One of the big advantages that startups have is that there aren’t many people. As companies get larger (even a little bit larger), one of the very common consequences is that decisions become group activities. Stakeholders pop up from every...
In several earlier articles I have talked about aspects of prototypes. I’ve talked about using them as the basis for your product spec, and how to use them to test out your ideas on target users, and why I prefer...
The job of the product manager is first and foremost to discover a product that is valuable, usable and feasible. You’re wasting the rest of your team’s time, and your company’s money, if you can’t do this. But this doesn’t...
Marty’s Note: Today we refer to this technique as the Customer Discovery Program, or sometimes Customer Development Program. But when this article was first published, in 2007, the technique was called a Charter Customer Program. Different names but same concept. ...
In this article I’d like to highlight an anti-pattern that my partners and I have witnessed at several companies that are embarking on transformations to the product model. It’s an understandable anti-pattern, but it’s also more than a little bit...
By Jon Moore and Marty Cagan This is the third of the three-article sequence diving into what is meant by meaningful transformation. So far we’ve talked about the need to change how you build, and the need to change how...
Consider your neighborhood supermarket. When you walk in, you see somewhere between 40,000 – 50,000 products. How do you decide which to buy? Do you buy products you already know? How often do you buy something you haven’t tried before...
Note: This article is an announcement for one of two Coach the Coaches workshops that SVPG conducted in 2022. There are no new sessions planned at this time. This is a special note. It is intended for those people that...
In my last article, I talked about how one worrisome trend I am seeing is so-called “process people” using the vehicle of product ops to penetrate an organization, and take an otherwise useful function in a less than useful direction....
Fair warning that this and the next article will be a tough read. It was a tough one to write, and I expect for many of you, it will be a tough one to read. But in my view, we...
Now that the world is starting to see the rollout of vaccines, many of us are, at long last, looking towards seeing our friends and colleagues again. For nearly a year now, I have been coaching people and teams remotely,...
SVPG Partner Christian Idiodi has built a powerful reputation over the years for developing very strong product teams. In his past companies, he created his own new-employee bootcamp that is an excellent example of coaching ordinary people into extraordinary teams....
Continuing with our series on Team Objectives, there are several forms of collaboration that are essential, yet often confusing to product organizations as they optimize for team autonomy and empowerment. Shared Objectives The first and most basic form of collaboration...
In the last article I discussed the importance of integrity, and how it is the basis for decision-making in an empowered product team. In this article, I’d like to focus on how I coach product managers in making good decisions....
Last month I published an article describing common areas of confusion I see product managers struggling with. That article generated considerable discussion, and lead to some very good conversations. It also made visible several other common problems, which I decided...
