Grip


Book Description

“If you feel like a hostage of your to-do list and struggle to find time for what matters most, this book will be a huge help.” —Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When and Drive We’re all familiar with the signs that things are getting out of hand. The week has barely started and already you’re playing catch-up. At the end of another busy day, your to-do list is longer than it was that morning, your inbox overflowing with other people’s asks. At times like those, no matter how hard we work, it can feel like we’re spinning our wheels. Enter GRIP: The Art of Working Smart, by Dutch entrepreneur and bestselling author Rick Pastoor. GRIP is a fresh and forgiving guide that helps you get things done and free up time for what’s important to you. In the space of one year, Rick went from being a 25-year-old engineering hire to leading a team of 30 at Blendle, the New York Times-backed journalism startup. It was clear he needed a new way of working. And fast. So, Rick started experimenting. He’d keep what worked, ditch what didn’t, and share with coworkers what he learned along the way. The result is GRIP: a flexible collection of tools and insights that helped the team do their best work. Now it can do the same for you. An overnight sensation in Holland, this bestseller has helped thousands find clarity amid the chaos of our demanding times. Now available in English, for everyone who’s looking to reclaim their sanity and add direction to even the most hectic days and weeks. Rick's friendly, no-nonsense approach makes it easy to dive in. The book’s pick-and-choose structure, complete with cheat sheets for each section, means you can start applying what you need straightaway. GRIP walks you through: Unlocking the power of everyday tools you’re already using like a calendar, to-do list, and email Lowering the volume on distractions to find your focus And freeing up room to think big and grow So you can get started on making your dreams a reality.




Product Leadership


Book Description

In today’s lightning-fast technology world, good product management is critical to maintaining a competitive advantage. Yet, managing human beings and navigating complex product roadmaps is no easy task, and it’s rare to find a product leader who can steward a digital product from concept to launch without a couple of major hiccups. Why do some product leaders succeed while others don’t? This insightful book presents interviews with nearly 100 leading product managers from all over the world. Authors Richard Banfield, Martin Eriksson, and Nate Walkingshaw draw on decades of experience in product design and development to capture the approaches, styles, insights, and techniques of successful product managers. If you want to understand what drives good product leaders, this book is an irreplaceable resource. In three parts, Product Leadership helps you explore: Themes and patterns of successful teams and their leaders, and ways to attain those characteristics Best approaches for guiding your product team through the startup, emerging, and enterprise stages of a company’s evolution Strategies and tactics for working with customers, agencies, partners, and external stakeholders




The Lean Product Playbook


Book Description

The missing manual on how to apply Lean Startup to build products that customers love The Lean Product Playbook is a practical guide to building products that customers love. Whether you work at a startup or a large, established company, we all know that building great products is hard. Most new products fail. This book helps improve your chances of building successful products through clear, step-by-step guidance and advice. The Lean Startup movement has contributed new and valuable ideas about product development and has generated lots of excitement. However, many companies have yet to successfully adopt Lean thinking. Despite their enthusiasm and familiarity with the high-level concepts, many teams run into challenges trying to adopt Lean because they feel like they lack specific guidance on what exactly they should be doing. If you are interested in Lean Startup principles and want to apply them to develop winning products, this book is for you. This book describes the Lean Product Process: a repeatable, easy-to-follow methodology for iterating your way to product-market fit. It walks you through how to: Determine your target customers Identify underserved customer needs Create a winning product strategy Decide on your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Design your MVP prototype Test your MVP with customers Iterate rapidly to achieve product-market fit This book was written by entrepreneur and Lean product expert Dan Olsen whose experience spans product management, UX design, coding, analytics, and marketing across a variety of products. As a hands-on consultant, he refined and applied the advice in this book as he helped many companies improve their product process and build great products. His clients include Facebook, Box, Hightail, Epocrates, and Medallia. Entrepreneurs, executives, product managers, designers, developers, marketers, analysts and anyone who is passionate about building great products will find The Lean Product Playbook an indispensable, hands-on resource.




The Product Manager's Desk Reference


Book Description

Grab the all-you-need reference and manage your products effectively and efficiently Now, product managers at every level can have an authoritative, one-stop reference to strategizing, introducing, and managing products at their fingertips. The Product Manager’s Desk Reference uses the progression of the practitioner across the career cycle as well as the progression of the product across its life cycle to establish clear guidelines as to what must be done, when, by whom, and with what level of expertise.




Product Development and Management Body of Knowledge


Book Description

Fully-updated Third Edition of the leading study resource for PDMA's New Product Development Professional certification exam The newly revised and updated Third Edition of PDMA Body of Knowledge (BoK) provides a singular reference for anyone currently involved in, or planning a career in product management and product innovation. It describes a proven framework for product innovation which is applicable to a wide cross-section of product and service industries at various levels of an organization. It is also the basis for candidates studying for PDMA's New Product Development Professional (NPDP) certification examination. The guide is divided into seven chapters, consistent with the seven product innovation topics used as a basis for the NPDP examination: management, strategy, portfolio, process, design and development, market research, and culture & teams. PDMA Body of Knowledge includes detailed coverage of topics including: The key factors that lead to successful product innovation management. The importance of strategy to product innovation success, hierarchy of strategies, and establishing the organization's direction via vision, mission, values, and more. The role of portfolio management in selection of the right product innovation projects for an organization. Description of various product innovation processes and the pros and cons of each. The application of tools and techniques at various stages of the design and development process. The application of market research throughout product innovation. The importance of the right culture and team development. The material provided can be applied to the full range of product development projects included in most company portfolios, such as new products or services, line extensions, cost reductions, and product or service improvements. This newly revised and updated Third Edition includes new case studies, examples, and chapter exercises, along with sample NPDP examination questions. PDMA Body of Knowledge is an essential study resource for those studying for PDMA's NPDP exam. The text is also highly valuable to product management professionals, consultants, instructors, and students seeking to increase their knowledge base




