The question of what makes a good Product Manager seems to be a strongly recurring theme throughout the world of those who are interested in becoming Product Managers, those who already practice the craft, and even those who must work with us on a daily basis or have to hire on a Product Manager to […]
The Troubles with “Transparency”
The common wisdom in the Product Management world is that more transparency is always better — transparency into the planning process, the roadmap, the product strategy, prioritization, design, development, etc. And while transparency is certainly important, generally speaking, it can also have its dark side, especially when the culture in which you are being transparent […]
The “CEO of the Product” Myth
I’m fairly confident that anyone who’s worked as or interacted with Product Managers for any extended period of time has run into someone talking about how the Product Manager is the “CEO of the Product.” The implication is that the Product Manager has some form of ultimate authority for what’s in, what’s out, and when things ship; […]
The Importance of Continuous Improvement
Most of the “Agile” and “Lean” product design and development practices that we follow in the modern age can be directly linked to the lean manufacturing movement from the 1940s and 1950s, largely attributed to the work of W. Edward Deming and his influence on the post-war Japanese manufacturing culture. Deming relied on a “Plan-Do-Study-Act” methodology […]
Getting Shit Done is Job #1
As a Product Manager, sometimes we get so caught up in either the macro or micro concerns of our day-to-day lives that we forget that getting shit done is our primary job. It does no good whatsoever to have our product remain in a constant state of development, with projects that get put on the shelf […]
The “Power Trio” – Balancing Market, Product, and Technical Needs
One of the biggest challenges facing nearly every Product Manager is the lack of a clearly-defined role in the organization. Even in companies that have “rigorous” organizational structures, the Product Manager often becomes everything to everyone – the hub around which all the other business processes operate. And for the most part, this isn’t necessarily […]
Don’t Believe Your Own Hype
There’s always a ton of hype that we create surrounding our products. Sales positions the product as the best option for prospects and existing customers; marketing spins our features and benefits so that we sound like the best thing since sliced bread; and our CEOs and internal cheerleaders are constantly optimistic about the future, the […]
Common Company Dysfunctions — And How to Combat Them
Throughout my many years as a Product Manager, and through many conversations with fellow Product Managers, I’ve come to notice certain patterns of dysfunction emerge within companies that make everyone’s job harder. Many of these dysfunctions exist due to cultural patterns within the company, and are things that have developed over time — often they […]
Improving Your Relationship With Sales & Marketing
The relationship between Product Management and the Sales and Marketing teams in some companies can be unnecessarily strained. Often, this shows itself in such counter-productive behaviors as sales reps making promises to prospects or renewing clients based on their own interpretation of the roadmap, or the marketing teams creating collateral that materially misstates the capabilities […]
What “Agile” Means to the Business
Agile development and its related methodologies and practices have long been viewed as something that “developers do” with no consideration given to the broader impacts of those processes on the organization as a whole. This, incidentally, is also the primary cause of failures on the part of organizations who attempt to implement Agile practices — […]
The Importance of Understanding the Whole Product
Product Management is often seen as a simple matter of inputs and outputs — we take information from the field, from the market, or from the users, and we create new products and features that meet their needs. If only it were that simple! Customers rarely know what they really want, although they can be […]
Who Watches the Watchmen — Where Should Product Managers Report?
A common question in the world of Product Management is where exactly the role should sit in a company’s organization chart. Some people claim that the role “needs” to be part of Marketing. Some people claim the role “needs” to be a part of Development. Everyone seems to have some opinion on the matter, and […]