Paul Brown
@paulisthrivving.xyz
Data-informed but evidence-led Product & Flow Practitioner • ProKanban trainer • Data geek • Lifelong learner and a big believer in people. He/him 🇮🇪
https://paulisthrivving.com/bluesky
https://paulisthrivving.com/bluesky
Pinned
When Pattern Recognition Pretends to Think (and How to Work with It)
AI doesn’t think like us, but it can help us think better.
medium.com
It’s easy to mistake confidence for cognition when working with AI, but it doesn’t reason; it reacts. The real skill is knowing when to hand over ambiguity and when to take it back.
Post here: When Pattern Recognition Pretends to Think (and How to Work with It) medium.com/thrivve-part...
Post here: When Pattern Recognition Pretends to Think (and How to Work with It) medium.com/thrivve-part...
It’s easy to mistake confidence for cognition when working with AI, but it doesn’t reason; it reacts. The real skill is knowing when to hand over ambiguity and when to take it back.
Post here: When Pattern Recognition Pretends to Think (and How to Work with It) medium.com/thrivve-part...
Post here: When Pattern Recognition Pretends to Think (and How to Work with It) medium.com/thrivve-part...
When Pattern Recognition Pretends to Think (and How to Work with It)
AI doesn’t think like us, but it can help us think better.
medium.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:51 AM
It’s easy to mistake confidence for cognition when working with AI, but it doesn’t reason; it reacts. The real skill is knowing when to hand over ambiguity and when to take it back.
Post here: When Pattern Recognition Pretends to Think (and How to Work with It) medium.com/thrivve-part...
Post here: When Pattern Recognition Pretends to Think (and How to Work with It) medium.com/thrivve-part...
AI is starting to think outside us.
I call it System 0 - where machines anticipate what we’ll need before we know we need it.
The challenge isn’t speed anymore. It’s staying human inside it.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#AI #FutureOfWork #Flow #Thrivve #TechAndHumanity
I call it System 0 - where machines anticipate what we’ll need before we know we need it.
The challenge isn’t speed anymore. It’s staying human inside it.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#AI #FutureOfWork #Flow #Thrivve #TechAndHumanity
System 0: Humanity’s Next Superpower
It doesn’t replace us, it reveals us. The future of intelligence is human + machine, thinking together at the speed of context…
medium.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:13 PM
AI is starting to think outside us.
I call it System 0 - where machines anticipate what we’ll need before we know we need it.
The challenge isn’t speed anymore. It’s staying human inside it.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#AI #FutureOfWork #Flow #Thrivve #TechAndHumanity
I call it System 0 - where machines anticipate what we’ll need before we know we need it.
The challenge isn’t speed anymore. It’s staying human inside it.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#AI #FutureOfWork #Flow #Thrivve #TechAndHumanity
Reposted by Paul Brown
Last chance to register for @ica-uk.bsky.social ToP Group #Facilitation Methods training, 4-5 Nov in London - available again, after selling out and now increasing capacity with the help of @rosemaryforest.bsky.social joining me as co-trainer! #ToPfacilitation www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/top-group-...
ToP Group Facilitation Methods training - London
Group Facilitation Methods training - London
www.eventbrite.co.uk
October 27, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Last chance to register for @ica-uk.bsky.social ToP Group #Facilitation Methods training, 4-5 Nov in London - available again, after selling out and now increasing capacity with the help of @rosemaryforest.bsky.social joining me as co-trainer! #ToPfacilitation www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/top-group-...
Stop setting bigger goals.
Fix your system.
My latest post digs into why teams keep confusing ambition with progress, and how flow metrics, feedback, and system design make the difference.
paulisthrivving.medium.com/you-dont-ris...
Fix your system.
My latest post digs into why teams keep confusing ambition with progress, and how flow metrics, feedback, and system design make the difference.
paulisthrivving.medium.com/you-dont-ris...
You Don’t Rise to the Level of Your Goals, You Flow to the Level of Your Systems
Why great teams don’t chase bigger goals, but build better systems that make ambition sustainable.
paulisthrivving.medium.com
October 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Stop setting bigger goals.
Fix your system.
My latest post digs into why teams keep confusing ambition with progress, and how flow metrics, feedback, and system design make the difference.
paulisthrivving.medium.com/you-dont-ris...
Fix your system.
