Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value
by Melissa Perri
Rating: 4.0 / 5 · Read · Finished 2023-02-16
I’m a software engineer. This was my first introduction to product management aside from working with product managers.
What is a product manager? They set team direction. They talk to customers, deeply understand their problems, identify potential solutions, experiment to validate their value, then iteratively deliver and measure outcomes.
It’s different than a project manager. A project manager organizes the team’s work and keeps things on track. They answer “when” we’ll hit targets. A product manager answers “why” and “how” we’ll hit targets. I’ve seen one person do both, but it doesn’t have to be the same person.
The book repeats “outcomes over outputs”. Examples of outcomes:
- customer value
- revenue
- proven ideas
- solving customer’s problems Examples of outputs:
- detailed PRDs
- shipping tickets and features on time
- original ideas
- building what the customer asks for
The loop:
- What is the goal?
- Where are we in relation to the goal?
- What is stopping us?
- How can we solve the problem?
- How would we know if it worked?
Random tidbits:
- think more about problems than solutions
- fall in love with the problems you’re solving
- experiment to learn
- constantly identify the next question you need to answer
- don’t reinvent the wheel if it’s not your value proposition
- when it is your value proposition, identify multiple ideas and kill the bad ones
- Optimize for the customer, even if that means sacrificing existing goals or metrics
- find an overlap between what the customer wants, what makes the business money, and what can be built
- connect the “why” to the “what”