25 rules for product managers
DESCRIPTION
25 Rules for Product Managers based on years of building products and learning from the masters like Marty Cagan, Jana Eggers, Seth Godin, Jeff Patton, Steve Blank, Eric Ries, Mark Hurst, Phil Terry, Steve Johnson, and my peers and colleagues along the way. Influenced and inspired by Pragmatic Marketing, Customer Driven Development, Minimum Viable Product, Lean Startup, and the School of Hard Knocks.TRANSCRIPT
25 RULES FOR PRODUCT
MANAGERS
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
Steve MacLaughlin Director, Idea Lab Blackbaud, Inc.
www.blackbaud.com"
www.npengage.com
@smaclaughlin
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #01
The answers to most questions can only be found outside of the building.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #02
When in doubt, see Rule #1.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #03
Know your priorities and make them clear to others.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #04
Strategy always comes before technology. Just like in the dictionary.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #05
Clarity and brevity equals mastery.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #06
Success = Deliverables - Expectations. Don't ever go negative.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #07
If you're irreplaceable, then you can't get promoted.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #08
Aim for the Moon, but first focus on getting off the launch pad.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #09
If you have to explain it, then you are losing.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #10
You don't have to understand all the details, but you do have to understand
the importance of the details.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #11
Don’t build a product to solve a problem people don't value
enough to pay to fix.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #12
The roadmap is a path to the product vision not a long list
of features or promises.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #13
You have two ears and one mouth for a reason.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #14
Customer development is inextricably linked to product development.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #15
Don't deal in absolutes. Statements with “always”, “all”, “none”, “any”, and
“every” in them are fraught with peril.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #16
A list of decisions should include things you decided not to do.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #17
The more free something is the more it ends up costing you.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #18
All project dates are arbitrary. Know what you want before
you mandate when you need it.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #19
If you have to ask permission to innovate, then you're not innovating.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #20
Marketing and communication are not the same thing.
Don’t mistake one for the other.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #21
No one ever changed the world by creating a great feature matrix.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #22
If you don't have an outside perspective, then you don't really have a perspective.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #23
Given the choice, it's better to play banker than gambler.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #24
Every product must pass the valuable, usable, and feasible test.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #25
Don't make a decision based solely on one person's wants. We're all day-to-day.
Thank You
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
Steve MacLaughlin Director, Idea Lab Blackbaud, Inc.
www.blackbaud.com"
www.npengage.com
@smaclaughlin