Samudra Neelam Bhuyan

Product Managers, if you're seeking career growth insights, Lenny Rachitsky's recent podcast featuring Vikrama Dhiman is an absolute must-listen. Vikrama shares a valuable PM skill development framework, and immense wisdom and specificity on how to sharpen skills at every stage. While avoiding generational stereotypes, he definitely addresses what, I'd hazard, other leaders have noticed as a rising trend of young professionals seeking rapid career progression ahead of skill enhancement - and he does it with gracious & empathetic advice that is right on the money. For leaders aiming to mentor product managers effectively, this discussion is a goldmine too. Thanks Lenny and Vikrama for the thought-provoking dialogue #ProductManagement #CareerGrowth #LeadershipDevelopment

13

Why do most product managers drown in a daily whirlpool of triaged tasks and constant firefighting? I've observed product managers often put Strategic initiatives that could actually propel their company and advance their careers on the back burner. Yet, instead of reclaiming their time, most PMs keep piling more onto their overflowing plate. Why? Because they're told that being a selfless servant is the PM job description, immediately answering any Slack pings or unblocking every minor engineering ask is supposedly what "good" PMs do. But that's bullshit advice that slowly grinds you down. My clients don't drown in a deluge of reactive tasks. They reserve dedicated blocks of uninterrupted time to drive strategic, high-impact work - even while managing large teams. How? By taking complete control of their roles instead of obediently jumping through hoops whenever someone lobs an idea their way. By fortifying their mindset and mustering the courage to say "no" to endless demands on their time and attention. By coaching their teams to embrace more autonomy and distributing ownership over the many micro-decisions that don't actually require a PM's input. You have limited hours in the day. You can keep spending them putting out fires, replying to emails, and sitting through useless meetings. Or you can commit to maximizing your impact. Look, I get it - tips and tactics for improving processes are exciting. But this mental overhaul is vital. Without reframing how you assert control over your time and priorities, no PM hack will work. It's time to run your job before it runs you into the ground. --- Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed this: 1. Save it 2. Repost it to share with others 3. Comment with your favorite takeaway Then hit follow → Shobhit Chugh for more posts on product management.

14

1 Comment

Transforming Product Teams: Insights from "Transformed" by Marty Cagan In today’s fast-paced tech landscape, product teams are continually evolving to meet new challenges and drive innovation. Marty Cagan’s latest book, "Transformed - Moving to the Product Operational Model," provides a comprehensive guide to making this transformation effectively. Here are some key takeaways: 🌟 Key Concepts from "Transformed": 1. Adopting the Product Operational Model What It Is: Moving from a project-based to a product-based mindset, where teams focus on continuous improvement and long-term product success. Why It Matters: This shift leads to better alignment with customer needs and business goals, fostering a culture of innovation and agility. 2. Empowered Product Teams Definition: Teams that have the autonomy to make decisions, experiment, and iterate based on customer feedback and data. Impact: Empowered teams are more motivated and effective, leading to higher-quality products and faster time-to-market. 3. Outcome-Driven Metrics Focus: Shifting from output-based metrics (e.g., number of features delivered) to outcome-based metrics (e.g., customer satisfaction, revenue growth). Benefits: This approach ensures that teams are working towards meaningful goals that drive business success and customer value. 4. Continuous Discovery and Delivery Process: Integrating continuous discovery (identifying and validating customer problems) with continuous delivery (building and shipping solutions). Advantages: This method reduces risks and ensures that the product evolves based on real user needs and feedback. 5. Cross-Functional Collaboration Approach: Encouraging collaboration across disciplines, including design, engineering, marketing, and sales. Result: Cross-functional teams can leverage diverse perspectives and expertise, leading to more innovative and holistic solutions. 🌟 Real-World Impact: Companies that have embraced these principles have seen transformative results: Increased Customer Satisfaction: By focusing on continuous improvement and customer feedback. Faster Time-to-Market: Through empowered teams and agile processes. Improved Innovation: Via cross-functional collaboration and a culture of experimentation. At Discovery Outcomes, we’re inspired by these principles and committed to helping product teams achieve these transformations. By integrating customer insights, automating workflows, and aligning strategy with business goals, we enable teams to focus on what truly matters—delivering exceptional products. Discovery Outcomes : https://lnkd.in/gBt5X2tz #ProductManagement #Transformation #MartyCagan #ProductOperationalModel #EmpoweredTeams #ContinuousDiscovery #OutcomeDriven #CrossFunctionalCollaboration #ThoughtLeadership

