A Yahoo with great lessons for media execs

It's not often someone at the top of one of the world's largest publicly owned companies speaks openly about skeletons within his own business. 

But Blake Irving, Yahoo's reasonably new chief product officer, did just that in addressing the company's "good, the bad and the ugly" at a recent gathering of Newspaper Consortium executives. The good news is Irving isn't a moaner, he's an energetic doer with a vision for Yahoo's success in a crowded digital media marketplace. 

I had a conflict and couldn't attend the consortium meeting but sat wide-eyed while watching this video of his presentation. It's long, but the first 35 minutes or so are highly recommended for anyone in the media business.

His fast-paced presentation touches on the sociology that drives digital behavior, product development and "shipping" strategies, the dangers of "boiling the ocean," brand focus, teamwork and much more. At times he comes across as condescending but he backs up that in-your-face confidence with a gameplan that clearly supports his case for focused business plans executed with relentless precision and passion. 

Be sure to spend time absorbing his version of the Table of Elements. I took a screen grab to ponder later and try to adapt to my own world.