{"id":760,"date":"2018-02-16T11:48:24","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T10:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/silta.es\/dixIT\/reflexiones-IT\/?p=760"},"modified":"2018-02-16T11:48:24","modified_gmt":"2018-02-16T10:48:24","slug":"the-art-of-the-lazy-product-manager-by-parulia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silta.es\/juantatay\/the-art-of-the-lazy-product-manager-by-parulia\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of the Lazy Product Manager (by @Parulia)"},"content":{"rendered":"

via @medium \u00abWhen you\u2019re done, go take a nap<\/a>. Call your mom (or your SO). If you insist on plugging back in, call a potential customer. Whatever you do, don\u2019t build anything new \u2014 yet<\/strong>.\u00bb<\/p>\n

\n

\u2026Gillian has been wrestling with how to prioritize the many directions she is being pulled in: by customers, salespeople, her Q&A team, and her engineers. Should they add a new product extension to target a new, possibly attractive, customer segment? Should they build an API so they can integrate with partners? Should they attack the backlog of feature requests from existing customers? Or, should they do all of the above at the same time (what her management team seems to prefer)?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026the Lazy Product Manager is not just about doing less. It\u2019s about doing what\u2019s strategic<\/em>. And not being strategic has been the Achilles\u2019 heel of many great product managers. It\u2019s only when product management is aligned with market orientation that a product can truly succeed in the market. Above all, it\u2019s only when you focus on doing less and doing what\u2019s strategic, that you can focus on what will have the most impact.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u2026the 10 principles of the Lazy Product Manager:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Ignore your customers. <\/strong>Yes, you still need to listen to them, but the Lazy Product Manager does not chase after every customer request. Instead, build the minimum feature set to keep them happy \u2014 and paying.<\/li>\n
  2. Building less is more.<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s not more features, it\u2019s the RIGHT features. How do I figure out the right features, you ask? Now you\u2019re thinking. Start with this question\u2026<\/li>\n
  3. Validate your business, not just your product.<\/strong> This is where PMs and, well, everyone on the business side typically diverge. \u2026remember that even the most detailed customer feedback session will not give you a business model. There is no \u201cif I build it, they will buy.\u201d \u2026You must figure out whose urgent or actionable need your product solves. The earlier you sell, the higher your chances of figuring out if your product will do this for someone.\u2026<\/li>\n
  4. Don\u2019t build, sell.<\/strong><\/span> Is this you: every time you face a sales objection, you build a new feature (or product line)?\u2026When you\u2019re just so good at building stuff, you sometimes can\u2019t help yourself. But this is also why teams with too much A) product talent, B) engineering talent or C) money sometimes take too long to find a product market fit. \u2026This is why salespeople sometimes make better PMs than career PMs.\u2026<\/li>\n
  5. Forced prioritization.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2026\u201cWhat would be stupid for us not to do in the next 90 days?\u201d\u2026Here are all the reasons this is a great idea: A) less complexity, B) prioritization forces you to be strategic, C) that\u2019s enough already.<\/li>\n
  6. Step into the matrix. <\/strong>How do you decide which features to build among the gazillion requests? Start by classifying product features into engagement, revenue, utility and ease of use\/delight. Build a matrix of requests organized by category\u2026 Once you do that, get your key stakeholders to agree on dollar values for each category (the Lazy Product Manager prefers numbers because there\u2019s less arguing in meetings). \u2026<\/li>\n
  7. Own, don\u2019t get owned by your tools.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2026Clarity, clarity, clarity! Aim for minimal communication (and minimal systems) beyond what you need to achieve it.<\/li>\n
  8. Communicate like a 3-year-old.<\/strong> Preschoolers communicate with stories and numbers. Invest in learning how to speak data. \u2026<\/li>\n
  9. Copying is encouraged.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2026As long as it doesn\u2019t hinder the product in some fundamental way, there are many areas where seeing what works and stealing it makes the most sense<\/a>. \u2026<\/li>\n
  10. Admit failure (and move on).<\/strong> What are the signs of early product failure? No one is buying your product. No one is sharing it with their friends. Users are logging in and immediately logging back out again, never to return. The Type A product manager thinks: \u201cIt\u2019s not you, it\u2019s me? Can I get you some new features to convince you to stay?\u201d Meanwhile, the Lazy Product Manager readily admits failure and moves onto the next product. \u2026 Remember not to watch the lips of your focus groups, watch their feet instead: what customers actually do in the wild.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \n

    Making the switch to the Lazy Product Manager\u2019s way will not happen overnight. To get started, jot down your answers to three questions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      What is strategic for your organization?<\/em><\/strong> Validating customer demand\/a path to sales\/product market fit? Growth: of customers\/of partners\/of revenue\/along a specific dimension of engagement?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

    2. \n

      What that you build will move the needle?<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

    3. \n

      What is your product team doing right now that won\u2019t?<\/em><\/strong> (This is the toughest question: be honest!)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      via @medium \u00abWhen you\u2019re done, go take a nap. Call your mom (or your SO). If you insist on plugging back in, call a potential customer. Whatever you do, don\u2019t build anything new \u2014 yet.\u00bb \u2026Gillian has been wrestling with how to prioritize the many directions she is being pulled in: by customers, salespeople, her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-product-management"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silta.es\/juantatay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silta.es\/juantatay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silta.es\/juantatay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silta.es\/juantatay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silta.es\/juantatay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/silta.es\/juantatay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silta.es\/juantatay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silta.es\/juantatay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silta.es\/juantatay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}