PRODUCTHEAD: Have you been having visions?
PRODUCTHEAD is a regular newsletter of product management goodness,
curated by Jock Busuttil.
(nice product)
tl;dr
The vision describes the future we are trying to create
It is a first filter for new ideas and change requests
Mission, vision and other concepts are often confused with each other
Have one overarching product vision, not lots of smaller ones
hello
I gave a talk recently about saving yourself from product management hell.
For me, hell is being a product manager in a directionless organisation that lacks clarity of vision. When there’s no clearly defined destination, nobody can objectively assess the worth of a possible strategy because nobody can tell whether it would lead them in the right direction.
And where there’s ambiguity, there’s interpretation. Suddenly everyone in the organisation has their own take on what they’re trying to achieve and how to achieve it. It makes it tremendously difficult to pick the right things to do next.
A corporate vision should describe clearly, succinctly and memorably the change we’re trying to effect in people’s lives. It should be something that matters, something that will motivate people to get up in the morning and work hard to achieve.
It’s going to be something like “eradicate malaria” (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), not “we want to achieve 73% market share”.
This week, I’ve pulled together some content to get you thinking about your corporate and product visions.
Speak to you soon,
Jock
what to think about this week
Vision vs. Strategy
The product vision describes the future we are trying to create. It’s primary purpose is to communicate this vision and inspire the teams (and investors and partners) to want to help make this vision a reality.
Stubborn on the vision, flexible on the details
[MARTY CAGAN / SVPG]
8 Tips for Creating a Compelling Product Vision
Creating and managing a successful product requires a lot of time and energy. In order to be fully committed, you have to be convinced that what you are doing is right and have a clear vision of where to take your product.
[ROMAN PICHLER]
Oh no!
You’ve missed my Product Management Masterclass! The four sessions in the series ran live each Tuesday in October.
They were:
What Does a Product Manager Do (And Not Do)?
Understanding User Needs
The Secrets of Meaningful Product Roadmaps
Landing and Starting Your Product Manager Job
But all is not lost.
If you’d like me to run the sessions again, just reply back to this email to register your interest, and I’ll let you know when I’m running them again.
Product Vision, Strategy, Roadmap
Product organizations often discuss needing a (new) product vision or strategy, or will talk about what is on their roadmap. However, what is sometimes lost in these discussions is the unfortunate fact that none of these terms have clear definitions, and in fact some people call different concepts by the same names and the same concepts by different names.
[JENS-FABIAN GOETZMANN / MEDIUM]
Product Vision FAQ
I thought it would be useful to gather together an FAQ related to product vision in the hopes that we can help clear up some of these very common confusions.
[MARTY CAGAN / SVPG]
recent posts
Saving yourself from product management hell
In my talk I show you how to get yourself out of product management hell. (Hint: it’s all about having a good product strategy.)
Find your ‘get of out of hell free’ cards here
[I MANAGE PRODUCTS]
Open, honest and always improving
In government, product is borne out of transparency, quite a lot of cake and a fanatical desire to serve the needs of users.
In this recent video for ProdPad’s webinar series, I talk about the acute challenges of culture clash. You’ll also discover what can be achieved by highly motivated, principled and capable people when they set an example for the rest of an organisation – or the entire Civil Service – to follow.
Product management with revenue out of the picture
[I MANAGE PRODUCTS]
Growing together: developing and retaining your product team
34% of product managers surveyed said they left their previous role because there were no opportunities to grow.
In this video, Lucie McLean (Zalando) discusses growth and career progression for product managers with Jock Busuttil (Product People Limited) and Daniil Pavliuchkov (Tier).
Team coaching and career paths
[I MANAGE PRODUCTS]
Misunderstood metaphors: Product manager as conductor
Product managers are sometimes referred to as the conductor of the orchestra. Some people think that the conductor’s job is to direct the players, to lead them through the music. That would be to misunderstand the relationship. Instead, here’s a different take.
Conductors don’t tell the players what to do
[I MANAGE PRODUCTS]
can we help you?
Product People is a product management services company. We can help you through consultancy, training and coaching. Just contact us if you need our help!
Helping people build better products, more successfully, since 2012.
PRODUCTHEAD is a newsletter for product people of all varieties, and is lovingly crafted from anachronistic future technology.
Read more from Jock
The Practitioner's Guide To Product Management
by Jock Busuttil
“This is a great book for Product Managers or those considering a career in Product Management.”
— Lyndsay Denton
Jock Busuttil is a product management and leadership coach, product leader and author. He has spent over two decades working with technology companies to improve their product management practices, from startups to multinationals. In 2012 Jock founded Product People Limited, which provides product management consultancy, coaching and training. Its clients include BBC, University of Cambridge, Ometria, Prolific and the UK’s Ministry of Justice and Government Digital Service (GDS). Jock holds a master’s degree in Classics from the University of Cambridge. He is the author of the popular book The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management, which was published in January 2015 by Grand Central Publishing in the US and Piatkus in the UK. He writes the blog I Manage Products and weekly product management newsletter PRODUCTHEAD. You can find him on Mastodon, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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