By Marty Cagan · svpg.com · LinkedIn
Marty Cagan argues that the pandemic's reduction in commuting gave many people uninterrupted solo time, such as long walks, that is valuable for deep thinking about hard problems. He describes his own experience writing a complex book and reports that coaching clients saw similar gains. He presents deep thinking as a technique product people can use: an hour or more of focused, notification-free reflection before a difficult decision. He stresses that this solo time complements, rather than replaces, collaboration with product, design, and engineering colleagues, acting as a knowledge multiplier. He hopes teams will protect this time after the pandemic.
01Key takeaways
- Protect a focused hour or more for working through a hard problem, with phone notifications turned off.
- Use solo walks or quiet time as a deliberate thinking practice, not just a break.
- Arrive at collaborative discussions with more developed reasoning to get more out of them.
- Treat solo deep thinking as a multiplier on teamwork rather than a replacement for it.
- Try to keep this kind of time protected even after returning to office routines.
02Key sections
- Pandemic-era solo time
- Remote work and reduced commuting gave many people time for long solo walks, which supported thinking through hard problems. The author hopes this habit survives a return to offices.
- Author's personal experience
- Cagan found that deep thinking time helped him progress faster on a demanding book, and clients who took similar walks reported the same benefit.
- Practicing deep thinking
- For a difficult problem, block off an hour or more with notifications off to reason through it. This tends to produce more developed thoughts when discussed later with colleagues.
- Complement, not substitute
- Solo deep thinking does not replace collaboration. It makes collaborative time more productive by raising the quality of what each person brings.
03From the post
“A partnership dedicated to teaching best practices to product teams and product leaders”
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.