There's been a lot of talk about #Airbnb "getting rid" of the #prodmgmt role. From what I can tell, they are morphing this into a more business related role, rather than purely tech. I don't think this is a bad thing. /1 PM has always firmly sat between business, tech, and the user/customer. In SAAS companies, the Product Management role has always been about figuring out how to grow the business by solving customer problems with the right software. /2

When building a product, remember not all of your users are experts in the domain, but that opens up a golden opportunity for you /1🧵 It’s important to gauge the level of competence in the domain with the users, especially if you’re an expert in the area /2

I find it funny how many people are asking me what the alternative to SAFe is, like there aren’t thousands of successful companies out there building products without it…

https://twitter.com/lissijean/status/1583363723858964480

Those who are asking this don’t want to hear the truth, and the truth is context matters for what you implement for each company. So there’s no “one framework to rule them all”. It’s incredibly hard work to set this up in companies BUT there are principles which remain constant.

Five things I wish I could go back and tell myself when I was starting in #prodmgmt 🧵/1 You don't have to come up with all the ideas. Ideas can come from anywhere. It's your job to make sure they are the right ideas for the business and the customer /2

First time Product Leader? Congrats! It's hard to make the leap, but once you're there, now you got to keep the position.

Here's the most common mistakes I see first time product leaders make so you can avoid them. /1 🧵

#prodmgmt 1. Focusing too much on processes and ignoring the roadmap.

While you have to implement the process and structure for the organization, remember you're also the person responsible for vision and direction. You need to balance working on both of these things.

Ah airport layovers, time for a thread that keeps coming up.

How do I convince my executives to change/ do things I’d like them to do as good #prodmgmt. Here’s my tips. 🧵 /1 The thing I see people do most often that doesn’t work is not taking the time to understand how other people are being judged for success and what matters to them.

You have to learn to put your proposal in terms that will help the other person. /2

Sigh, I’m new to the gluten free and cow dairy free diet (health reasons, not by choice) and it is really sad to see the available options on the road. So many dishes on @SingaporeAir are sooo close to being there, but they just give you boiled chicken instead. It really stands out when companies make an effort to find good food that meets dietary restrictions. @innoarchitects did an amazing job at our workshop - paella, short ribs and chickpeas for me, and dumplings for other people. It was the best conf food I’ve had yet.

One thing we don't talk about enough in #productmgmt is how there is no ONE roadmap that rules them all. /1 I've found companies need at least 3:

1. Communicate progress of features towards product goals - Product Roadmap
2. Communicate progress of initiatives towards strategic intents - Portfolio Roadmap
3. Communicate to sales team what's coming - Sales Roadmap.

/2

There’s something I’ve been playing around with in my head as it relates to “product thinking” and I’m going to try to describe it here, although not fully formed yet.

I think we do a real disservice to “#prodmgmt” when we talk about it only as a process. /1 When we have dialogues about good product managers and good product management, it almost always ends up with us discussing how we build the products rather than what we build. /2

How the ⁦@ApprissHealth⁩ algorithm is denying patients doctors and care.

A read for all my #prodmgmt people 👇 /1 wired.com/story/opioid-d… Another algorithm gone wrong. Another company saying “well we didn’t mean for you to use it that way.” When people’s lives are at risk, you damn well better think through every worst case scenario.

This is why #productethics matters. Algorithms are built by humans. /2

One of my unvaccinated neighbors has COVID and it’s the first person my neighbors have known with it. But he has a mild case so they are all watching him mow the lawn using it as an excuse to further not get vaccinated. 🤦🏼‍♀️ My other neighbor is vaccinated though with a failing liver and saw this sick neighbor for a minute the other day before he got tested. So the vax’ed neighbor is freaking out he might have got it because the news is making it look like the breakthrough cases are rampant.

I just caught a massive spider with a cup and it might stay there forever because I’m too afraid to move it. I’d also like to tell you another side of this story. I have this lovely pool float that is mesh and these same spiders took up residency in it. How did I find out? Fourth of July when about 8 came out while I was ON THE FLOAT

If you’re not rethinking how your business model and company could be disrupted and made better by software products, you’re not truly doing a product “transformation”.

A thread on the power of #prodmgmt 👇 /1 Over the past 7 years I’ve worked with many large enterprises which are what I call “software enabled”. That means they don’t primarily sell software for revenue.

Banks, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers, etc. /2

Here’s my current saga with @HomeDepot and a story about their technology that is completely broken.

I returned $1000 worth of brick I bought online to the store. It said I could. The store accepted it but had to call homedepot.com to process the return. /1 This is an issue I run into all the time at @HomeDepot. They can never return the things I bought online without help but they still tell you to return to any store. So they accept the return, I leave. Here’s a pic of it sitting in the store. /2

Calling your Product Managers something else may solve some issues in the short term, but it's just going to prevent you from hiring great people in the long term.

Anyone who says titles are not important is either trying to screw over someone or in a very privileged position. Salary bands are determined by seniority. Salary bands are determined by job titles and positions.

This is from @BuiltInNewYork but I don't necessarily agree with these, just pointing out discrepancies in title.

One big issue I see hold scaled companies back from doing great #prodmgmt is the lack of team work in middle management and exec layers. /1 We promote “scrum” teams and collaboration in an agile transformation, but we rarely talk about how middle managers and execs need to work too. /3

I’ll caveat this for #prodmgmt.

If you are brand new to the field and the first PM, it’s hard to grow as fast compared to those who have someone to learn from.

Being a PM at a startup accelerated my career, but I had a great VP of Product to learn from.

https://twitter.com/drogier/status/1282530133752991744

If you do have a bit of experience in PM or someone to learn from there, I think startups are great. I had an opportunity to be employee 40ish at OpenSky or go to Amazon. I would have made a lot of money if I went to Amazon. My career would have never been the same.

Thread about product ethics.

I agree with Nate that we need WAY better education around finance and investing.

But I disagree that we can't blame Robinhood for investment mistakes, especially due to it's #UX. This is why /1

https://twitter.com/JonesOnTheNBA/status/1281360682001170432

When things are broken, it gives companies an opportunity to solve the problem and exploit it for value. That's what Robinhood's doing. It's SMART. You find a problem, you solve it. Good business.

But we have to be careful not to exploit our customers as well. /2

I don't know of a single Chief Product Officer who has a PhD. What is this trash advice, Cleverism? Also, make sure you brush up on those Microsoft PPT skills if you want to be a CPO! You know, because that's SUCH a good investment in your time, and it's not like you could hire someone to help there.

"More than anyone else, your job is to ensure the long term growth of your company."

Advice for New Chief Product Officers by Jimmy Fortuna, CPO of Enverus, a mentor at cpoaccelerator.com

#prodmgmt Captions:
"Hey everyone! If there's one thing that could leave you with briefly, it would be this - Internalize the fact that more than anyone else, your role is to ensure that your business enjoys long-term growth." /1

The fall is going to be so rough for US teachers due to a complete lack understanding of technology by superintendents and how terrible some educational platforms are. /1 My boufriend’s mom is a 2nd grade teacher. Last night she told me her school district decided that everyone is moving to Canvas. Elementary, middle, and high school. /2