I’m Jason Wilmot. Smarter people than me started creating these README documents to help codify their working principles and accelerate the health and value of their working relationships. This is my README.

I believe in people. I believe the best programming language is the English language. I strive to contribute to an environment of trust and safety to foster open minds and idea diversity. I believe by doing so, people are more likely to be happy, collegial, and inspired, which leads to the building of amazing products.

I practice M.R.I. It means the “most respectful interpretation” of what someone is saying. We are all human. We each have a unique history with different perspectives and vulnerabilities. I believe as a team, we are obliged to believe that everyone wants to help and is operating in good faith.

If you get people talking and challenging each other, and you apply M.R.I, I believe it increases the speed and ease of arriving at the right decision / outcome.

I prefer working with people who focus on the company’s needs vs. their own personal brand. I’d prefer to solve the problem as opposed to being right.

As Product Manager I expect to be measured by the success of the product and the ecosystem around it ( “whole product” ). That may include increasing revenue, bookings, client / user satisfaction and team engagement. In simpler terms, I am responsible for making things better.

I view the PM as the quarterback of the product. PM’s do not own the stadium, draft the team, or pay anyone’s salary. But PM’s are tasked with understanding the field ( market / competition ), influencing, understanding, and executing the playbook ( strategy / tactics / features ) and giving the ball to the runnings back / wide receivers ( sales / marketing / engineering / services ) to score touchdowns ( new clients / features / value ). If you do so the score will take care of itself

I see the team and the playbook as the “whole product”. I expect to cut across all functional areas of the business to succeed. When I see large or small problems anywhere in the product, I like to fix it with the help of the entire business. I want to do the right thing and will constantly ask things like “Why are we doing this and why now?” / “Does this help us win new business?” / “Does this help us scale or increase our margins?” / “Does this make life better for our users?”

1. Vision: I am responsible for formulating and evangelizing the relevant problems to be solved and the unique solution by which the company will win the market. E.g. 2-5 year strategy / tactics.
2. Design: I am responsible for delivering the right features + services to provide value. I do this by partnering closely with internal and external stakeholders. E.g. roadmap / shipping / go-to-market
3. Execution: I am responsible for doing whatever it takes to ensure we ship a high quality solution as fast as we can. This involves streamlining the ways in which we work, breaking through barriers and filling in the gaps when needed. This includes getting coffee, triaging bugs, and * e.g. agile rituals, quick decisions, removing obstacles

I’ve had the privilege of working as a software practitioner across of variety of business verticals and geos with some of the world’s most well known companies. In that time, I’d like to believe I have strongly developed the following:

1. Product Sense: The ability to usually make correct product decisions even in the presence of major ambiguity through user empathy, creativity and domain knowledge.
2. Execution Sense: The ability to align people towards a particular objective and orchestrate the completion of complex projects by exercising persuasiveness, drive, and “scrappy-ness” in addition to strong organizational abilities.
3. Analytical Sense: The ability to frame the right questions, evaluate multiple facets of a problem, derive solutions, and simulate possible outcomes based on available data and anecdotes.

I prefer the following hierarchy of communication: Face to Face > Video Conference > Slack/Hipchat > Email

My favorite environment is sitting with a team, discussing and sharing what we’re doing, arguing about the real problem and attacking it through a combination of software, people and process.

I’m not a big fan of emails, especially “ping-pong” email chains. I prefer things with URLs ( e.g. Google docs / Dropbox ). If I do use email, I try to make it quick with easy requests. If I need someone’s attention on something with a high level of urgency, I won’t be expecting someone to find that out by checking their email.

I believe regular stand ups and demos are great for keeping the product moving forward. I believe standups are effective when the focus is on the baton and not the runners. The stories should do the talking. In an ideal environment, all core contributors of the product are in the standup.

Demos are not only for showing off shiny UX. It’s valuable to see the new API in Postman or the new piece of sales collateral. I believe demos are the best way to drive progress, collaborate, celebrate, socialize and pressure test solutions to problems at any level in any part of the product.

I’m usually in the office by 7:00am. I leave the office at 4:00pm. I do this because traffic is a waste of time for myself and the company and it works with my personal commitments. I don’t like to read messages outside of 7 - 4, but if something is urgent and important, I hope I am notified via SMS so I can help.

My calendar might look full, but if you need to talk to me, crash my calendar and I will try and make time for you. I do reserve time on the calendar for “thinking and creating”

I lived in Bermuda for 10 years. I produced and performed in a viral rap song / video. I built a custom retro arcade machine using a table saw, router, and raspberry pi. I hiked in Zion National Park by myself for 3 days. I highly recommend it.

Thanks for reading this document.

-Jason