Category Archives for "Product Management"

Step 0: Don’t Freak Out – How To Get Started In Market Discovery

It’s easy to say “Get out of the building.” We know we need to do more market discovery – talking to more customers (and non-customers, and lost prospects, etc.) to find their problems. But for some of us that’s just not actionable advice. In fact, a friend just starting out in product management, asked me Read More

“I Have An Idea” – How I Evaluate Product Ideas

People are always asking me “Hey, I have a product idea. May I run it by you and get your input?” Of course, I say yes. They tell me the idea, and it’s usually “a technical thing for some kind of team.” And my response is, “Well, that sounds neat, but….” And then I ask Read More

Persuasion Tips: Pre-Handle Objections

(This is the third article in my Persuasion Tips series.) It’s all about reducing risk Imagine you’re happily presenting away, and suddenly you feel the audience going cold. They slump back in their seats. Maybe some start checking their phones. What happened? What can turn an audience against you like that? This has happened to Read More

Persuasion Tips: Have A Goal

Understand and articulate what you’re trying to achieve (This article is a follow-on to my overview article on persuasion tips for product managers.) Every presentation or opportunity for persuasion has a goal, or possibly a few goals. Are you trying to get some executives to make a decision in your favor? Are you aiming to Read More

Persuasion Tips For Product Managers

After a few well-received presentations to senior executives, some colleagues at my new company asked me, based on the positive effect I got, “Can you give us some tips on persuasion?” I’ve been doing product management a long time. Over time my presentation skills have naturally gotten more polished as a result of a lot Read More

Mental Models Applied: Using A 2×2 Chart For Handling Competitive Objections

In some earlier articles and in a talk I gave at a local product management meetup, I’ve shared about the importance of having a toolkit of mental models. They help with decision making, problem solving, communication, plus every other thing we do as product managers. As an exercise for myself, I decided to take a Read More

The Secret Truth About Your Methodology and Processes

What are your goals? A product organization has three overarching goals: Deliver great value to our customers. Do it quickly, efficiently, and with high quality. Do it better over time. A product organization that achieves those goals is much more likely to be successful. Your methodology must be in service to your goals What practices Read More

Storytelling For Product Managers – The TL;DR Version

In my last article, I covered a powerful storytelling technique in great detail. This article is the summary (the TL;DR) version. Do you hem and haw when asked talk about one of your accomplishments? Do you stick to a “just the facts, ma’am” approach when telling a story? Are your stories falling flat and failing Read More

Get People Talking! How To Use Open-Ended Questions For Market Discovery

In my last post I talked about the importance of “talking to customers.” In that post I focused especially on what you do with the market discovery knowledge you get from customers once you found it. (The “product management system of record,” I called it.) In this post I’ll be more to the point: How Read More

Visiting Customers? What?

Nothing Important Happens In The Office We product managers are always told that we need to spend a lot of time with customers, and with the market, to create successful products. This advice, while good, is not actionable. It’s vague and aspirational. And, indeed, you might even ask “why is this good advice?” In fact, Read More