A small switch, but a significant change in frame.

Ever noticed how a small shift in language can change how you see things? 

That happened to me yesterday. I was in the wings at the Product Aotearoa conference, getting ready to go on, listening to an engaging talk by Ania Mastalerz on doing “just enough” research to keep things moving. 

Ania shared how Atlassian realised the term “Issues” no longer matched how people were using their hashtag#jira platform. People weren’t just logging problems; they were logging everything from HR tasks to sales opportunities. So, they shifted from “Issues” to “Work Item”. 

A small switch, but a significant change in frame. 

It dovetailed with my session, which centred on one idea: confidence is in the doing, not in the waiting or the wishing. It’s not something we find. It’s something we form. 

Or in Atlassian terms: we don’t have confidence issues, we have confidence work. 

That feels timely for Product Managers. Andrew Tokeley shared a confidence-sapping picture of the last 12 months: around 20% of the profession had experienced redundancy or company closure.

What about you? What has the last year felt like for you and the team? What are the confidence levels like?

In the last 12 months, I’ve not had a single manager approach me asking for help with someone who is overconfident. It’s been the opposite. 

My sense is that the next step for many professionals is not more technical skills or AI. It’s building - or rebuilding - confidence through intentional action. 

So for the Product Managers out there: keep leaning into the work of confidence. You’re shaping solutions others depend on long before they realise it. Your momentum matters.