In my experience my more solid pieces age well, like good wine, gaining in clarity and depth with each re-reading. I see more depth and insight in them over time, and am struck by how the “younger me” managed to intuit things that I only now understand more explicitly.

This is not one of those pieces.

I’ll have to think more about your refinement though, since I don’t understand that either. Maybe I am just getting slowly dumber overall

This is the same dichotomy that exists in the current consulting environment. Do you focus on people management (Good to Great) or product positioning (strategic consulting over the last couple of decades.) I think you’ve covered this in more recent posts.

Now, I do think you’re onto something in breaking product philosophy into goals and time. But think about that old adage: “Good, cheap, fast: pick 2.” This implies that you can also put in a fourth variable: cost.

I’m sure we can also break talent management down into a variety of variables. The conclusion is that the first tier is bi-variate, and the second tier may be x-variate, depending on your perspective.