My latest post digs into why teams keep confusing ambition with progress, and how flow metrics, feedback, and system design make the difference.
paulisthrivving.medium.com/you-dont-ris...
“Can we just squeeze this one in?”
That’s how it starts.
Expedites feel good in the moment, but they’re a loan you’ll pay back with interest.
How does your team price urgency?
paulisthrivving.medium.com/every-expedi...
#ProductManagement #Flow #Leadership #Kanban #Delivery
That’s how it starts.
Expedites feel good in the moment, but they’re a loan you’ll pay back with interest.
How does your team price urgency?
paulisthrivving.medium.com/every-expedi...
#ProductManagement #Flow #Leadership #Kanban #Delivery
Every Expedite Is a Loan Against Tomorrow’s Flow
Urgency feels good in the moment, but it leaves behind debt, distortion, and downstream effects. Learn how to price it before it prices…
paulisthrivving.medium.com
October 19, 2025 at 3:14 PM
“Can we just squeeze this one in?”
That’s how it starts.
Expedites feel good in the moment, but they’re a loan you’ll pay back with interest.
How does your team price urgency?
paulisthrivving.medium.com/every-expedi...
#ProductManagement #Flow #Leadership #Kanban #Delivery
That’s how it starts.
Expedites feel good in the moment, but they’re a loan you’ll pay back with interest.
How does your team price urgency?
paulisthrivving.medium.com/every-expedi...
#ProductManagement #Flow #Leadership #Kanban #Delivery
Reposted by Paul Brown
Reminder: The Call for sessions for next year's Agile Manchester is open: agilemanchester.net/call-for-ses...
The event will take place from 13-14 May...
The event will take place from 13-14 May...
Call for Sessions
Our Agile Manchester 2026 Call for Sessions is open
agilemanchester.net
October 11, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Reminder: The Call for sessions for next year's Agile Manchester is open: agilemanchester.net/call-for-ses...
The event will take place from 13-14 May...
The event will take place from 13-14 May...
45 pages in to ‘User Needs Mapping’, and already, I find myself nodding along with every paragraph in @richallen.info new book - love it already! Grab your copy here: userneedsmapping.com/book-orders/
October 10, 2025 at 7:44 AM
45 pages in to ‘User Needs Mapping’, and already, I find myself nodding along with every paragraph in @richallen.info new book - love it already! Grab your copy here: userneedsmapping.com/book-orders/
Retros. Interviews. Experiments.
Six months later: same roadmap.
Because reflection isn’t learning.
Learning’s what changes afterward.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#ProductManagement #LearningCulture #Leadership #ContinuousImprovement
Six months later: same roadmap.
Because reflection isn’t learning.
Learning’s what changes afterward.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#ProductManagement #LearningCulture #Leadership #ContinuousImprovement
Why Teams Don’t Learn (And How to Fix It)
Teams don’t fail because they don’t know, they fail because they don’t act on what they do know…
medium.com
October 8, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Retros. Interviews. Experiments.
Six months later: same roadmap.
Because reflection isn’t learning.
Learning’s what changes afterward.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#ProductManagement #LearningCulture #Leadership #ContinuousImprovement
Six months later: same roadmap.
Because reflection isn’t learning.
Learning’s what changes afterward.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#ProductManagement #LearningCulture #Leadership #ContinuousImprovement
Your dashboard has 19 widgets, but if your charts don’t change today’s choices, they’re not delivering insight; they’re just noise dressed as wisdom.
You need four flow metrics and just two charts to actually steer delivery; convince me I am wrong...
paulisthrivving.medium.com/stop-admirin...
You need four flow metrics and just two charts to actually steer delivery; convince me I am wrong...
paulisthrivving.medium.com/stop-admirin...
Stop Admiring the Data. Start Steering With It.
Forget averages, vanity charts, and cockpit dashboards. Two charts and four flow metrics are all you need to actually manage delivery.
paulisthrivving.medium.com
September 20, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Your dashboard has 19 widgets, but if your charts don’t change today’s choices, they’re not delivering insight; they’re just noise dressed as wisdom.
You need four flow metrics and just two charts to actually steer delivery; convince me I am wrong...
paulisthrivving.medium.com/stop-admirin...
You need four flow metrics and just two charts to actually steer delivery; convince me I am wrong...
paulisthrivving.medium.com/stop-admirin...