12

To land Director to CPO jobs, Product Leaders must leverage Executive Search firms. They hold the keys to the hidden job market. Here is a lay of the land. Aakash Gupta and I wrote in depth about this in the Product Leadership Job Search and I followed up recently with the Tech Exec's Job Search Playbook. I recommend both reads. Comment if you want contacts or my thoughts on working with them as a candidate or hiring manager

99

27 Comments

🤔 "Writing design documents is a valuable exercise for both product managers and engineers. It allows us to deeply understand and think through the problem. This task should never be outsourced to other people or an LLM." I got this insight from a reputable engineering leader, and I completely agree. But does it contradict our vision for Wisary? No. It reinforces it! 🚀 At Wisary, we are leveraging LLM technology to enhance collaboration in the software development process, particularly between Product Managers and Engineers. Part of this involves helping Product Managers communicate product requirements in a way that empowers engineers to build the right product faster. 🤝 I believe that LLMs can make the exercise of defining product requirements more productive and result in higher quality outputs. LLMs can handle the boilerplate, surface relevant information, and review outputs to identify gaps that humans might miss. ✨ Out goal is not to replace human thinking, but to empower it. Instead, we aim to make the process more efficient and enable human expertise to shine. 💡 🌟 Let's embrace technology to work smarter, not harder, and foster better collaboration and understanding in our teams. #ProductManagement #EngineeringCollaboration #LLMs #Wisary #HumanExpertise

4

🎙️Tonight is the night! Join Bosky and me for a deep dive into the importance of soft skills in product management. We’ll discuss how EQ can help you grow your career, enhance your products, and build better relationships. See you at 8:30 PM CET at this link 👉🏻 https://lnkd.in/e3RiyHjE

12

1 Comment

Interesting thing I've learned about building a benchmarking tool is that what a lot of early adopters actually want is an influencing tool. Completely reframes product features. Example: Old feature: Auto generated board reports 1. Choose metrics 2. Generate Graphs 3. Download as pdf/ppt New feature: Show me the stories I could tell with my data. 1. Here are the stories you can tell 2. Choose story 3. Generate metric benchmark graphs that help tell that story 4. Suggest narrative 4. Download Excited to see where peoplemetrics.fyi goes :-)

30

12 Comments

I love rubrics*, but if I had to simplify, great PMs deliver impact in highly ambiguous and noisy situations, and junior PMs get stuck. At the APM and PM level, it’s all about execution: give them the problem, give them a hypothesis for the solution, and they can do some basic discovery to find the answer and build it. Stakeholder needs are easy to meet, and there aren’t a ton of distractions. It’s basic product delivery. At the SPM level, there’s a little more ambiguity and noise. The problem space is given to them but the exact problem isn’t, the solution space takes some discovery and iteration, and the execution is pretty straightforward once the pieces are lined up. Stakeholders are a bit more opinionated because the stakes are higher, and as a more senior person, you’re fielding more distractions*. At the Lead and Principal levels, you’re tackling situations that could unlock big value but nothing is easy and failure is possible. You’re given a desired business outcome and have to find a big enough customer problem that, if solved successfully, would deliver that business outcome. No one knows if it’s possible, but everyone has opinions. The stakes are high, and if you succeed, you can have huge impact on the valuation and future of the business. I’m sharing this for two reasons. For managers: does the level of your team talent match the problems you are asking them to solve? It could be they need more scaffolding, that you have a Lead level problem but only a PM available. You’ll need to step in and help them solve it. For ICs: if you’re looking for promotion, focus on success given ambiguity and noise. Give your manager and leadership team more reasons to hand you difficult, messy, higher stakes opportunities. “I got this.” Then, deliver. —————— *If you’re interested in reading the footnotes as well as my work-in-progress thoughts (today: are people actually using ChatGPT for vision and strategy?), sign up for my free newsletter: https://lnkd.in/g44P3_rB

24

1 Comment

Are you considering a career transition into product management? Aspiring PMs often seek the excitement and rewards this field offers, and I truly understand their enthusiasm. Personally, I find product management to be one of the most fulfilling roles, combining strategy, innovation, and user-centric problem-solving. Transitioning into product management isn't always straightforward, especially without prior experience. My journey into PM was far from linear, with challenges to overcome and potential to demonstrate. Through hard work and dedication, I turned my dream into reality. In my recent blog post, I share my personal story of transitioning into product management by leveraging unique opportunities, building on existing skills, and embracing continuous learning. I hope my experiences can offer valuable insights and inspiration for those considering a similar career path. #ProductManagement #CareerTransition #PersonalExperience #ContinuousLearning

