Peter Bogart-Johnson was one of Jane Street’s first program managers, and helped bring the art of PMing-where that “P” variously stands for “project,” “product,” or some blend of the two-to the company at large. He’s also a poet and the editor of a literary magazine. In this episode, Peter and Ron discuss the challenge of gaining trust as an outsider: how do you teach teams a new way of doing things while preserving what’s already working? The key, Peter says, is you listen; a good PM is an anthropologist. They also discuss how paying down technical debt isn’t something you do instead of serving customers; what Jane Street looks for in PM candidates; and how to help teams coordinate in times of great change.
You can find the transcript for this episode along with links to related work at signalsandthreads.com.