Given the key role Product Managers play in creating the environment for their teams… what must they do to avoid the bell curve of mediocre products that unfortunately are the norm? I shared my perspective as the guest speaker at the SVPMA (Sept 3, 2014) based on my own experiences and other authors/speakers that I trust.
I discussed specific ways to set clear goals and establish the right metrics. Dipping into my eBay days, I shared a little known story of the importance of asking for forgiveness rather than permission in driving innovation that resulted in the launch of the eBay iPhone app.
Some other takeaways from this talk include:
- How to focus on the right, few, customer adoption metrics (e.g. AAARR). More is often not better and can distract from the main goal
- How defining your product’s purpose often improves working relationships with designers and engineers so you aren’t left arguing about the “what” or the “how
- How to avoid getting in the executive micromanagement web especially if they are distracted by the “flavor of the month” or “pet feature” ideas
- How to drive stealth projects or go through quick business case or product prototyping within a big company.
I was pleased to host the event at Comcast Silicon Valley where I work.
A full review of the talk posted on the SVPMA website.