Building a product and ux practice
I’m a product leader focused on building high-performing teams and enabling their best work. As the VP of Product and User Experience at MillerKnoll, I grew what was previously a launch-and-abandon-type project organization into a successful product-led structure. I scaled up a group of eleven vaguely-product-oriented folks to a team of 50+ product managers, analysts, designers, UX strategists and researchers.
One key to success is weekly alignment on product philosophy and strategy through practice-area stand-ups. Individuals have daily stand-ups with product teams to talk about tactical work, but weekly stand-ups as a product or UX practice area is where to dive into frameworks, learnings, and thought leadership.
I’m cataloging some of my stand-up topics to share with other product-led organizations, in the hopes that you also have meaningful conversations that unlock new levels of growth and effectiveness.
Stand-Up Topics Index:
Use Context for More Influence - A Podcast - Mar 2, 2026
The New Hire Test for Success - Feb 17, 2026
Dimensions of Quality - Jan 27, 2026
Creating Space in the New Year - Jan 5, 2026
Storytelling via Roadmaps - Dec 10, 2025
A Gratitude Practice for Product Teams - Nov 25, 2025
Tooling (and AI, of course) - Sept 24, 2025
Time Estimation - Aug 12, 2025
Uncovering and Challenging Our Hidden Assumptions - July 1, 2025
Choice Always Exists - June 3, 2025
Book Club: Impact First Product Teams by Matt LeMay - May 7, 2025
Product Vision - Mar 4, 2025
Technical Debt - Feb 5, 2025
The Drama Triangle vs The Empowerment Dynamic - Nov 26, 2024
Signaling Decisiveness - Oct 1, 2024
Book Club: Transformed by Marty Cagan - Sept 10, 2024
Using Games at Work - Aug 20, 2024
Team Health - Speed and Trust - July 18, 2024
Projecting Expertise - June 25, 2024
Financial Literacy for Product Managers - May 8, 2024
Hosting a Successful Meeting - Apr 16, 2024
Supporting Introverts on Product Teams - Mar 19, 2024
Control versus Accomplishment - Feb 12, 2024
Product Team Roles - Jan 23, 2024
Supporting Users with Micro Interactions - Jan 9, 2024
Measuring Execution: Product Metrics, Part 2 - Dec 12, 2023
Measuring Execution: Product Metrics, Part 1 - Nov 21, 2023
Product Stability Risk - Oct 24, 2023
Inspiration via Your 5 Senses - Sept 12, 2023
Identifying Stakeholders - Aug 24, 2023
Types of Innovators - July 20, 2023
AI In Product - June 22, 2023
Personal Prioritization - May 17, 2023
Exploring Polarity and Strategic Tension - Apr 25, 2023
Office Personality - Mar 29, 2023
Contradictory Users - Mar 16, 2023
Job/Career Priorities - Feb 15, 2023
Cumulative Actions - Feb 2, 2023
Negotiation Tactics - Jan 24, 2023
New Year Maxim - Jan 9, 2023
Good Gift Giving is User Empathy - Dec 20, 2022
UI / UX Challenges - Dec 5, 2022
Time Travel to Better Results - Oct 19, 2022
Gaining Insights - Oct 9, 2022
Evangelizing UX - Aug 23, 2022
Inclusive Language - Aug 2, 2022
Sharing Knowledge - July 20, 2022
Measuring Burnout - July 6, 2022
Frameworks and Mental Models - June 29, 2022
Envy - June 16, 2022
Asynchronous Ways of Working - June 6, 2022
3w3 Framework - May 31, 2022
Envision the Future - May 23, 2022
How to Measure Team Health - May 20, 2022
Top 10 / Bottom 10 - May 16, 2022
Guiding Questions - May 9, 2022
Team Psychological Safety - May 6, 2022
Find Your Allies - May 3, 2022
Articles & Insights Index:
The Captain, Quartermaster, and Crew: Leadership Lessons from Pirate Ships for Product Teams - Nov 4, 2025
The Pirate Code: What 18th Century Crews Can Teach Modern Product Teams - May 20, 2025