I Manage Products blog
& PRODUCTHEAD newsletter

» At C-level, focus more on “what’s in it for you” and less on “here’s what I need” » Get your strategy, priorities, risk-taking heuristics, and goals straight, and treat allocation as a hypothesis

Your product manager interview is as much about you getting to know your interviewers as it is the other way around. Here’s what you can expect along with my tips for standing out from the crowd.

» Failure to adapt and iterate on team structures and processes will result in your strongest product people leaving » Accepting that an employee might thrive in another environment is accepting that you (as their manager) could have done a better job

» Vocal self-confidence in the midst of uncertainty has become a desirable trait in leaders » There must also be space for quieter, more contemplative leadership styles

» Shape Up is a collection of product development techniques that happen to work for Basecamp » Just because they work in Basecamp’s context doesn’t mean they’ll work for yours » OMG so problematic

» If context is continually changing, aim for incremental progress and let go of perfectionism » Balance the need for action with the drive to understand both the problem and your biases » Change is like a sledge stuck in the ice: hard to get moving, but easier to keep moving once freed

» Software is never ‘done’ even if you choose to ignore it for a while » A ‘training wheels’ framework to get a team started should be treated as a throwaway experiment » Clarity is not the same as certainty, although it helps you manage the uncertainty

» When negotiating, don’t pitch, listen » To minimise residual influence, negotiate each point independently » When trust is low, consider making a concession contingent on the other party reciprocating » Conceding because you don’t want to upset the other party is a losing scenario

You can now follow all posts published to I Manage Products directly using your favourite Fediverse platform: @posts@imanageproducts.com Alternatively, you can follow the feed of posts I write using @jock@imanageproducts.com

» Speak the language of C-level by focusing on revenue, customer benefits, and financials » Without understanding, there can be no empathy » Product managers need to be able to communicate with a wide range of people using different languages » The worst product managers only speak in the language of product management

» Good product managers amplify the ability of an organisation to generate value » Successful companies have figured out how to align quality, customer value, and sustainable velocity » With no formal entry requirements, many people have piled in to product management with little care for the craft

» Be involved and interested, but not on the critical path » Talk about the ideas you threw away, in commercial language » Founders are rejecting the generic advice to delegate everything — this evolves the product manager role