The Disgruntled PM

In this episode, Conversation Designer Jake McKee breaks down why surviving on secondhand insights from your sales or support teams is the fastest way to build features nobody wants. We strip away the corporate theater of treating users like data points to mitigate risk, and dive into Jake's Conversation Compass. We expose the conversation debt teams accumulate when they prioritize risk abatement over genuine, two-way connection. If your idea of customer research is an interrogation disguised as a focus group, prepare to have your entire roadmap dismantled. Connect with Jake: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakemckee/ Website: https://jakemckee.com Podcast: jakemckee.com/podcast Conversation Lab: Jakemckee.com/conversationlabLike, Follow, and SubscribeLinkedIn Show Page:https://www.linkedin.com/company/thedisgruntledpmInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_disgruntled_pm📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpmK5LZHPLJMH0YlNPrRlAA🎙️Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/6qIhx0QwilQrw41n0aLXnK🎙️Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2-disgruntled-pms/id1809317932💵 Patreon: patreon.com/TheDisgruntledPMPodcastThe intro music for this podcast includes portions from “The Wandering," composed and performed by The Ravened. Find more of his work at https://www.youtube.com/@the-ravened. Used with permission by The Ravened.

In a corporate world obsessed with suffocating projects under layers of administrative bloat and toxic positivity, William Stewart wants to strip project management down to its bare, functional bones. Drawing from decades of aerospace engineering and rescuing doomed initiatives, Stewart dismantles the illusion of the solo Project Manager and exposes the absurdity of demanding solutions for every problem. He argues that complexity is the enemy, flowcharts beat Gantt schedules every time, and your meticulously crafted risk budget is completely useless if you're too terrified to show a red status to your executive team. This episode is a brutal reality check for anyone tired of running the same failed plays disguised as "best practices."Connect with William:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billstewart/IFPPM: https://ifppm.org/register/?secret=disgruntled (free exam link for listeners)Like, Follow, and SubscribeLinkedIn Show Page:https://www.linkedin.com/company/thedisgruntledpmInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_disgruntled_pm📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpmK5LZHPLJMH0YlNPrRlAA🎙️Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/6qIhx0QwilQrw41n0aLXnK🎙️Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2-disgruntled-pms/id1809317932💵 Patreon: patreon.com/TheDisgruntledPMPodcastThe intro music for this podcast includes portions from “The Wandering," composed and performed by The Ravened. Find more of his work at https://www.youtube.com/@the-ravened. Used with permission by The Ravened.

Corporate bureaucracy is where good ideas go to die, suffocated by endless red tape and managers terrified of making a decision. In this episode, Freedom Fitness Equipment owner Ashton Ferrazzo breaks down exactly why he abandoned the Fortune 100 grind to build a physical business where executing action actually trumps endless consulting and planning. He exposes the toxic reality of corporate egos, the painful necessity of shedding your own terrible leadership habits, and why textbook project management frameworks often just get in the way of moving the needle. If you're tired of putting Band-Aids on bleeding wounds while waiting for committee approval, Ashton's brutal honesty about scaling a massive operation, some of his logistical nightmares, smelling salts, and more is exactly the reality check you need.Connect with Ashton:Website: https://freedomfitnessequipment.com/Smelling Salts Video (VERY FUNNY): https://youtu.be/zbgQuIpVQlc?si=D5MRNNr6RgRhAovhInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomfitnessequipment/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXgkvIR-5ishTlFGJgNK9twLike, Follow, and SubscribeLinkedIn Show Page:https://www.linkedin.com/company/thedisgruntledpmInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_disgruntled_pm📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpmK5LZHPLJMH0YlNPrRlAA🎙️Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/6qIhx0QwilQrw41n0aLXnK🎙️Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2-disgruntled-pms/id1809317932💵 Patreon: patreon.com/TheDisgruntledPMPodcastThe intro music for this podcast includes portions from “The Wandering," composed and performed by The Ravened. Find more of his work at https://www.youtube.com/@the-ravened. Used with permission by The Ravened.

We’ve all seen the corporate disaster of tossing a technical expert into a leadership role they aren't equipped for, only to watch them micromanage the code and crush their team. In this episode, former military helicopter pilot and current founder of Spec-C Technologies, Casey Sprague, exposes why trying to be the smartest person in the room is a guaranteed path to project failure. We tear apart the delusion that your $10,000 all-hands meeting is productive, dissect the glaring red flags of AI-generated busywork, and confront the harsh reality of corporate layoffs forcing PMs into fake consulting roles. Stop hiding behind your massive, bloated software files that don't actually let you plan, and learn how to actually run a team by checking your ego and admitting what you don't know.Connect with Casey:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/r-casey-sprague/SpectC (Project Execution Software): https://www.spectc.app/Constructive Curiosity PMaaS: https://constructivecuriosity.com/, Book, The PMaaS Revolution: https://www.amazon.com/PMaaS-Revolution-Why-Fractional-Practical-ebook/dp/B0G4FFJLLG/refLike, Follow, and SubscribeLinkedIn Show Page:https://www.linkedin.com/company/thedisgruntledpmInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_disgruntled_pm📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpmK5LZHPLJMH0YlNPrRlAA🎙️Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/6qIhx0QwilQrw41n0aLXnK🎙️Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2-disgruntled-pms/id1809317932💵 Patreon: patreon.com/TheDisgruntledPMPodcastThe intro music for this podcast includes portions from “The Wandering," composed and performed by The Ravened. Find more of his work at https://www.youtube.com/@the-ravened. Used with permission by The Ravened.

Martin Ilumin joins the show to strip away the vanity of "Visibility" and expose the soul-crushing reality of modern PMOs. We stop pretending that a flashy status deck is actual work and address the behavioral rot where "alignment" is just a code word for executives who can’t agree on a single direction. From the 50% capacity lie to the danger of turning every subject matter expert into a part-time project manager, This conversation is a survival guide for anyone tired of watching their project velocity die in a meeting that should have been an email.Connect with Martin:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinilumin/Like, Follow, and Subscribe LinkedIn Show Page:https://www.linkedin.com/company/thedisgruntledpm Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_disgruntled_pm 📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpmK5LZHPLJMH0YlNPrRlAA 🎙️Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/6qIhx0QwilQrw41n0aLXnK 🎙️Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2-disgruntled-pms/id1809317932 💵 Patreon: patreon.com/TheDisgruntledPMPodcast The intro music for this podcast includes portions from “The Wandering," composed and performed by The Ravened. Find more of his work at https://www.youtube.com/@the-ravened. Used with permission by The Ravened.

Ditch the 300-line spreadsheet and start diagnosing the actual behavioral dysfunction destroying your projects. Kate Breed drops in to expose why the corporate obsession with "consulting everyone" leads to massive project paralysis and how you can calculate the bleeding cost of your bloated calendar. It's time to cut the fluff, weaponize the word "informed" to protect your time, and stop letting professionals act out the trauma of their middle school group projects on your clock. Connect with Kate: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katebreed/ Like, Follow, and SubscribeLinkedIn Show Page:https://www.linkedin.com/company/thedisgruntledpmInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_disgruntled_pm📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpmK5LZHPLJMH0YlNPrRlAA🎙️Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/6qIhx0QwilQrw41n0aLXnK🎙️Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-disgruntled-pm/id1809317932💵 Patreon: patreon.com/TheDisgruntledPMPodcastThe intro music for this podcast includes portions from “The Wandering," composed and performed by The Ravened. Find more of his work at https://www.youtube.com/@the-ravened. Used with permission by The Ravened.