Episode 48: Jeff Gothelf - Helping organizations build better products and executives build the cultures that build better products
b'Today\\u2019s guest is Jeff Gothelf. Jeff works as a coach, speaker, author & consultant\\xa0to\\xa0help organizations build better products and executives build the cultures that build better products. After his rock band prospects and ambitions faded away, Jeff\\u2019s first job out of college was in the circus. That\\u2019s right, clowns, the human cannonball, trapeze artists, the whole bit. Jeff worked as an audio engineer for the circus but soon realized a life in the circus wasn\\u2019t the life for him. After leaving the circus, he transitioned to working as a designer for some of the first companies to use the internet as a new communication, sales and service channel. Having worked at early internet firms like America Online (AOL) and iXL he saw first-hand the potential this new way of communicating had to transform how we lived, worked and transacted.\\xa0However, much of the work he was doing was focused on getting software shipped to market with little concern for how well these products and services met the needs of our customers and users. He knew there had to be a better way. So, Jeff decided to go out on his own and become an independent consultant to large organizations struggling with their digital transformation, increasing their agility and integrating good product management and User Experience practices into their ways of working.\\xa0In this interview, he get into how Jeff has adjusted to the pandemic living in Barcelona, his time in the circus, the importance of quality product development and user experience in today\\u2019s digital age, and his new book Forever Employable. \\nTimestamps\\n00:03:05 Adjusting to the pandemic living in Barcelona\\n00:11:50 Growing up in Israel\\n00:18:15 College days & Mass Communication\\n00:24:55 Working in the circus\\n00:31:31 Biggest takeaways from working in the circus\\n00:33:09 Transitioning to the corporate world during the dot com bubble\\n00:37:36 Passion for product development and user experience\\n00:43:07 Starting his own venture\\n00:44:18 His book "Forever Employable" \\n00:48:08 Why learning and humility are in short supply \\n00:52:20 His driving force\\n00:53:12 Parting advice on career development'