Rules
EDITED BY BRIAN LAWLEY
PN [ee], gy
280 GROUP PRESS42 Rules of Product
Management
Learn the Rules of Product
Management from Leading Experts
from Around the World
By Brian Lawley
and Greg Cohen
y
PROLIBRIS PUBLISHING MEDIA| Rules Are Meant to Be Broken... g
Work on Products You Are
Passionate About... 6
Rule 3 Beware the “Requirements
Death Spiral"... iH 8
Rule 4) Think Like an Entrepreneur. .. 10
Rule 5! Learn to Say "No" to Customers .
Rule 6) Product Management is
| inherently Potiticar
Rule 7/ Thore Is a Fine Line between Knowing
HtAlland Being a Know-t-all ..
Rule 8) Market Resoarch Must Be Actionable .... 18
Rule 9) The Two-Week Rule.
Rule 10/ Market Needs, Not incividuel Requests... 22
Rule 11) No Sun
Rule 12) Be Data-Driven by the Consumers of
Your Product. ‘
Rule 13) 90-360-3. ..
Rule 14) Creativity Opens Up More Possibilities... 30
Rule 15) Get Your Hands Dirty.
Rule 16) Get Out of the office
|
42 Rules of Product Mansgeriont »Rule 17 | You Do Not Own Your Product .
Rule 18) Carve Out "Think" Time
|
Rule 19 Get the Markot Segmentation Right! .
Rule 20) Clarify Product Positioning
Rule 21 | Define and Align Your Roles
and Responsibilities .
Rule 22 | Write It Down!
Rule 23 Make Sure You Have Clear Priorities.
Rule 24) Salespeople Don't Just Want to Make
Lots of Money . q
Rule 25 Create a Culture of Openness
Rule 26 Align Your Product Strategy with the
Company Strategy—Then Sell it .........54
|
Rule 27 | Short, Standardized Cycle Times
Drive Predictability ........., 56
{
Rule 28) Find Market Problems Worth Solving ....
Rule 29 Business is Not a Democracy. .
Rule 30) Agility Is Key to Product
Management Success........ +62
Rule 31/ Tap into Your Customers . é, 64
|
Rule 32 Determine Your Marketing Approach
Early and Wisely soe 66
Rule 33 Let the Customer End the Debate
Rule 34 | Ditferontiation isn't Enough, You Have
to Be Better .
Rule 35) Act Like a Child ..
ContentsRule 36| Decide What You Are Going to Do
| and Not Do .. . 74
Rule 37 Trust and Leadership Through
Good Relationships 76
Rule 38. Great Execution Trumps a Great
| Product Idea . .. 78
Rule 39| Be All You Can Be ......----- - 80
Rule 40 I Can See Clearly Now: The Power
| of Transparency - + 82
Rule 41| Always Be Learning. .. 84
Rule 42, These Are Our Rules. What Are Yours?.... 86
‘Appendix A| Contributing Authors. .
Appendix B| The Product Management Manifesto .
Appendix C | Product Management Resources...
Appendix D| Product Management/Marketing
| Templates eaacage sree gz
‘Appendix E | 280 Group Services . - 104
| Appendix F | References . . 106
| Authors Asatte Aor 108
| YourRules| ite YourOvn Res 110
Books | otner Happy Abou! Books vecee 2
42 Roles of Product Management veBack when | started my career as_@ product
| manager, things were quite different then they are
foday. There were no books ot training courses.
There were no product management associations,
| blogs, or newsletters, Email was justin its infancy,
fend the World Wide Web was merely an
Gxperiment being conducted by a small group of
| elite technologisis. The only way that you learned
how to be a great product manager was by trial and
(Glen ani arr Gexasoay, you wee
lucky, you would have 2 manager who could teach
you the sublletias and mentor you (I had several
and they made a huge difference in my career).
[nn tnngs hve sarge. Tee a Ks
Oa ee oe poe wae
| afer, rene, “pate. Prati
pote ete te cartes ae
peeerret es er oitdiys te sees
eee ee et oa a
Se tele Wee at tray prem
| management experts who have emerged that are
| enthusiastic about sharing what they have leamed
sayeth
‘The goal of this book is to expose you to the
| wisdom and knowledge from a group of the world's
[Heading product management experts. Among the
contributors, there are leading authors, professors,
E CEOs and vice presidents, bloggers, consultants,
Wainers, and even a few salespeople and
| engineers. In total. there are over five centuries of
collected wisdom represented here.
| To put the book together, we reached out to a large
| number of people throughout the world. (Ifyou were
| not included, piease don't be offended. Email us
| and fet us know so we can include you in future
projects lke this.) The rules were submitted over 2
| rormonth period Each rule stands. on sown and
they are not in any particular order in the book,
‘42 Rules of Product Management 1
|
|
I| NOTE: We received more rules than we Wore abi
| {2,Bublish, We willbe posting ieee ye Produc
| Management 2.0 Blog at
tt 10a and in our newsietter,
50 make sure you sign us
gmiglable ‘and more successful soci equally
produce yt Mobs that it wil lead to you shipping
ily aetat YOUr Customers love ered aie are
idly successful and highly profitetle,
Brian Lawley
| SEO and Founder, 280 Group
| October 2010
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