This time, we’re talking with Carl Knibbs, a London-based Product Director and co-founder of Lovemoney.com. Who happens to share my love for the British drama Being Human.

The cast of Being Human, or what the PM team looks like at the end of the day?

What’s the single biggest mistake Product Managers make on the job? And what has working for the BBC taught him? Read on…

Carl, what attracted you to product management?

Product Management requires a mixture of creativity and drive to get things done well. It was clear to me when I started my career in ‘digital’ that product management would both challenge and reward me the most. So far, so good!

What inspires you in your day-to-day workflow?

I am most inspired by the never-ending churn of bright ideas on the internet.

And also by people. Having spent much of my career working at the BBC in particular — who have amazing people working on BBC.co.uk — you learn that digital attracts the brightest and most talented individuals who it is impossible not to be inspired by and to learn from.

What excites you about your current products?

These days I am motivated and inspired by my team (UXD engineer, me) and the prospect of simplifying how we manage our finances in the UK.

Together with a management team of ex-Motley Fool, MTV and BBC we’ve started lovemoney.com and our online banking service. The site has only been around since 2009 and I am hopeful we’ll soon be the number one money destination in the UK.

Reflecting on things you’ve seen or experienced over the years, what would you say is the single biggest mistake Product Managers make on the job–and how should they avoid it?

Without doubt, tunnel vision. Tunnel vision ruins a product’s competitive edge. I think this can avoided by constantly reviewing the competition and the product roadmap and taking a fresh approach whenever it is realistic to do so.

Do you see cultural or other differences in product leadership in the UK versus the US or other parts of the world?

I think that the US product leadership champions the product with higher priority and focus than we perhaps do in the UK. I think we could certainly learn from that.

How do you see product management evolving over the next 5 years?

I think that the concepts and traits of product management will continue to bleed over in to being the central focus of maintaining and developing digital products within organizations.

I predict less product managers, but more people employing product management practices.

I’m a big fan of British sci-fi shows (Primeval, Doctor Who, Being Human). What are you watching and enjoying these days?

Oh, I love Being Human — the irony is I left the BBC before shows like this started!

We (UK) are just getting the latest season of 24, which I am glued to. I, of- course, spent last summer watching all episodes of The Wire, which I loved.

Right now I just finished with the UK version of the Scandinavian drama Wallander, not sure that one will make it your way…

Follow Up

Thanks, Carl! If you want to connect with Carl, please follow him on Twitter @CarlKnibbs or visit his website, carlknibbs.net.

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Tomorrow: We’ll use this story recap as a springboard into this week’s topic: Handling stress as a product manager.

< SPOILER WARNING >
Key plot points from this episode of Torchwood (guest-starring James Marsters) are pictured herein. You have been warned!
< / SPOILER WARNING >

A coked-up alien Blowfish steals a sports car and then takes a human family hostage. The Torchwood team saves the day, thanks to the timely intervention of their ’til-then missing leader Captain Jack Harkness.

While the team struggles with the reintegration of Jack into their lives, Jack receives a surprise hologram voicemail from an ex-partner/ex-lover Captain John Hart…

… who’s in town, murdering people and causing trouble. All to get Jack’s attention.

See, John says he needs help finding and disabling three, radioactive cluster bombs. Warily, the team splits into three groups of two. John teams up with Gwen Cooper–and poisons her with venomous lip gloss.

After seemingly killing Jack, John returns to Torchwood’s headquarters, where he steals a pyramid-shaped object from the Blowfish in the morgue — part of the puzzle that John has been trying to piece back together.

Team Torchwood pulls itself back together, and captures John.

John admits that the “bombs” weren’t bombs at all; they were actually part of a map, to the location of the Arcadian diamond hidden by the lover he murdered. Touching the pyramid triggers a hologram of the dead woman, and springs a trap–a real bomb–that attaches itself to John, and starts counting down.

Desperate, John cuffs himself to Gwen, swallows the key, and absconds with her. Gwen is willing to sacrifice herself to stop John. But the Torchwood team has a plan.

Working quickly, they mix blood samples from each member of the team into a single strain; track John down; and inject him with the blood mixture… which confuses the bomb. It detaches from John, and everyone narrowly escapes the resulting explosion.

Captain John agrees to let Gwen go–but, before teleporting to safety, tells Jack that he “found Gray”. Jack is clearly shaken by those words. But what they mean, he ain’t saying. Not yet…

THE END

Tomorrow: We’ll use this story recap as a springboard into this week’s topic: Handling stress as a product manager.

New Around Here?

Subscribe to the feed to receive future updates; follow me on Twitter to keep the discussion going!

Bonus Content

The opening four minutes to this episode…

< SPOILER WARNING >
Key plotpoints are pictured below. You have been warned!
< / SPOILER WARNING >

Tom Jackman finds himself transforming inexplicably into a younger, stronger, more violent version of himself. Before each transformation, he locks himself up with a sultry assistant whose job is to assist both Tom and Hyde with their dual lifestyle.

Tom and Hyde have an uneasy truce. But when Hyde learns that Tom has a family, he can’t help but pay the estranged wife and kids a visit masquerading as Tom’s unknown cousin…

And help them cut the cake.

After learning there’s a secret group trying to capture Hyde, Tom goes on the run. But not before leaving a message for Hyde, warning his other self to never go near his family again.

Eventually Tom returns home, and learns that his ol’ friend Peter really isn’t his friend. In fact, Peter is a member of Klein & Utterson, the group trying to capture Hyde at any cost for reasons unclear. Peter justifies his manipulations of Tom’s life by stating it was for “the greater good.”

Hyde subdues Peter while Tom’s wife, Claire, looks on. Now that she understands why her husband’s been acting so strangely, Claire confronts Hyde about his existence and his tomcatting around.

The boys from Klein & Utterson bust in, and stuff the claustrophobic Tom inside a small metal box. They do the same to the kids, and take Claire along for the ride.

Wandering the K&C complex, Claire discovers dozens of deformed clones of her husband–created, she finds out, because K&C believe they can cure every disease known to man if they crack Hyde’s genetic code.

Tom/Hyde escape their confinement. Peter uses poison gas on Tom, but the plan fails: Tom transforms into Hyde who exhales the gas into Peter, killing him.

Tom and Hyde work together to rescue Claire and the boys. Hyde dies saving Tom’s children, leaving Tom and his family a new lease on life.

THE END

Tomorrow, we see what “Jekyll” can teach us about product management and logical fallacies.