The Cranky PM

Fixer of Broken Product Teams ❤️‍🩹

Anti-BS newsletter for product people: tools, templates & truth bombs 💣

Agile theater → Panic planning → Roadmap regrets → Fixed ✅

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Articles

Stop Lying to Yourself About "Continuous Improvement"

Nov 17, 2025

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6 min read

Stop Lying to Yourself About "Continuous Improvement"

Your "continuous improvement" is corporate theater. Teams perform improvement with sticky notes, not real work. Here's how to spot it and get better.

App Launches Don't Fail at the Finish Line; They Fail at the Start

Nov 10, 2025

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4 min read

App Launches Don't Fail at the Finish Line; They Fail at the Start

Your app launches fail because nobody knows who's supposed to do what when crunch time hits. Build countdown systems that run themselves.

The Corporate Bullshit Survival Guide: Because Sometimes You Need to Sound Strategic While Quietly Screaming Inside

Nov 3, 2025

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7 min read

The Corporate Bullshit Survival Guide: Because Sometimes You Need to Sound Strategic While Quietly Screaming Inside

Master corporate doublespeak to survive impossible demands. Translation tactics for when your project's on fire and you need to sound strategic.

Oct 27, 2025

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7 min read

The Agile Prison You Built Yourself

Daily standups waste 7 hours weekly on status theater. You built this Agile prison yourself. Here's how to get real coordination without the ritual.

Your Client Isn't Demanding. You Just Didn't Set Expectations

Oct 20, 2025

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10 min read

Your Client Isn't Demanding. You Just Didn't Set Expectations

Stop blaming demanding clients. You never set expectations. Your expectation management is broken, and that's why projects turn into nightmares.

Why I Keep Bringing Up Cargo Cults (And Why You Should Care)

Oct 13, 2025

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9 min read

Why I Keep Bringing Up Cargo Cults (And Why You Should Care)

Cargo cult thinking destroys software teams copying agile practices without understanding why. Learn the difference between mimicking and understanding success.