The Dude decided to do a little playing with AI content creation tools.
By and large, the Dude is not really a fan of the current crop of Generative AI systems, but he can acknowledge that the tools have some really good uses. The Dude uses them to quickly bang out a shell of a training design (he currently works as a PM in adult IT technical education) that probably shaves a week of a SME/content engineer’s time.
Now, that initial outline that copilot/ChatGPT/Claude spits out isn’t ready for the team to go and build it out, but it is an outstanding scaffold to refine, augment and tailor into a plan.
Would we have gotten to the same place without the GenAI bits and bobs? Sure. But it would have added a week or two to a crucial step in the process, and without compromise in quality. The Dude calls that a win.
That got the Dude thinking about what could he do to have some fun. How about writing some short-form fiction about the Real Dude taking over a product team.
He prompted Microsoft Copilot to write a 2000 word short story of The Dude as a product manager. This is the result:
The Dude Abides… as a Product Manager
Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski never expected to find himself in the world of tech. His days had been spent at the bowling alley, enjoying White Russians, and generally avoiding anything resembling responsibility. But one thing led to another—a misunderstanding with a recruiter at a networking event he accidentally stumbled into—and now, improbably, The Dude was the newest Product Manager at ZenWare, an up-and-coming Silicon Valley startup specializing in AI-driven lifestyle apps.
Chapter 1: The Dude’s First Stand-Up
Monday morning rolled around, and The Dude, clad in his signature bathrobe and sandals, shuffled into ZenWare’s glass-walled office. The fluorescent lights were harsh, the energy drink-fueled engineers were typing furiously, and the general vibe was one of extreme ambition—which The Dude found, frankly, exhausting.
“Alright, team, stand-up time!” barked Brad, the CTO, a man whose Patagonia vest screamed venture capitalist energy.
The developers gathered around, some holding reusable coffee cups, others clutching their MacBooks as if they were shields in battle.
Brad motioned toward The Dude. “You’re the new PM, man. Tell us where things stand on ZenFlow.”
ZenFlow was supposed to be the company’s flagship app, an AI-driven mindfulness assistant that tailored meditation techniques to users based on their stress levels. It was cutting-edge, groundbreaking—and, as far as The Dude was concerned, way too much effort.
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, man. So, like, the app… it’s doing its thing, ya know? We’ve got some vibes happening, the AI is, uh, learning or whatever…”
Silence.
Brad furrowed his eyebrows. “So… is ZenFlow meeting its KPIs? What’s the progress on the new onboarding flow?”
The Dude stared. He wasn’t entirely sure what KPIs were, but he figured they had something to do with making sure the app worked.
“Well, man, I think the onboarding flow is, like, in motion… we’ve got the dev dudes working on it… but, uh, what’s really important is just… taking it easy, ya know?”
Chapter 2: The Dude’s Product Philosophy
In the weeks that followed, The Dude developed a unique approach to product management—one rooted in going with the flow.
Instead of obsessing over metrics, he focused on what felt right. Did ZenFlow help people chill out? If yes, then all was cool, man. Did the engineers seem totally stressed? Then, clearly, something was wrong with the company’s overall Zen.
When executives demanded feature releases with tight deadlines, The Dude responded with phrases like:
– “Deadlines, man, they’re just… constructs, ya know?”
– “Have you considered just… letting the product exist, man?”
– “The app is like a river. You gotta let it find its path.”
Surprisingly, this approach worked. The engineers found themselves less tense, the sales team spun The Dude’s philosophy into a brand identity, and ZenFlow became a viral hit as the world’s first mindfulness app created by a product manager who barely managed anything.
Chapter 3: A Rival Appears
Just when ZenWare was riding high, a competitor entered the scene: MindNet, a sleek AI-powered meditation app backed by big investors and designed with hardcore productivity-focused features. Its tagline? “Meditate efficiently.”
Brad, now visibly panicked, barged into The Dude’s office—well, corner of the lounge, where he reclined in a bean bag sipping his tenth White Russian of the week.
“We need a war room, Dude,” Brad said, breathless. “MindNet is coming for us, man. They’ve got funding. They’ve got AI that personalizes meditation down to second-by-second precision. We need to counter this.”
The Dude took a sip. “Counter it how, man?”
Brad slammed his hands on the coffee table. “Faster feature rollouts. Aggressive marketing campaigns. We need new KPIs and a roadmap with hard deadlines.”
The Dude winced. “Ahh, man, deadlines again? I really thought we got past that whole ‘time is a rigid structure’ thing…”
Chapter 4: The Dude’s Grand Solution
With ZenWare in peril, The Dude did the unthinkable: he went bowling.
The team had expected late-night strategy sessions, competitor analysis, and stress-fueled meetings. Instead, The Dude invited his engineers to the local alley for a night of bowling, drinks, and deep introspection.
As the pins crashed and the beer flowed, an idea emerged: ZenFlow shouldn’t compete on efficiency. It should lean into being the ultimate chill app.
New tagline?
“ZenFlow: Mindfulness with No Deadlines, Man.”
New marketing campaign?
A series of ads featuring The Dude himself, lounging in a bathrobe, offering meditation advice that boiled down to “Just abide, man.”
Instead of fighting MindNet, The Dude positioned ZenFlow as the anti-productivity mindfulness app—one designed for people who wanted to actually relax.
Chapter 5: The Dude’s Legacy
Weeks passed. The marketing campaign went viral.
ZenFlow became the official app of slackers, philosophers, and overworked employees desperate for an alternative to productivity-obsession culture.
Investors hated it.
Users loved it.
And The Dude? Well, he kept abiding, sipping White Russians in the break room, happy in the knowledge that, at the end of the day, product management was just another form of bowling, man—you just gotta let the ball roll.
—
Turns out, sometimes the best innovation is not innovating at all.
Gotta admit, that’s not bad. The PM Dude would add some profanity, and reference to some pot smoking, but passable. Perhaps fewer bold accents.
Living the Dude life!
“And The Dude? Well, he kept abiding, sipping White Russians in the break room, happy in the knowledge that, at the end of the day, product management was just another form of bowling, man—you just gotta let the ball roll.”
Ain’t that the truth!