YOUR GUIDE

I’ve spent a lot of time doing customer research in healthcare. One thing I’ve noticed is how often participants naturally talk about outcomes.

When I talk with a nurse, they’ll talk about the clinical outcome they’re trying to achieve for the patient. We all want the person receiving care to get better, go home,...

Product managers often tell me they struggle with saying no, especially when they feel the need to explain why. The challenge isn’t really how to say no. It’s having enough clarity about what deserves a yes.

There are three questions that can help when making product decisions.

1. Does it create meaningful val...

This week, I’m traveling with a client to visit several of their customers. We’re looking for opportunities for new products, so we’ll be spending time observing and learning how their customers do their jobs.

I’ve done a lot of customer research over the years, and one thing I’ve learned is that asking customers...

When companies decide they’re ready to hire a product manager, they naturally start by defining the role, the products they’ll manage, and where they’ll fit in the organization.

What companies often discover later is that the value goes beyond the role. They’ve added someone who brings a different way of thinking...

One thing I’ve come to appreciate about product management is that not every decision lives on the same time horizon.

Some decisions improve products that already exist. We solve quality issues, reduce costs, or make incremental improvements that create more value for customers.

Other decisions are focused on to...

One thing I’ve noticed about product managers is that they spend their days moving between completely different perspectives.

In a single week, they may meet with the executive team, talk with engineers about a new concept, discuss a manufacturing issue, meet with a distributor, and spend time with customers.

Ea...

I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of growing manufacturers over the years, and I’ve noticed a similar pattern.

Early in a company’s growth, product decisions happen naturally. The business knows its customers, understands the market, and builds products that create value.

As the business grows, scal...

I was talking recently with a product manager who was preparing for a strategy discussion with his leaders.

He had blocked two hours to think through his product line. Instead, something unexpected came up that demanded his attention. By the end of the day, he had only spent about thirty minutes on the work he or...

I recently spent time interviewing customers and industry experts to better understand what drives adoption of new products. What stood out to me was that people rarely talked about the product alone. They talked about whether the product solved a meaningful problem, whether the value justified the investment, and...

Product teams rarely have complete visibility into the path ahead, even though they are expected to make important decisions around growth, investment, and direction for the company.

In many mid-sized manufacturers, product decisions are being made while the business is still learning. Customer needs may be evolv...