· Philosophy · 2 min read
The Monday Morning Test
A simple filter for all Product Management advice. If it doesn't help you at 8am on Monday, it's not worth your time.
The advice problem
There’s more Product Management advice available today than ever before. Newsletters, podcasts, courses, books, conferences, thought leaders, frameworks, certifications.
Most of it is useless.
Not because it’s wrong — much of it is technically correct. It’s useless because it doesn’t help you do your job better.
The Monday Morning Test
Here’s a simple filter: The Monday Morning Test.
Take any piece of advice and ask: “Does this help me at 8am on Monday?”
Monday morning is when theory meets reality. It’s when stakeholders are waiting, deadlines are looming, and there’s no time for frameworks. You need to make decisions, ship products, and manage chaos.
Advice that passes the Monday Morning Test is practical, actionable, and grounded in reality. Advice that fails is theoretical, aspirational, or written for a world that doesn’t exist.
Examples that fail
“Product Managers should spend 40% of their time on discovery.” Fails. Most of us can’t control our time that precisely. What does this mean for Monday morning?
“Always validate with customers before building.” Fails. Sometimes you have 2 days to ship. What then?
“Use the RICE framework to prioritize objectively.” Fails. Every input to RICE is subjective. How does the math make it objective?
Examples that pass
“Before your next meeting, write down the one decision you need to make.” Passes. Clear, actionable, immediately useful.
“When you’re stuck, ask: what’s the smallest thing we could ship to learn something?” Passes. A practical lens for breaking through paralysis.
“If a PRD takes more than 5 minutes to read, it’s too long.” Passes. A concrete rule you can apply right now.
Applying the test
Next time you read advice, watch a video, or attend a talk, run the Monday Morning Test.
Ask yourself:
- Can I use this tomorrow?
- Does it work with my constraints?
- Does it assume resources or time I don’t have?
If the answer is no, move on. Life is too short for advice that sounds good but doesn’t work.
Why Sancho PM exists
This test is why Sancho PM exists.
Every piece of content here is written to pass the Monday Morning Test. If it doesn’t help you at 8am on Monday, it shouldn’t be here.
That’s the pragmatic approach. That’s what Sancho Panza would do.