Reposted by Paul Brown
The wait is over — the IAF Europe & Middle East Conference program is live!
Special thanks to SessionLab for sponsoring this year’s conference agenda!
Review our agenda and secure your ticket today: ilovefacilitation.ro
#Facilitation #IAFEME #Leadership
Special thanks to SessionLab for sponsoring this year’s conference agenda!
Review our agenda and secure your ticket today: ilovefacilitation.ro
#Facilitation #IAFEME #Leadership
September 17, 2025 at 8:55 AM
The wait is over — the IAF Europe & Middle East Conference program is live!
Special thanks to SessionLab for sponsoring this year’s conference agenda!
Review our agenda and secure your ticket today: ilovefacilitation.ro
#Facilitation #IAFEME #Leadership
Special thanks to SessionLab for sponsoring this year’s conference agenda!
Review our agenda and secure your ticket today: ilovefacilitation.ro
#Facilitation #IAFEME #Leadership
We keep pretending roadmaps are strategy. They’re not. They’re shopping lists dressed up as certainty.
New blog post:
medium.com/thrivve-part...
New blog post:
medium.com/thrivve-part...
A Roadmap is a Contract for Failure
Why product roadmaps create broken promises, and what to do instead.
medium.com
September 14, 2025 at 1:38 PM
We keep pretending roadmaps are strategy. They’re not. They’re shopping lists dressed up as certainty.
New blog post:
medium.com/thrivve-part...
New blog post:
medium.com/thrivve-part...
Most strategies don’t die in the boardroom.
They die in Jira.
Lists coordinate. Loops adapt.
Here’s how to keep your strategy alive:
medium.com/thrivve-part...
They die in Jira.
Lists coordinate. Loops adapt.
Here’s how to keep your strategy alive:
medium.com/thrivve-part...
Loop vs List: Why Most Strategies Die in Delivery
Why most strategies suffocate in delivery, and how to keep them alive
medium.com
September 1, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Most strategies don’t die in the boardroom.
They die in Jira.
Lists coordinate. Loops adapt.
Here’s how to keep your strategy alive:
medium.com/thrivve-part...
They die in Jira.
Lists coordinate. Loops adapt.
Here’s how to keep your strategy alive:
medium.com/thrivve-part...
I’ve seen beautiful dashboards hide bad decisions. Precision feels safe, but without meaning, it’s just data theatre. Numbers should drive insight, not decorate slides. Here’s why I’m challenging pretty data without purpose: paulisthrivving.medium.com/beautiful-ba...
Beautiful Bad Data: How Precision Tricks Us Into Thinking We Understand
Why we keep falling for the prettiest lies in our dashboards.
paulisthrivving.medium.com
August 11, 2025 at 7:49 AM
I’ve seen beautiful dashboards hide bad decisions. Precision feels safe, but without meaning, it’s just data theatre. Numbers should drive insight, not decorate slides. Here’s why I’m challenging pretty data without purpose: paulisthrivving.medium.com/beautiful-ba...
My new post is for every team still pointing stories and wondering why it’s not working.
From Story Points to Flow: A Migration Guide
→ How to spot the rot, escape the theatre, and build a system that actually delivers.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
From Story Points to Flow: A Migration Guide
→ How to spot the rot, escape the theatre, and build a system that actually delivers.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
From Story Points to Flow: A Migration Guide
Why teams keep playing planning poker while their systems rot, and how to stop
medium.com
August 2, 2025 at 4:37 PM
My new post is for every team still pointing stories and wondering why it’s not working.
From Story Points to Flow: A Migration Guide
→ How to spot the rot, escape the theatre, and build a system that actually delivers.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
From Story Points to Flow: A Migration Guide
→ How to spot the rot, escape the theatre, and build a system that actually delivers.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
Everyone says, “Talk to users.”
Few know how to translate what they hear.
I have written about how the best features weren’t requested; they were understood - I'd love to hear what you think!
medium.com/thrivve-part...
Few know how to translate what they hear.
I have written about how the best features weren’t requested; they were understood - I'd love to hear what you think!
medium.com/thrivve-part...
The Feedback Mirage
What to do when the features customers ask for deliver 50% less impact.
medium.com
July 19, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Everyone says, “Talk to users.”
Few know how to translate what they hear.
I have written about how the best features weren’t requested; they were understood - I'd love to hear what you think!
medium.com/thrivve-part...