22

1 Comment

Most advice around product thinking tells PMs to focus on “systems” and “frameworks”. Spoiler alert: That doesn’t work. Early in my career, I joined a company that got ZERO adoption when they launched a new feature. This is the story with tons of businesses. But why? Because often we don’t have an evidence-backed answer as to why is a particular functionality needed. 🤦‍♀️ Here’s my tried and tested 30-minute exercise on strengthening your product-thinking muscles: Set aside 15 minutes 2x a week to choose a recently used product, and do these: 1/ Tear down and analyze the product (helps you enhance your product mindset) 2/ Give a bias-free critique of the product. I would also go as far as to reach out to their CEO or PM and offer to brainstorm ideas. 3/ Brainstorm how you can help the product enter a market it’s not currently addressing. For example, how would Loom enter the traditional business market? 4/ Create a paper prototype for a problem you encountered while using it (gives you customer empathy) Product thinking seems like an elusive term, but it’s really really that simple. Will you be trying out this exercise? #productmanagement #productmanager

24

6 Comments

Can a Product Manager own the P&L for a product if the teams building and supporting the product don’t report to the #ProductManager? You must set people up for success if you want them to succeed. Giving a product manager the responsibility of profit and loss over a product without authority over how it is built and maintained is the opposite of setting them up for success. I had a conversation with Ruby Raley about this yesterday. I shared a story about a company I know where the CTO was charged with building a new product. He outsourced it to an IT vendor. They got it built in about 9 months. It was sold to a handful of clients. The clients started using it. The bill arrived from the cloud hosting service and it was $1.2M for the month‼️ The company was going to lose over $1M a month just to run the product. 👆🏻This is what happens when goals and incentives are misaligned and constraints are not communicated. The CTO was not involved in pricing; nor had he considered the cost of the architectural decisions made by the outsource team. I rarely see the engineering organization report into the Head of Product. And even more rarely are product managers setting pricing for the products they manage, or determining the size and quality of their design and development teams. Honestly, I am on the fence about this topic. I see so many product managers struggling with the demands of doing all the things they need to do to manage their products. Many PMs only have 3-5 years of business experience. Do they have the time, skills, training, and aptitude for managing a P&L too? Does the reporting structure support it? Will the executive team support it? I would love to hear from product managers. Do you manage your product’s #ProfitAndLoss? Do you want to?

7

8 Comments

Course Recommendation: A Practical Guide to Generative AI for PMs If you're a product manager curious about generative AI but unsure where to start, the "Generative AI for Product Managers Mini Simulator" by GoPractice, Inc is a must-try (thanks to Letitia Lew for bringing it to my attention). This course offers high time-to-value; it was also offered for free to Lenny Rachitsky subscribers. Unlike some other courses that either provide a high-level overview or go too in-depth into specific subjects, this one dives deep into a focused use case: automated review analysis to track user opinions and evaluate how external events and product changes affect user perception. Having a single use case grounds the learning while also allowing you to walk away with immediate next steps. What truly sets this course apart is its practical approach. It goes beyond merely teaching you how to write prompts; it also delves into metrics for evaluating response quality and measuring the cost vs. business value of an AI system. After all, if an AI solution doesn't deliver a positive return on investment, it's a non-starter. One of the key learning was the immediate applicability of the example use case. With legal/data clearance, I could apply the concepts to our own product review analysis. The course also demystified the "temperature" feature in ChatGPT, which controls the creativity (or randomness) of the generated text – handy for specific use cases like summarizing legal texts (use 0) or crafting creative copy (1.6). Perhaps the biggest takeaway was the parallel between building an AI solution and my work in experimentation. Just like with product experiments, the success of an AI solution hinges on validating the hypothesis that it creates value for users and the business. The process of prompt engineering is iterative, involving rapid testing with small data sets, getting signal quickly help shape the next round; subsequent testing with larger data sets before full-scale application. Overall, the "Generative AI for Product Managers Mini Simulator" is a practical and engaging introduction to generative AI for product managers. It provides a structured approach to understanding the potential and limitations of this technology, equipping you with the tools to explore its application within your own product domain. A side note: I used Claude 3 Sonnet instead of ChatGPT3.5 to write this post. ChatGPT made me sound like an over-enthusiastic tool - despite me refining the prompt; Claude came across more approachable and down-to-earth. A dead giveaway of a ChatGPT written Linked-in post is all that emoji and hashtags.

