There’s a feeling in the digital industry that working with the government is tedious due to endless bureaucracy, red tape, and too many stakeholders. As someone who worked in the public sector for years, Postlight’s Associate Director of Digital Strategy, Tait Foster, understands it better than most. This week Chris and Tait discuss the differences between working with public and private sectors and share tips on navigating software development for government stakeholders and, most importantly, their constituents.

Annoying pop-ups, frustrating drop-down menus that make you scroll for minutes to find your birth year, untailored targeted ads — the list of annoying UX design goes on and on. This week Chris LoSacco is joined by Postlight’s Director and Head of Product Management, Nathan Henry, to complain about bad UX. They share gripes and guidance on prioritizing user experience and how not to enrage your users. 

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Nathan Henry 

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The phrase “change is hard” may seem like a cliche, but it’s also true. This week Chris and Gina discuss how to manage change as Postlight navigates some changes of its own. As a leader, how much do you share with your team? Can you make it easier for them? How do you navigate people’s differing relationships with change? Chris and Gina share what they’re learning as they lead through change.

Differentiating product managers and project managers can be tricky. They share the same acronym (PM), and there can be overlap between the two roles. This week, Postlight’s Associate Director of Product Management, Ruiyan Xu, shares a handy analogy to help clarify the two roles. She chats with Chris about how PMs can be likened to different types of ship captains. For project managers, think of a captain sailing a predetermined route. For product managers, imagine a captain sailing uncharted seas. Ruiyan helps clear the murky PM waters. 

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Product and Project Managers Are Different Types of Captains 

Speedboat vs. Tanker: On Thinking Like a Startup at a Big Company

Chris and Gina have learned the hard way that the IT team is all about minimizing risk. The product team, on the other hand, is all about taking risks. So how do you bridge the gap? This week Chris and Gina discuss how you can bring your IT team into digital transformation projects. They share tips on building relationships with your IT team, collaborating on product choices, and encouraging ownership over new products. 

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• How to Build for the Handoff 

Navigating Disney World is a lot. There are endless parks, restaurants, hotels, and lineups. The My Disney Experience App was designed to help, but navigating the app is also pretty tricky. On the heels of a trip to Disney World, Chris shares how Disney could improve the app and the visitor experience. 

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My Disney Experience: Mobile Apps 

The waterfall method isn’t always ideal for software projects because it doesn’t allow for innovation and creative problem-solving. So Postlight’s Head of Product Design, Natalie Kurz, takes a different approach: Figure out the “what” first instead of the “how.” With that method comes room for creative problem-solving and, you guessed it, rework. But rework isn’t a failure; it’s a way to learn and get clarity. After all, rework is the work. 

Leaders are always going to have competing demands for their attention. Getting up earlier and working later isn’t always the answer to getting the work done. This week Chris and Gina reflect on how they prioritize and set boundaries to manage their workload without getting burnt out. They share tips on how to calmly set and stick to boundaries and determine your priorities. Do you really need to be in six hours of back-to-back meetings? Probably not! 

On most projects, things will inevitably go wrong at some point or another. So who’s to blame, or rather, what’s to blame? This week Chris and Gina talk about accountability and how we learn and grow from our mistakes. They discuss how to discern where things went wrong without assigning blame. From addressing problems early on, to accepting apologies, they share tips on moving away from punishment and blame and towards accountability so you can build a stronger and higher functioning team. 

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Couples Therapy

This week, Netflix's Bernie Madoff docuseries sure has Chris and Gina thinking about trust. They discuss trust as the key to any partnership, even (and especially) in business, and its role as the backbone of client services. Through the lens of MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street, they break down how to build trust, what might break it, and how the docuseries has given them perspective on trust in the workplace.

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https://www.netflix.com/title/81466159