While development (or maker) teams don’t formally report to product management, there are things we can do to get more value out of the team. And some things that we can’t or shouldn’t…
ProductFocus’s Ian Lunn and I will talk through how software product companies make money, and how that’s in direct contrast with how software outsourcing and custom development companies make money. Then we’ll apply that to B2B/enterprise software vendors who may have conflicting business models.
I joined Cyrus Eslamian for an episode of his Product Manager Hub podcast. We talked about challenges that product leaders face, working with other C-level executives, strategy versus process, mentoring, and building trust/empathy across departments.
Sometimes we struggle to communicate important concepts that others don’t seem to get. So we have to try different approaches. Here’s a short post on framing the “shifting priorities” problem in non-technical terms.
After years of struggle, I’m advising all of my clients and product leader coachees to stop using the term “MVP”. Not to stop doing validation, discovery, prototyping or experiments they may associate that that acronym, but to remove the label from all of their docs and presentations and talks. To delete the letters MVP from roadmaps and product charters…
I joined Scott Baldwin’s Age of Product Excellence webinar series to talk about soft skills/EQ, moving into leadership roles, understanding how different functional groups think/act, motivation, and how not to act like an MBA.
I’ve seen some patterns in how companies recruit their Heads of Product (aka Chief Product Officer, VP Product, Director of Product Management, or Group Product Lead). This post unpacks some fundamental misconceptions — and how to get the strong product leadership we need.
I was thrilled to join Marcus Blankenship for this episode of his podcast. Marcus is a long-time coach and champion of software engineering managers with an emphasis on processes / culture / leadership. We talked at length about the adjacencies and differences between developers and product managers… Topics: Differences in design principles between product and engineering management (1:35) Understanding the conflict between makers and marketers (6:22) How Rich helps marketers/sales develop a more useful frame for engineering (10:01) The “Innovation” Misconception (15:36) The culture gap between sales and development/product teams (21:46) Where does product management fit between sales and development? (26:31) Helping clients make effective organizational change (32:48) Read more here about Marcus’s writing, podcasts and videos.
A wide-ranging conversation about product leadership, stakeholders, understanding our different audiences.
Companies often celebrate hierarchy but rarely longevity – the willingness and commitment to stay with a company long enough to have an impact. I recently uncovered some artifacts that reinforced an important cultural emphasis on company-wide success…