39-43: Four more things I’ve learned about product management
A post in which Jock starts to think he’s Gwyneth Paltrow.
Category: 100 Things I’ve Learned
Jock Busuttil’s (@jockbu) series “100 Things I’ve Learned” is what he’s learned about product management over the years – usually the hard way.
38: Product managers learn by doing
You can learn all the theory you like, but at some point you just have to stop thinking about what the answer might be and dive in to find out. Product managers learn by doing.
37: Unexpected delights – a geek’s guide to the Kano model
This is the story of why I’m going to be disappointed with 99% of all airlines for the foreseeable future. A guide to the Kano model.
36: Product roadmaps are like DVD box sets
Curating the product roadmap is one of the most typical responsibilities of a product manager. But have you ever thought about why you bother with them in the first place and how you could make them more effective?
35: Product management skills to pay the bills
So you want to become a product manager? Good for you! But how do you know you’re ready to move into a product management job? Here are some suggestions to start you on the right track.
34: Pick your battles
Recently Unilever challenged Procter & Gamble to prove their advertising claim that P&G’s Fairy brand of washing-up liquid lasted twice as long as Unilever’s Persil brand. The result that followed provides a great lesson for deciding how to pick your battles.
33: The Field of Dreams is fiction
This is not the Field of Dreams and you’re not Kevin Costner. If you build it, the users will not come – unless they have a strong motivation to do so.
32: Be flexible
I’ve just kicked off another project through my firm, Product People Limited. With the inevitable flurry of project start-up activity, a couple of basic tasks have reminded me how important it is for product managers to be flexible, whenever possible.
31: Learn to enjoy networking
Business networking used to hold about as much appeal for me as speed-dating with alligators. It was only later that I came to tolerate it, even enjoy it, but only after I learned to think about it differently. If the prospect of a room of people at an event fills you with dread, read on, this may help.
30: Reserve time for housekeeping
Like doing the washing-up, vacuuming under the sofa or cleaning your windows, housekeeping tasks with your product can get neglected because they’re tedious, not as interesting as new features and so on. However, if you’ve ever found yourself eating breakfast cereal out of an oven tray with a serving spoon because every single item of cutlery and crockery is festering in a pile in your sink, it should be apparent there is inherent value in tackling housekeeping tasks bit by bit over time.
