Listen, listen, listen to your clients - but remember: they’re experts in their problems, not your solutions.
Your job is not to build what users ask for but to understand why they’re asking for it.
Don’t wait for the perfect moment to reach out - build your network consistently.
Don’t just ask for favors - add value whenever you can.
The relationships you cultivate today will shape your tomorrow.
“What we remember from childhood we remember forever - permanent ghosts, stamped, inked, imprinted, eternally seen.”
-Cynthia Ozick
#Quotes
”Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him."
-Aldous Huxley
#Quotes
Everyone expects you to be dependable.
Everyone expects you to know what you’re talking about.
Exceeding expectations is hard - and it gets harder to repeat as expectations rise over time.
But it is SUCH a powerful way to build a relationship with your customers.
Great product teams shape the entire culture of problem-solving, innovation, and learning within a company.
As I write this, it’s early Monday morning and - reminder - now is the best time to go ahead block some uninterrupted Focus Time on your calendar for the week ahead.
As a knowledge worker your thinking is your primary product. Tackling complex tasks effectively requires dedicated time and space.
Remember: organize your product around the market it serves and not around your internal hierarchies.
Said differently, roadmaps are not org-charts.
#productmanagement
“The great thing about fact-based decisions is that they can overrule the hierarchy.”
-Jeff Bezos
#Quotes
When working on a new roadmap, here are my 3 starter questions:
- Who’s the intended audience?
- What do I want them to take away from this?
- What would be the outcome if this was published on the Internet?
The needs of your audience and the realities of the market environment should shape the content.
“Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard.”
-Guy Kawasaki
#Quotes
Product-market fit is difficult to reach and it’s always in motion. ALWAYS.
From moment to moment, it’s contracting or expanding in response to changes within the broader market environment.
Pay very special attention to these changes.
The power of externalizing your thinking
In which I opine on the intrinsic value of writing stuff down
“The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.”
-William James
#Quotes
When plans derail (and let’s face it, they do), it can be an opportunity to reassess priorities.
What’s really and truly critical for your product’s success?
Start there first.
” Every man I meet is in some way my superior; and in that I can learn of him.”
-Emerson
#Quotes
“The fact that you “can’t do” something can be embarrassing.
But if you are “learning to do” something that is admirable.
There are only tiny baby steps between can’t and learning.”
-Kevin Kelly
#Quotes
Repeat after me: Words like “users” and “clients” and “customers” are describing actual human beings.
Understand their goals, their needs, their hopes, and their pains.
And how do you do that? Empathy.
We should talk more about timing as product managers.
Too early, and the market isn’t quite ready for you.
Too late, and someone (everyone?) is already there ahead of you.
Think about “when" when you’re planning out all of the “what” and “how”.
Delivering new features feels good because it seems like measurable progress.
That’s why it’s easy to find yourself stuck in “feature factory” mode.
Remember: More features doesn’t necessarily mean more value to your clients. Focus on delivering on outcomes, not just outputs.