Good to Great Product Management
When I first got into product management, I really wanted to understand what it took to be a great product manager. However, I quickly realized that it was hard enough to find a standard definition of a product manager, let alone what made one great. There’s no short supply of opinions about what makes a good vs. great product manager (at the end of this post I share a sample of those I’ve come across over the years).
All this advice is usually tactical and opinionated. It’s based on individuals and their own personal experiences and observations. It’s not surprising since product management is a relatively new discipline, but like any good (perhaps great?) product manager we want to balance qualitative data with quantitative data.
I first read Good to Great years ago before getting into product, and after reading it again I was inspired by the data-driven approach that leads to its findings. From these insights, derived from data, I believe that we can better learn how product managers can make the leap from good to great.
PM Hedgehog
PM Flywheel
The PM Flywheel
One of the biggest barriers to momentum as a PM is alignment with business strategy. Without this alignment, you get constant changes in direction that result in “The Doom Loop.”
“The flywheel, when properly conceived and executed, creates both continuity and change. On the one hand, you need to stay with a flywheel long enough to get its full compounding effect. On the other hand, to keep the flywheel spinning, you need to continually renew, and improve each and every component.” - Jim Collins, Turning the Flywheel
There are lots of frameworks out there but Melissa Peri’s Product Kata is my favorite for creating momentum through both continuity and change. It helps product managers create an organization that constantly ties experimentation, delivery, and learning back to the company’s strategy and vision by focusing on outcomes over output. For more on this checkout Outcomes over Outputs.
Ultimately, however, a transformation like this to a product-lead organization does not happen overnight and requires buy-in from the most senior leadership. But that’s doesn’t mean you’re powerless. If the company is a large bus, build a pocket of greatness on your minibus. Apply the kata as best you can and use other insights to help you make the lead from good to great.
More to Come
I’ll cover those other insights around PM Leadership, PM Discipline, and PM Hedgehog Concepts in later posts.
The Good To Great PM Debate
Finally, here are some other opinions to shape the good to great PM debate.