Thread by @onejasonknight

I was asked if I had a thread of my best product book recommendations. There are too many books to mention them all but here are some that I would recommend to anyone in & around product management. These will be obvious to many, but hopefully a helpful reference for some (🧵)

For those starting out, look no further than "Cracking the PM Interview" by @jackiebo and @gayle. A lot of focus on Big Tech interviews but also lots of actionable advice for how to prepare for that big job interview

amazon.co.uk/Cracking-PM-In…

If you want a general guide to product management principles from top to bottom, of course look no further than "Inspired" by @cagan - the White Album of product management books (make sure you get the 2nd edition!)

amazon.co.uk/INSPIRED-Creat…

"Inspired" is a great general guide to product management, but other books go deeper on specifics. If you're curious about best in class product discovery techniques, of course look no further than "Continuous Discovery Habits" by @ttorres

amazon.co.uk/Continuous-Dis…

It's no good going into user interviews if you don't know how to do them though! @mjwhansen goes deep on interview best practices, do's and don'ts in "Deploy Empathy"

amazon.co.uk/Deploy-Empathy…

Marty is big on empowered teams, but so is @cwodtke, who wrote "The Team That Managed Itself", a business fable that talks all about the benefits of setting up self-sufficient teams, giving them hard problems and letting them figure them out themselves

amazon.co.uk/Team-that-Mana…

Sticking with @cwodtke, we go deep on OKRs with "Radical Focus" (now available in its second edition). Don't just measure what matters but make sure you're focusing on the essential and understanding how you know you've gotten there

amazon.co.uk/Radical-Focus-…

If you want to go beyond the Lean Startup and work out how to get from idea to MVP and product/market fit, check the super actionable "Lean Product Playbook" by @danolsen

amazon.co.uk/Lean-Product-P…

And, of course, we cannot forget @lissijean's "Escaping the Build Trap", which teaches us how to move beyond specifying outputs and working out how to deliver the true value our products can bring. Essential reading!

amazon.co.uk/Escaping-Build…

Let's talk leadership. If you want to understand how to set up your product org for success we're back to @cagan & @chris_svpg with "Empowered" - a desk reference for how to do just that. A follow up to "Inspired", this will get you on the right track

amazon.co.uk/EMPOWERED-Ordi…

If you want to deep dive into being a good product leader then "Strong Product People" by @loomista is the book for you. Going deep on defining good, measuring performance & development areas and how to coach, an essential companion to product leaders

amazon.co.uk/Strong-Product…

If you want to even deeper into hiring PMs then check out the aptly named "Hiring Product Managers" by @kleto which warns us about relying too much on hard skills and ensuring you approach your hiring strategically

amazon.co.uk/Hiring-Product…

If all this product management is getting you down, check out @MAA1's "Managing Product = Managing Tensions" which aims to demystify the stresses and strains of product management & help you thrive

amazon.co.uk/MANAGING-PRODU…

Let's talk product marketing. If you want a general guide to getting your lovely product to market, check out "Loved" by @mavinmartina. This is a fine guide to product marketing principles and will get you up to speed with the fundamentals

amazon.co.uk/Loved-Rethink-…

If you want to go deeper, try @geoffreyamoore's classic "Crossing the Chasm" which teaches us how to market tech products and navigate the tricky gap between early adopters and the mainstream. Super insightful stuff!

amazon.co.uk/Crossing-Chasm…

I can't talk marketing without mentioning the wonderful "Obviously Awesome" by the equally wonderful @aprildunford, who teaches us how to move beyond fill in the blank exercises and how to win in the market through thoughtful positioning

amazon.co.uk/Obviously-Awes…

I'm going to add some honourable mentions. @randfish gave a candid, reflective view on the stresses & strains of being a startup founder in "Lost & Founder" - this is one of my favourite business books & helps us to understand what we're here for

amazon.co.uk/Lost-Founder-P…

There are plenty of books about being a good manager, but if you want to start from the first step then @joulee's "The Making of a Manager" is a great, actionable guide to starting on the right foot

amazon.co.uk/Making-Manager…

Phew! What a great list of books! Hopefully there are some you haven't read. I may add some additional mentions for alternatives to the classics (there are so many!). Feel free to reply to this mega-thread with anything I've missed - give me your top recommendations!

Bonus content! I have interviewed every single one of these authors (with the honourable exception of @joulee, but one day... one day 🤞). You can find all my author interviews here:

oneknightinproduct.com/all-episodes.h…

Honourable mention: "Product Sense" by @BraxtonTBragg and Peter Knudson

amazon.co.uk/Product-Sense-…

@ttorres Honourable mention, "Lean Customer Development" by @cindyalvarez:

amazon.co.uk/Lean-Customer-…

@danolsen If you're a B2B bunny then supplement this with @egarbugli's "Lean B2B" - now out in 2nd edition!

amazon.co.uk/Lean-B2B-Produ…

Speaking of B2B, also check out @delizalde's new book "The B2B Innovator's Map"

amazon.co.uk/B2B-Innovators…

@joulee Also consider @eikonne's "Becoming a Leader in Product Development"!

amazon.co.uk/Becoming-Leade…

More additions on discovery! "Talking to Humans" by @giffco

amazon.co.uk/Talking-Humans…

Also check out "Sense and Respond" by @jboogie & @jseiden on the same broad topic

amazon.co.uk/Sense-Respond-…

I realised I didn't cover experimentation! Mea culpa. Check out "Testing Business Ideas" by @davidjbland for a full colour guide to ... testing business ideas!

amazon.co.uk/Testing-Busine…

Also check out "Testing with Humans" by @giffco which covers... testing with humans! Rapid experimentation to validate your product ideas is essential to avoid going too far down the wrong path

amazon.co.uk/Testing-Humans…

Typo alert! It's "Managing Product = Managing Tension"