22

2 Comments

 Some great thoughts here by Apoorva Mishra. Particularly the point on frameworks being “supplements, not substitutes"... Worth a quick look for anyone in product development!

4

Landing and negotiating Product Leadership (Director to CPO) roles is a whole different game. Here are 3 differences in the product leadership job search... 👇 Aakash Gupta and I wrote a 20K+ word in-depth guide to the Product Leadership Job Search after speaking with 7 external Executive Recruiters, 2 internal big tech Executive Recruiters, 2 VC talent teams, and 12 CPOs/ VPs. Here are 3 major differences we saw between IC PM jobs and leadership searches... 1️⃣ Many top roles are never posted publicly. 10-30% of Director+ product roles and nearly 100% of CPO roles never see the light of day in public job boards. Companies often start searches before finalizing job descriptions, using Executive Recruiters and VC firms to run outbound searches. You NEED to build relationships with these recruiters and VCs as a leader. 2️⃣ Reputation, outcomes, and domain expertise matter most. Past colleagues and managers will be referenced in backchannel calls. You must demonstrate significant, measurable top-line business impact. Relevant experience in the specific domain is highly valued. 3️⃣ Compensation is higher but more variable. Director roles can pay 1.5-2x a Group PM. A VP can make 2x a Director. C-suite comp varies widely - top CPOs make millions and even 10s of millions at FAANG+. Finding reliable data requires tapping exec recruiters and VCs. Navigating this new world requires a strategic approach. Focus on your network, narrative, and long-term relationships. Don't underestimate the power of Executive Recruiters, who will only help you more as your career progresses. Link in the comments to my guest post on Aakash's popular Product Growth newsletter.

64

12 Comments

Even 'ex-Google' tags don't seem to cut it in the product management job market. Let's unravel the surprising reason why. 👇 I was reviewing a product leader's resume the other day. He had managed teams of up to five people and had a significant impact at various places. All seemed to be good. But he had been applying at many places and not getting much response at all. He was puzzled and said something that many clients have told me recently. "Shobhit, I thought it would be easier." Easier to get interviews, to get noticed, to get to the final rounds, to get offers. But it just isn't today. Even when you come with a pedigree as "ex-Google" or "Experienced product manager" its not easy. Hiring managers just don't want another "accomplished product leader." They want to know that you are EXACTLY the right fit for the job. That you bring accomplishments and skills that are unique to the job. This is precisely why so many product managers struggle 👉 They build generic resumes and pitches 👉 They apply to tons of places without a clear strategy 👉 They struggle to articulate why they are a good fit for the role 👉 They do endless smocks with people who have no idea how to give them the right feedback 👉 They have some success.....and then do not get past the next round 👉 They repeat the process What if what it took for you to start getting MORE offers, and even the ideal offer, was a SIMPLE tweak in the words you're using in your narrative and stories that positioned you the right way? What if you needed to upgrade the words you use in your answers so that they speak to your being the ideal candidate for the job right now? What if the real difference would be in positioning yourself by articulating clearly why you are an exact fit for that role and unique from most other candidates? What if it did get easier when you made those tweaks (as it did for Justin, who recently landed a role with a 40%+ increase by only applying to five places where he could articulate being a great fit)? 'Cause let's face it: YOU are an action taker and are applying for roles that challenge you and stretch you while others are just happy to have any job - am I right? If that's the case, here's how we can help: We invite you to a personalized strategy session. We'll delve into your career journey, assessing the highs and lows and discussing your aspirations. Together, we'll map out a strategy for your success. If our services align with your goals, we can discuss how we can help. If not, that's absolutely fine! So, let's get going and take action soon. I invite you to book a call with us. Please comment "Book" on this post to set up a session with us.

