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drewbarontini.bsky.social
👨‍💻 CPO at Differential 👉 Building better teams through timeless principles. 🔗 https://drewbarontini.com
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Lost in your project? Start with status. Know where you are, not just what’s happening. Weekly updates + a visual status board can reset orientation and revive progress. This is part of the Project Compass: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Structure your work like this: → Goal (framed as a question) → Hypothesis (project) → Outcomes (questions) → Targets (weekly tests) → Tasks (daily work) It’s focused, flexible, and built for learning.

Learn the 3 critical checks to keep any project aligned and on track—no matter how complex. Issue #39 drops tomorrow. Don’t miss it! drewbarontini.com/newsletter

The magic isn’t in the tool—it’s in the process. Screenshot, organize, store. Artifact Mining is a ritual for deeper work.

Missed Issue #38? It’s all about the shift from delivering work to discovering value. A Product Mindset isn’t about more features—it’s about more curiosity. It starts with empathy, grows with intuition, and evolves through iteration.

The best product teams treat every release as an experiment. They build, test, learn, and iterate with speed and intention. That’s The Lab in action: tight feedback loops, small bets, and a relentless focus on progress over perfection.

Plans change. Roadmaps shift. The real skill? Knowing where to go when the path disappears. That’s The Compass—your intuition, critical thinking, and product sense guiding decisions in the face of uncertainty. In a world of rapid change, taste and judgment aren’t nice-to-haves. They’re essential.

Great products start with empathy. Build The Heart—truly understand your users beyond the data.

Goals need constraints—but not rigidity. The difference? Constraints spark creativity. Rigidity kills it. Start with a strong question and test your way to answers.

Discover how curiosity powers better products—and why the right mindset changes everything. Issue #37 drops tomorrow: Product Mindset. 🫡 Get it! drewbarontini.com/newsletter

One of my favorite systems is what I call Artifact Mining, turning moments into vibrant stories. Case studies aren’t born—they’re built. But you have to intentionally capture all the little moments along the way.

This week’s newsletter looked at how great team culture isn’t mandated—it’s cultivated. From signals to shared stories, learn how to shape a space where the best behaviors emerge naturally. 👉 drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Culture comes alive in key moments. That one time someone updated the issue without being asked? It matters. Highlight those moments. They’re the proof points your team remembers. 👉 Learn about Emergent Environments: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Mental models shape how your team sees the work. When those models are shared—through visuals, language, and metaphors—they become a map the whole team can follow. Alignment starts here: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

What if your next team breakthrough came from a meme? When ideas are simple, visual, and repeatable, they spread. It’s not about control—it’s about cultural transmission that sticks. 👉 Learn how to create an Emergent Environment: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Pixar builds 4,000+ storyboards for each film. They revise, test, and evolve. It’s not magic. It’s iteration. Structure without rigidity.

How do you create a team environment where healthy behaviors naturally emerge? Tomorrow’s issue explores the surprising ways culture forms without forcing it. Sign up to receive Issue #37: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Feel like you’re spinning your wheels every day, tackling the wrong priorities? Try starting fresh each day. Define your outcomes, the tasks that will help you meet those priorities, and then log how your energy fluctuates. Where your energy goes, your outcomes follow.

Missed Issue #36? It’s a deep dive into why endless iteration beats elusive perfection—and how to turn small steps into serious breakthroughs. 👉 drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Make smaller, more focused changes. When each iteration is tight and intentional, you gain clarity, reduce risk, and build lasting momentum.

Prioritize with precision. Don’t spread your team thin chasing every idea. Focus on one high-impact area, perfect it, and let that momentum drive the rest forward. Ruthless prioritization is the key to long-term wins.

Feedback loops are how ideas get better. The faster you cycle from prototype to feedback to revision, the closer you get to something truly valuable. Learn more about Infinite Iteration: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Feedback fuels growth. Tighten your feedback loop with users—get insights fast, iterate faster. The quicker you know what works (and what doesn’t), the faster you can improve. Feedback isn’t just input; it’s the product’s lifeline.