Few know how to translate what they hear.
I have written about how the best features weren’t requested; they were understood - I'd love to hear what you think!
medium.com/thrivve-part...
“I’m 70% confident this will work.”
That’s what I told the CEO.
Not a bluff. Not fake certainty. Just honesty.
She leaned in and said:
“Tell me about the other 30%.”
New post:
Why “I don’t know” is a leadership superpower
medium.com/thrivve-part...
That’s what I told the CEO.
Not a bluff. Not fake certainty. Just honesty.
She leaned in and said:
“Tell me about the other 30%.”
New post:
Why “I don’t know” is a leadership superpower
medium.com/thrivve-part...
Certainty Theatre Is Killing Your Team
Why great leaders stop performing, and start designing for uncertainty.
medium.com
July 11, 2025 at 11:41 AM
“I’m 70% confident this will work.”
That’s what I told the CEO.
Not a bluff. Not fake certainty. Just honesty.
She leaned in and said:
“Tell me about the other 30%.”
New post:
Why “I don’t know” is a leadership superpower
medium.com/thrivve-part...
That’s what I told the CEO.
Not a bluff. Not fake certainty. Just honesty.
She leaned in and said:
“Tell me about the other 30%.”
New post:
Why “I don’t know” is a leadership superpower
medium.com/thrivve-part...
Think your team is outcome-driven?
Don’t show me your roadmap, show me what you didn’t ship, and tell me why.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#productmgmt
Don’t show me your roadmap, show me what you didn’t ship, and tell me why.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#productmgmt
You’re Not Outcome-Driven. You’re Output-Justified.
If You Can’t Kill a Feature at 90%, You’re Not Outcome-Driven.
medium.com
July 6, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Think your team is outcome-driven?
Don’t show me your roadmap, show me what you didn’t ship, and tell me why.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#productmgmt
Don’t show me your roadmap, show me what you didn’t ship, and tell me why.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#productmgmt
Most teams don’t fail because they break the rules.
They fail because they only follow them.
I wrote about the quiet evolution of high-performing teams and why it causes so many organisations to panic.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#Leadership #TeamCulture #ProductThinking
They fail because they only follow them.
I wrote about the quiet evolution of high-performing teams and why it causes so many organisations to panic.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#Leadership #TeamCulture #ProductThinking
From Rules to Judgment: The Uncomfortable Evolution of High-Performing Teams
From process to principles, from permission to autonomy; how great teams evolve beyond the playbook…
medium.com
June 29, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Most teams don’t fail because they break the rules.
They fail because they only follow them.
I wrote about the quiet evolution of high-performing teams and why it causes so many organisations to panic.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#Leadership #TeamCulture #ProductThinking
They fail because they only follow them.
I wrote about the quiet evolution of high-performing teams and why it causes so many organisations to panic.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#Leadership #TeamCulture #ProductThinking
You’ve seen it. You’ve felt it.
The roadmap’s full, the metrics look green, and nobody’s quite sure what changed for the customer.
A story about motion, meaning, and the return of the Feature Factory 2.0. medium.com/thrivve-part... #prodmgmt
The roadmap’s full, the metrics look green, and nobody’s quite sure what changed for the customer.
A story about motion, meaning, and the return of the Feature Factory 2.0. medium.com/thrivve-part... #prodmgmt
The Feature Factory Strikes Back: How Output Masquerades as Progress
How well-meaning product teams end up shipping noise instead of impact.
medium.com
June 22, 2025 at 11:19 AM
You’ve seen it. You’ve felt it.
The roadmap’s full, the metrics look green, and nobody’s quite sure what changed for the customer.
A story about motion, meaning, and the return of the Feature Factory 2.0. medium.com/thrivve-part... #prodmgmt
The roadmap’s full, the metrics look green, and nobody’s quite sure what changed for the customer.
A story about motion, meaning, and the return of the Feature Factory 2.0. medium.com/thrivve-part... #prodmgmt
I’m rather excited - coming soon 😍 #gamestorming2.0
June 14, 2025 at 4:16 PM
I’m rather excited - coming soon 😍 #gamestorming2.0
Ever watched a team review a dashboard and… do nothing?
No swarm. No pause. No fix. Just charts and silence.
Visibility ≠ Control.
Dashboards don’t drive delivery.
Flow doesn’t fail from lack of data but from lack of permission.