17

10 Comments

If you are a senior product person, product leader, or founder, if there is only one class you take in your entire career or next 5 years, Shreyas Doshi's Improving Your Product Sense is the most singularly important and impactful course you will take. This course goes deep, expands your ability to reach your potential, and taps into key elements of creativity. If you are connected to me on LinkedIn, you already know, I take A LOT of classes every year. I've taken classes with some of the best people in their respective fields, including product management. Last week, I took Improving Your Product Sense, and it is hands down the best, highest impact, challenging, thought-changing class of my career. It has already helped me start thinking more clearly, make better decisions, and I've referenced my notes from the course nearly ever day since. And this is just the beginning of me practicing the things he taught in the course. The next cohort is in July, so you should apply today as applications started pouring in already. Link below and in the comments. https://lnkd.in/gMn_fFsp

36

4 Comments

Call it the job market or more number of folks planning to move to product management. Lately, I've been getting quite a few DMs from people asking for advice on their product management journeys. It's honestly been both humbling and inspiring! That's why I've decided to start coaching on Topmate. Whether you're... ...trying to figure out how to land your first PM role ...wanting to sharpen your product development skills ...just needing another PM to brainstorm with ...I'm happy to chat. I want to share what I've learned – both the wins and the mistakes – and help you navigate your own path. Interested in connecting? Schedule a time here: https://lnkd.in/du32txYE And even if you don't want a formal session, feel free to reach out! I love connecting with this community. #ProductManagement #CareerMentorship #Topmate #ProfessionalGrowth

36

12 Comments

#ProductMusing: 🚀 Balancing Speed and Quality in Product Launches 🚀 Navigating the delicate balance between speed and quality is essential in product development. Here are a few strategies and frameworks I've found especially effective: 🌟 Set Clear Goals: Define your Minimum Viable Product (MVP). For instance, Airbnb initially launched with just an MVP focusing on basic home-sharing features before expanding. 🌟 Agile Methodologies: Use Agile frameworks like Scrum or Kanban for iterative development. Companies like Spotify have scaled using Agile to deliver high-quality products quickly. 🌟 Cross-Functional Collaboration: Foster a culture where Quality Assurance (QA) is integrated within all teams. Apple’s success, for instance, stems from embedding quality across all departments. 🌟 Automation Tools: Leverage automation for testing and deployment. Tools like Jenkins and Selenium can significantly reduce manual testing time and ensure consistent quality. For example, LinkedIn uses automation to streamline its QA processes. 🌟 Continuous Improvement: Implement a Kaizen approach for ongoing enhancements. Toyota’s Kaizen philosophy has been instrumental in maintaining high standards while improving speed. Balancing quality and agility is key to a successful product launch. Focus on delivering exceptional value without compromising on standards! 💡 #ProductManagement #QualityAssurance #Agile #Leadership

8

2 Comments

Metrics come up all the time in talking about how to prove design systems value. The prevailing idea is that increasing adoption is the key to unlocking value. I disagree. I think it may be a part of success, but it is a bad way to express value. Here is why! Adoption is the kind of metric you get when you throw up your hands because you can't get the right data or you're more focused on building the design system than what you can build with it. It is the equivalent of "well, people seem to use it, so it must be great!" this can be fine if you're just starting out, but it doesn't tell you how your system is actually delivering value. Heck, NPS (which is also pretty imperfect), or a qualitative ask of product teams of "how valuable is the design system to your daily work?" or "what would change if the design system went away tomorrow?" is a better proxy for value than just "do people view some pages or login once a week?" Adoption can be pushed as a mandate. After seeing hundred of design systems up close, I can say definitively that high adoption doesn't differentiate between dream design systems and that 17 tool spaghetti monster that has documentation in Excel with hundreds of links to a private Git repo along with a 22 swim lane flowchart that you just... keep... scrolling... down. The only reason why adoption persists as a common metric is because even really bad design systems have the ability to generate significant value. So what's better? First, we need to hone in on the unit of repeatable value. This differs depending on the stated goal of the design system, but the vast majority of good design systems that operate at a significant scale are focused on how fast the organization can build products using the system (that's not the same as building components or designs in the system itself). At Knapsack, we tend to express this at this as cycle / iteration time from design to code across product teams that consume the design system -- either faster iterations or fewer iterations. We tend to focus on capacity because individual cycle velocity is often poorly understood and varies between product teams or disciplines. However, most teams have a fair handle on their capacity both for a single cycle and across a historical range of cycles. These can also be expressed easily as a relative percentage increase or decrease. It also accounts for a lot of secondary things (e.g. QA time) There is a goldilocks zone that consistently lands between 20 - 40% greater cycle capacity. For most of our customers, that's literally millions of dollars. If you're using adoption, you're not alone. We've heard time and again on the Design Systems Podcast that folks look at this metric ALL THE TIME as a measure of success, but it certainly doesn't paint the full picture, nor is it the north star for understanding value.

40

2 Comments