Ken (@KenBeaton) header
Ken (@KenBeaton) profile picture

Husband. Dad.

Canada
Joined May 2010
Photo by Ken (@KenBeaton)Photo by Ken (@KenBeaton)Photo by Ken (@KenBeaton)Photo by Ken (@KenBeaton)Photo by Ken (@KenBeaton)Photo by Ken (@KenBeaton)Photo by Ken (@KenBeaton)
Junior PM: I'm struggling with my engineering manager. He keeps pushing back on everything I propose. Senior PM: What's your relationship like with him? Junior PM: Honestly? Pretty tense. He thinks I don't understand technical constraints. Senior PM: Do you? Junior PM: I mean... I try to, but I'm not an engineer. Senior PM: That's not what I asked. Junior PM: I don't know. Maybe not deeply enough. Senior PM: Here's what most PMs miss about difficult stakeholders. Junior PM: Tell me. Senior PM: Their pushback isn't personal. It's information. Junior PM: What kind of information? Senior PM: About where your plans will fail in reality. Junior PM: So he's... helping me? Senior PM: His resistance is a technical reality check. What if you treated it that way? Junior PM: I'd ask more questions instead of defending my ideas. Senior PM: Like what? Junior PM: What technical risks am I not seeing? What would make this easier to build? Senior PM: And then? Junior PM: He might actually help me make better plans. Senior PM: But here's the deeper issue. Junior PM: What do you mean? Senior PM: You said he thinks you don't understand technical constraints. Junior PM: Right. Senior PM: Do you show empathy for his role? Junior PM: I... don't know what you mean. Senior PM: When you walk into meetings, are you thinking about what would make his job easier? Junior PM: Usually I'm thinking about what I need from him. Senior PM: There it is. Junior PM: So I should focus on his success, not mine? Senior PM: Your success depends on his success. Show him you understand that.
3
10
2
62
7,421
“Norway and Canada are two of the world’s safest places statistically when it comes to violent crime.” Canada named second safest country in the world from violent crime cultmtl.com/2025/02/canada-h…
167
843
49
3,530
66,654
Your brain has been fooling you your entire life. This Nobel Prize winner spent 40 years proving it. Here are the 10 mental traps controlling every decision you make: 🧵
34
667
25
3,072
860,593
$BCE $BCE.TO ... @Bell why is Bell laying off staff this week without announcing it?? layoffs started today and continue all week long @globeandmail @TorontoStar @nationalpost #firemirko
1
3
4
1,193
1/ At what level of seniority should you stop giving coding tests in interviews? 🧵
6
5
35
17,353
Why do we need Technical Engineering Managers? Below is a list of Lesser-Known Reasons why we need More Technical Engineering Managers: 1- Prevent team members from underperforming due to a lack of opportunities! How? 👇 🧵
15
126
10
852
174,276
At Tiny, I've hired CEOs for 60+ companies and interviewed hundreds of others. After over a decade of trial and error (and I mean BIG errors), here’s our hiring process:
158
550
96
3,852
Focus, as Steve Jobs said, is about saying no. The only dangerous competitors are focused ones. Ergo there are things that even the most dangerous competitors say no to, and it would be worth thinking explicitly about what those are.
39
401
69
3,254
Ken retweeted
Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems.
10
81
1
573
Jobs are changing. And so should managers. s.hbr.org/2Dj26cd
1
50
5
112
I'm considering running a remote Certified ScrumMaster course, with most team exercises taking place inside Minecraft. Who'd be interested in joining something like this? A quick Minecraft intro session will be included for those who haven't played before.
45
14
6
179
If you RT one tweet today, RT this. Twice. Having your #MentalHealth affected by a pandemic doesn't mean you're weak, it means you're human. Asking for support is a sign of courage & our community has resources to help: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/COVIDM… #haveTHATtalk #ItsOKToNotBeOk
7
348
14
302
The PM role in a nutshell 🌰 At the end of the day, you’re trying to solve a problem that fits within the strategy of your company, with a solution that fits within the strategy of your product, in a way that aligns with your mission, values, and culture.
17
62
4
346
Reading up on GPT-3 - and, man, it is impressive. This is a good overview: towardsdatascience.com/gpt-3…
3
3
This should be your easiest RT of the day... It's completely normal if COVID-19 has affected your mental health. And it's ok to need support. This website has all of the #MentalHealth resources available to you: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/COVIDM…
1
193
4
145
Shopify – the good shop to Amazon's bad shop- great article ⁦⁦⁦@harleyf⁩ theguardian.com/technology/2…
1
8
33
We had a hack day recently at work where we had to use our engine to make a game. I made tic tac toe. This is it running on OSX. #ReactNative
3
3