Author name: Johanna

I help you identify and solve the problems that prevent you from releasing systems, hiring the right people, deciding which project to work on next. I take a pragmatic approach: what will work best for you, now? Some people call me a focuser. Some call me an accelerator. When I work with people, first we define our goal together. Typically, it's to get a better product out the door faster. I work with my clients to help managers figure out how to do the managing better, and how the technical contributors can contribute better, not to create a by-the-book system. I work with you, your staff, and your current product development practices. Together, we learn what works well for you and what doesn't. I believe in changing only what needs to be changed at the current time, to maximize your success. We work together to develop a blueprint for the future, and to build in capacity to recognize and implement change.

MPD, podcast

2026.24 Treat All Plans as Experiments and Bets

My podcast this week is from the Continual Planning book. Enjoy! (I use a frame to embed the podcast into this post. Some RSS readers and some email clients do not show that. If you see nothing after “The Podcast,” please click through to this post. Or, look for “Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman”

MPD, podcast

2026.23 HiPPOs Destroy Psychological Safety

This week’s podcast is from the Continual Planning book. Enjoy! I use a frame to embed the podcast into this post. Some RSS readers and some email clients do not show that. If you see nothing after “The Podcast,” please click through to this post. Or, look for “Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman” in

MPD, podcast

2026.22 When Planning Outpaces Delivery

My podcast this week is from the Continual Planning book. Enjoy! Note: If you read this in an RSS reader, you might not see the frame below with the actual podcast. If so, please click through to this post or subscribe to the podcast itself (Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman). Thanks. The Podcast: The

management, MPD

How Flow Exposes the Reality and Costs of Progress, Part 2

How does your team show progress? Do they use activity-based (cost accounting) measures? Or, do they demo running, tested features? And possibly use a product backlog burnup chart to see each feature set’s relative progress? How can we understand the costs of this progress? I am a big fan of demos and a product backlog

MPD, podcast

2026.21 Management Costs of Delay

My podcast this week is from the Continual Planning book. If you are curious about the origins of this, read Why Minimize Management Decision Time. Enjoy! Note: If you read this in an RSS reader, you might not see the frame below with the actual podcast. If so, please click through to this post or

management, MPD

How Cost Accounting Hides the Truth from Management, Part 1

All organizations use cost accounting to report on their revenue, including profit and loss. We are so accustomed to using cost accounting that we don’t realize how it hides the truth about our progress. Worse, cost accounting creates and reinforces a culture of resource efficiency thinking. (In resource efficiency, the person is the unit of

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