The Mom Test


Book Description

The Mom Test is a quick, practical guide that will save you time, money, and heartbreak. They say you shouldn't ask your mom whether your business is a good idea, because she loves you and will lie to you. This is technically true, but it misses the point. You shouldn't ask anyone if your business is a good idea. It's a bad question and everyone will lie to you at least a little . As a matter of fact, it's not their responsibility to tell you the truth. It's your responsibility to find it and it's worth doing right . Talking to customers is one of the foundational skills of both Customer Development and Lean Startup. We all know we're supposed to do it, but nobody seems willing to admit that it's easy to screw up and hard to do right. This book is going to show you how customer conversations go wrong and how you can do better.




The Influential Product Manager


Book Description

This book is a comprehensive and practical guide to the core skills, activities, and behaviors that are required of product managers in modern technology companies. Product management is one of the fastest growing and most sought-after roles by job seekers and companies alike. The availability of trained and experienced talent can barely keep up with the accelerating demand for new and improved technology products. People from nontechnical and technical backgrounds alike are eager to master this exciting new role. The Influential Product Manager teaches product managers how to behave at each stage of the product life cycle to achieve the best outcome for the customer. Product managers are under pressure to drive spectacular results, often without wielding much direct power or authority. If you don't know how to influence people at all levels of the organization, how will you create the best possible product? This comprehensive entry-level textbook distills over twenty years of hard-won field experience and industry knowledge into lessons that will empower new product managers to act like pros right out of the gate. With teaching experience both from UC Berkeley and Lynda.com, the author boils down the most complex topics into principles that are easy to memorize and apply. This book methodically documents the tools product managers everywhere use to align their teams with market needs and organizational goals. From setting priorities to capturing requirements to navigating trade-offs, this book makes it easy. Not only will your product succeed, you'll succeed, too, when you read the final chapter on advancing your career. Let your product's success become your success!




Validating Product Ideas


Book Description

Want to know what your users are thinking? If you’re a product manager or developer, this book will help you learn the techniques for finding the answers to your most burning questions about your customers. With step-by-step guidance, Validating Product Ideas shows you how to tackle the research to build the best possible product.




The Product Manager Interview


Book Description

NOTE: This is the NEWER 3rd edition for the book formerly titled PM Interview Questions. -- 164 Actual PM Interview Questions From the creator of the CIRCLES Method(TM), The Product Manager Interview is a resource you don't want to miss. The world's expert in product management interviews, Lewis C. Lin, gives readers 164 practice questions to gain product management (PM) proficiency and master the PM interview including: Google Facebook Amazon Uber Dropbox Microsoft Fully Solved Solutions The book contains fully solved solutions so readers can learn, improve and do their best at the PM interview. Here are questions and sample answers you'll find in the book: Product Design How would you design an ATM for elderly people? Should Google build a Comcast-like TV cable service? Instagram currently supports 3 to 15 second videos. We're considering supporting videos of unlimited length. How would you modify the UX to accommodate this? Pricing How would you go about pricing UberX or any other new Uber product? Let's say Google created a teleporting device: which market segments would you go after? How would you price it? Metrics Imagine you are the Amazon Web Services (AWS) PM in Sydney. What are the top three metrics you'd look at? Facebook users have declined 20 percent week over week. Diagnose the problem. How would you fix the issue? Ideal Complement to Decode and Conquer Many of you have read the PM interview frameworks revealed in Decode and Conquer, including the CIRCLES(TM), AARM(TM) and DIGS(TM) Methods. The Product Manager Interview is the perfect complement to Decode and Conquer. With over 160 practice questions, you'll see what the best PM interview responses look and feel like. Brand New Third Edition Many of the sample answers have been re-written from scratch. The sample answers are now stronger and easier to follow. In total, thousands of changes have made in this brand new third edition of the book. Preferred by the World's Top Universities Here's what students and staff have to say about the Lewis C. Lin: DUKE UNIVERSITY I was so touched by your presentation this morning. It was really helpful. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN I can say your class is the best that I have ever attended. I will definitely use knowledge I learned today for future interviews. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY I'd like to let you know that your workshop today is super awesome! It's the best workshop I have been to since I came to Columbia Business School. Thank you very much for the tips, frameworks, and the very clear and well-structured instruction! UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN I wanted to reiterate how much I enjoyed your workshops today. Thank you so much for taking time out and teaching us about these much-needed principles and frameworks. I actually plan to print out a few slides and paste them on my walls! CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY I'm a very big admirer of your work. We, at Tepper, follow your books like the Bible. As a former associate product manager, I was able to connect your concepts back to my work experience back and Pragmatic Marketing training. I'm really looking forward to apply your teachings.




Ask a Manager


Book Description

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together