SHIP It! SHIP it Good!
A Punk ProdOps Anthem for the Whiplashed & WIP-Crushed
A Punk ProdOps Anthem for the Whiplashed & WIP-Crushed
High WIP. Low clarity. Zero air cover. And everyone’s yelling “Just ship it!” Here’s your theme song, inspired by
& tapped out at 30k feet as I fly from RDU>FRA>BHX to teach some smart product people how to “WIP it Good” by focusing on what matters most.SHIP IT
(A PM Parody, sung to the tune of “Whip It” by DEVO — and Cutler-core inspiration)
[Verse 1]
When a build comes along (you must ship it)
Before tests can run (you must ship it)
When your WIP’s turned to fog (you must ship it)
And your backlog weighs a ton (you must ship it)
[Pre-Chorus]
Now ship it
Into prod with DevOps flair
Just ship it
Hope compliance isn't there
Just ship it
When your roadmap is roadkill
Just ship it
Feature Factory owns your soul
Ship it good!
[Verse 2]
When they vibe-code at night (you must ship it)
And infra starts a fight (you must ship it)
When the platform's not that tight (you must ship it)
But the VP wants delight (you must ship it)
[Pre-Chorus]
Now ship it
Write a playbook they’ll ignore
Just ship it
Hide your toggles, beg for more
Just ship it
While you manage handoff feuds
Just ship it
Like a PM Robin Hood
Ship it good!
[Bridge]
Crack that whip (of alignment pain)
Give the slip (to Gantt chart shame)
Step on up (deploy and pray)
Break their stuff (the startup way!)
Play Tetris with teams (the Agile way!)
[Final Chorus]
Now ship it
When the chaos makes you cry
Just ship it
While Legal’s asking “Why?”
Just ship it
Peace through platform is the play
Just ship it
Then ghost Slack for the day
Liner Notes
Cutler Warned Us. We Turned It Into a Framework.
In 2018, John Cutler wrote ‘WIP It Real Good.’ It was supposed to be a warning. You know — a “hey maybe don’t build an entire company around doing 97 things badly” kind of vibe.
So what did we do?
We printed it. Framed it. And kept right on shoveling features into the furnace.
Now it’s 2025.
And we’re still optimizing for chaos like it’s a KPI.
Shared resources? Still stretched thinner than a Slack thread at 5:59 PM.
Handoffs? Practically a sacred rite.
Saying “no”? Might as well slap on a “Not a Team Player” label and walk yourself out.
We ship faster.
We learn slower.
And we’ve built entire roadmaps around keeping HiPPOs happy and RHiNOs out of our DMs.
Let’s be real: This song isn’t just a parody.
It’s documentation.
It’s what happens when you give product managers, especially platform peeps, just enough tooling to duct-tape over bad incentives — and not enough power to stop the next catastrophe.
Cutler gave us the playbook.
We turned it into a vibe.
Now we’re drowning in delight tickets and feature-flagged regrets.
And yes — we still shipped it.
A Word of (Slightly Yelled) Advice
Vibe coding isn’t the problem.
It’s just what happens when “done” becomes optional and “next” becomes religion.
But here’s the truth — and I say this in every class I teach:
“We get more done faster by focusing less.”
Not “less” like trim a requirement. Not “small” like some I'll-fitting T-shirt from high school.
TINY, DAMMIT!
Slack-message tiny.
"Could be a toggle" tiny.
"Doesn't require a slide deck" tiny.
Because…
TINY bets win. BIG bets break things.
TINY means tighter feedback, lower blast radius, less noise or signal, and fewer cross-functional seances to debug confusion.
It means scoping work your team can actually finish — and your user might actually feel.
So if you’re gonna vibe, fine.
But for the love of all things John Cutler, scope it down, lock it tight, and ship peace — not just product.
Smoosh It, Smoosh It Good
Your final reminder, now with rhythm:
If this post made you swear (go subscribe it)
Got a friend who’s been right there? (go share it)
If your roadmap’s held by prayer (go subscribe it)
Have a kvetch you must air? (go comment it)