Rapid prototyping helps you move fast in uncertain territory. The goal isn’t polish—it’s progress. Create, test, and learn your way into clarity. Infinite Iteration: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Growth comes from repeatable actions that keep users engaged. Identify what makes your product sticky, and build around that. The flywheel spins when value is consistent, not just flashy.

Don’t chase big tasks. Chase tiny, deliberate steps. Each one is a signal boost toward your real priorities. The smaller the step, the stronger the signal.

Issue #36 lands tomorrow: Infinite Iteration. Why perfection is a trap—and how the real magic happens in the endless process of refining and evolving. 👉 drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Edison didn’t write out 10,000 steps. He ran 10,000 experiments. Failure wasn’t the end. It was the path.

Missed Issue #35? Catch up on Artifact Mining—the method to capture samples, snapshots, and snippets to turn your work into a meaningful story. Read more: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Every day, ask: What 3 outcomes would change everything if completed today? That’s where your true priorities live.

Snippets are seeds of insight—early ideas, fresh learnings, or new tools. Capture them now to harvest wisdom later. Learn more about Artifact Mining: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

You need to look back to move forward. Make sure your team knows the impact of the work.

Snapshots are the moments around the work—the funny messages, the milestones, the vibe. Document them to remember the experience.

Critical thinking is the competitive edge in an AI-driven world. AI can generate content, but it’s our cultivated taste that turns it into something exceptional. Elevate the work, don’t just accept it.

Samples aren’t just final deliverables—they’re the evolving outputs that tell your story. Learn how to capture the journey, not just the outcome. 👉 drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Begin with the end in mind with clear outcomes. Then work backwards to define the work as you go.

You can’t deliver anything on time without trade-offs. So why pretend there’s only one solution? Prototype, iterate, adapt. Speed of learning > speed of planning.

Tomorrow’s issue is a special one. After 8 years at Differential, I’m digging into a new system I created: Artifact Mining. It’s about preserving your journey, not just the results. 👉 drewbarontini.com/newsletter

The only validation comes from creation. Stop guessing. Start building. Learn Reverse Refinement: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Focus isn’t a feeling. It’s a practice. Define your 3 signals, take small frequency steps, and observe your patterns. Signal Practice is a simple system to create days of clarity and momentum.

Most teams guess what the work will be. Elite teams build and discover what the work really is. Learn how to move faster by moving differently: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Your daily observations reveal which mode you’re operating in—and why your outcomes succeed or stall. For me, I’m either building or firefighting. Architect or Firefighter. Signal Practice teaches you how to track it. 👉 drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Repetition of short phrases permeates communication. Try using mantras: short, repeated phrases that help ideas stick.

Big wins are built from small, intentional steps. I call these frequencies—the tiny tasks that tune you into your biggest priorities.

Building beats guessing, which is how the Reverse Refinement process came to life. I built a prototype, discovered the work, and iterated continuously to quality. Work is discovered, not imagined. Learn more: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

Most to-do lists are noise. Signals are what actually matter: the 3 outcomes that spark momentum. Identify them daily, and watch your impact compound. Signal Practice shows you how: drewbarontini.com/newsletter

You can guide in the abstract, but you can’t coach in the specific, tactical, and tangible. Get into the work so you can pull up from the details.

Traffic-light status works because it feels intuitive. 🟢 Green = Clear + Progressing 🟡 Yellow = Murky + Slowing 🔴 Red = Stalled + Scope Creeping One glance, full clarity. Use it. Share it. Align your team instantly.

A fresh system for cutting through the noise is dropping tomorrow. If you want clearer days, sharper focus, and real momentum, this one’s for you. Get ready for Signal Practice. 👉 drewbarontini.com/newsletter

You don’t need more rules. You need more reps. PM Rounds trains your instincts. The more you assess, diagnose, and treat, the faster your pattern recognition sharpens. It’s not magic. It’s practice.