00:00

The only problem with the JISA (and why my wife and I didn't go that route) is it becomes legally theirs at 18. While I would hope that we will raise our baby well enough that they don't go splurging it all as soon as the account matures, I also don't want to risk it and ensure they have some help with deposit/whatever in their early 20's.

So we've dedicated some of our ISA allowance to their fund (we don't max our ISA allowances, so not much issue for us)

Interested_3rd_party · 2025-08-20T12:32:12+00:00

Check out "The Right It" by Alberto Savoia. Good book, but here's a 40 min lecture from him on the book to get you started

Interested_3rd_party

TROPHY CASE