New post: The Visibility Trap
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#flow
No swarm. No pause. No fix. Just charts and silence.
Visibility ≠ Control.
Dashboards don’t drive delivery.
Flow doesn’t fail from lack of data but from lack of permission.
New post: The Visibility Trap
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#flow
The Visibility Trap
Why dashboards don’t drive delivery, and what to do instead
medium.com
June 8, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Ever watched a team review a dashboard and… do nothing?
No swarm. No pause. No fix. Just charts and silence.
Visibility ≠ Control.
Dashboards don’t drive delivery.
Flow doesn’t fail from lack of data but from lack of permission.
New post: The Visibility Trap
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#flow
No swarm. No pause. No fix. Just charts and silence.
Visibility ≠ Control.
Dashboards don’t drive delivery.
Flow doesn’t fail from lack of data but from lack of permission.
New post: The Visibility Trap
medium.com/thrivve-part...
#flow
Not all leadership is loud.
Some of it happens quietly, in the gaps, holding the system together.
This post is for the ones doing the product work behind the product work.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
Some of it happens quietly, in the gaps, holding the system together.
This post is for the ones doing the product work behind the product work.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
The product work behind the product work
The invisible labour of product leadership: shaping teams, protecting thinking space, and making good work possible, quietly.
medium.com
May 31, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Not all leadership is loud.
Some of it happens quietly, in the gaps, holding the system together.
This post is for the ones doing the product work behind the product work.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
Some of it happens quietly, in the gaps, holding the system together.
This post is for the ones doing the product work behind the product work.
medium.com/thrivve-part...
I have been training all month for the MacMillan ‘Swim the Chanel’ event which kicks of on Sunday - I’ll be swimming the 21 miles in the month of June (in the pool 🏊♂️), so if you can donate even a few pounds, I and they would very much appreciate it! swimit.macmillan.org.uk/fundraising/...
May 30, 2025 at 8:45 AM
I have been training all month for the MacMillan ‘Swim the Chanel’ event which kicks of on Sunday - I’ll be swimming the 21 miles in the month of June (in the pool 🏊♂️), so if you can donate even a few pounds, I and they would very much appreciate it! swimit.macmillan.org.uk/fundraising/...
The illusion of certainty is comforting. But it doesn’t ship value.
Flow doesn’t make false promises; it reflects the system you’ve built.
I'm trying Substack again. If you find this useful, I'd love a follow and to hear your thoughts!
open.substack.com/pub/paulisth...
#honestdelivery #product
Flow doesn’t make false promises; it reflects the system you’ve built.
I'm trying Substack again. If you find this useful, I'd love a follow and to hear your thoughts!
open.substack.com/pub/paulisth...
#honestdelivery #product
The Forecast Isn’t Broken, Your Illusion of Control Is
“Why can’t Flow do what Scrum does?” Because Flow won’t pretend. It shows you the system you actually have, not the one you wish for.
open.substack.com
May 28, 2025 at 11:54 AM
The illusion of certainty is comforting. But it doesn’t ship value.
Flow doesn’t make false promises; it reflects the system you’ve built.
I'm trying Substack again. If you find this useful, I'd love a follow and to hear your thoughts!
open.substack.com/pub/paulisth...
#honestdelivery #product
Flow doesn’t make false promises; it reflects the system you’ve built.
I'm trying Substack again. If you find this useful, I'd love a follow and to hear your thoughts!
open.substack.com/pub/paulisth...
#honestdelivery #product
The updated @prokanban.bsky.social Kanban Guide removed the explicit requirement for WIP limits, and a lot of people panicked.
I didn’t. I built a system to show what real WIP control looks like without rigid limits.
Full post here → medium.com/thrivve-part...
I didn’t. I built a system to show what real WIP control looks like without rigid limits.
Full post here → medium.com/thrivve-part...
WIP Without Limits? Actually, That's the Point
Why flow maturity means reading signals, not just following rules…
medium.com
May 25, 2025 at 5:54 PM
The updated @prokanban.bsky.social Kanban Guide removed the explicit requirement for WIP limits, and a lot of people panicked.
I didn’t. I built a system to show what real WIP control looks like without rigid limits.
Full post here → medium.com/thrivve-part...
I didn’t. I built a system to show what real WIP control looks like without rigid limits.
Full post here → medium.com/thrivve-part...