18 Blog Posts You Loved in 2016

I seek adventure in two places: business and wilderness. When the two intersect the result is something special. And as far as adventures go, 2016 certainly offered fodder for some wild topics. I think you can see that reflected in what we wrote about on the Aha! blog this past year.

I love writing about the adventure of finding meaningful work and living a meaningful life. And so do the rest of the Aha! team members who contribute to the blog.

Each post was inspired by our experiences, both good and bad. We took a lot of time to consider how our words might help you in your journey. And we hit a nerve — roughly 1 million pageviews and thousands of comments.

So, let’s look back at some of the most popular Aha! blog posts from 2016 — the ones you read, loved, and shared. Plus maybe a few that you missed. (In that case, consider this your reading list for the first week of 2017.)

And if you find yourself thinking, “What is my next adventure?” Well, you might want to consider joining us for the ride.

Here are the posts you loved, organized by topic:

Product management

1. Are never-ending product battles beating you down? Stand firm with five tactics for fighting the good fight.

2. If you are trying to break into product management, you might need a quick refresher on the various roles.

3. So you have an angry customer on your hands. Guess what? This is good news! Find out why.

4. Most product managers develop a close working relationship with their engineering team. Even still, there are likely a lot of things that you might not know about them.

5. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that jargon is the secret password to any given group.

Company building

6. How can a consultant ever understand your business better than you do?

7. If you have ever ordered the steak and lobster special at a dinner that your startup was paying for, go slap yourself.

8. You may be off to a quick start, but this is the real proving ground. Do you pop the corks or keep building?

9. Commutes are depressing — they can negatively impact your health, work, and relationships. But there is a better way.

10. One of the best parts about working on a fully distributed team? Spending workdays with our four-legged friends.

Career advice

11. Stop living to please others. Start being yourself. Life is just too short to be anyone else.

12. Is your resume in the “NO” pile? You might be forgetting something important in your rush to impress.

13. The last thing you want is to leave a prospective employer with a negative opinion about your experience and qualifications.

14. Yes, they are just words. But the words we choose convey a powerful message about what we believe and value.

15. With no action behind it, the idea of “employee empowerment” becomes nothing more than an empty promise.

Innovation

16. It is only when you decide to put that strategy into action that it can do its work — transforming your business.

17. When “no” becomes the knee-jerk response to new ideas, it builds a culture of fear that stifles innovation.

18. Business Morse code forces others to work harder than necessary to comprehend the true meaning behind our words.

What do you want to see more of in 2017? Share your ideas in the comments below.