Product Management in Practice: A Real-World Guide to the Key Connective Role of the 21st Century
- Downloads：4717
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-22 09:56:26
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Matt Lemay
- ISBN：1491982276
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Product management has become a critical connective role for modern organizations， from small technology startups to global corporate enterprises。 And yet the day-to-day work of product management remains largely misunderstood。 In theory， product management is about building products that people love。 The real-world practice of product management is often about difficult conversations， practical compromises， and hard-won incremental gains。
In this book， author Matt LeMay focuses on the CORE connective skills-- communication， organization， research， execution--that can build a successful product management practice across industries， organizations， teams， andtoolsets。
For current and aspiring product managers， this book explores: ？ On-the-ground tactics for facilitating collaboration and communication？ How to talk to users and work with executives？ The importance of setting clear and actionable goals？ Using roadmaps to connect and align your team？ A values-first approach to implementing Agile practices？ Common behavioral traps that turn good product managers bad
In this book， author Matt LeMay focuses on the CORE connective skills-- communication， organization， research， execution--that can build a successful product management practice across industries， organizations， teams， andtoolsets。
For current and aspiring product managers， this book explores: ？ On-the-ground tactics for facilitating collaboration and communication？ How to talk to users and work with executives？ The importance of setting clear and actionable goals？ Using roadmaps to connect and align your team？ A values-first approach to implementing Agile practices？ Common behavioral traps that turn good product managers bad
Reviews
Daniel Noventa
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Highly readable and digestible insights into leading a product build and coordinating with stakeholders。
Chittii
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What a great book！ Gave me a lot of ideas how to cope with my daily challenges and helped me to ease my frustrations that I’m not working ‘by-the-book’。 This position though ensured me how I love my job
Mandy Sidana
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Sets the right expectations and assumptions about role of a product manager。 Casual and direct enough to make you feel like you are talking to a friend who has some honest behavioral insights into the domain。
Benjamin Gaines
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Finally， a product management book that is real and practical。 As much as we PMs love vision and idealism， sometimes we need people who've been there to tell us how things actually work in organizations and roles and products that are not perfect。 Matt LeMay is that author。 This book resonated with me more than anything else I've read on the discipline of product management because I could see my frustrations and struggles and failures in it， and it taught me how I might be better without needin Finally， a product management book that is real and practical。 As much as we PMs love vision and idealism， sometimes we need people who've been there to tell us how things actually work in organizations and roles and products that are not perfect。 Matt LeMay is that author。 This book resonated with me more than anything else I've read on the discipline of product management because I could see my frustrations and struggles and failures in it， and it taught me how I might be better without needing to change my entire world to bring about the change he teaches。 。。。more
Ridhima Kaushal
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One of the most practical product books ever。 So many other books I’ve read on Product have good concepts but so little that we can apply to our day-to-day。 It hits home – the challenges and solutions shared in this book are something I’ve experienced in my 10 months as a PM。
Matthew Kern
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Lemay did a great job of speaking the truth about the day-to-day effort of product management。 He offers great insights into the new career and I enjoyed the organization of the material。One part that I really liked was his presentation of CORE skills of product management。 He offers these guiding principles for each one* Communication - “clarity over comfort。”* Organization - “change the rules， don’t break the rules。”* Research - “live in your user’s reality。”* Execution - “no work beneath， no Lemay did a great job of speaking the truth about the day-to-day effort of product management。 He offers great insights into the new career and I enjoyed the organization of the material。One part that I really liked was his presentation of CORE skills of product management。 He offers these guiding principles for each one* Communication - “clarity over comfort。”* Organization - “change the rules， don’t break the rules。”* Research - “live in your user’s reality。”* Execution - “no work beneath， no work above。”This is great advice。His voice is down-to-earth and speaking to those that are in the trenches or work with those that are。 I like how Lemay dispels the common assumptions about product management and brings the reader back to what it is really about。This quote hit home:"In theory， product management is about triangulating business goals with user needs。 In practice， product management often means pushing relentlessly to get any kind of clarity about what business “goals” really are。 In theory， product management is a masterfully played game of chess。 In practice， product management often feels like a hundred simultaneous games of checkers。"All in all， a great book for a product manger's library。 Will come back to it again at some point。 。。。more
Colby Tibbet
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I recently moved from years of working in a startup space and needed some guidance into the wild world of software enterprise。 I've read several books leading up to the position that talks about methodologies， terms， etc。 But this book is really a "real-world" guide， which is what I needed。 Scenarios that are more about human interactions than "what would an agile-minded product person" and where most of the problem lie in communication and understanding。I think the cover may offput some people I recently moved from years of working in a startup space and needed some guidance into the wild world of software enterprise。 I've read several books leading up to the position that talks about methodologies， terms， etc。 But this book is really a "real-world" guide， which is what I needed。 Scenarios that are more about human interactions than "what would an agile-minded product person" and where most of the problem lie in communication and understanding。I think the cover may offput some people who work in software （not as hip "modern" look） but O’Reilly generally outputs wonderful technical books （I own at least a dozen python/data science books from them） and its awesome to see it expanded into "softskills" areas。 If you want a product book that is written by a human and not what "model product person" should be， highly recommended。 。。。more
Camille Chabaro
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This is actually the first product management book I have read， seems to really make clear a lot of the challenges product managers face in their day-to-day life。 Takes a non-theoretical approach to the practice and is a good guide for those starting out in their product management career！
Du Nguyen
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An excellent book。 It provides the fundamentals of product management without prescribing a lot of methods but instead a lot of guidelines or first principles。 As of such it seems to be always timely and prevents going into whatever's in vogue like scrum or kanban。The author has lots of experience and distills all of this very clearly into guidelines and principles。 There's plenty of excellent war stories as well from other product managers。 Really recommend this book for product managers or eve An excellent book。 It provides the fundamentals of product management without prescribing a lot of methods but instead a lot of guidelines or first principles。 As of such it seems to be always timely and prevents going into whatever's in vogue like scrum or kanban。The author has lots of experience and distills all of this very clearly into guidelines and principles。 There's plenty of excellent war stories as well from other product managers。 Really recommend this book for product managers or even people who work with product managers。 。。。more
Lina Afriana
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A lot of business book actually hard to read and digest， but this book really readable that it even suprises me。 The advise is very practical and definitely something that I will revisit in the future。 This book does not teach you on how to use framework a， how to use framework b， instead this book show you how you decide the framework and how you do it so you could have better potential to success。The case shown also relates to what I experienced during work and definitely prepared me better fo A lot of business book actually hard to read and digest， but this book really readable that it even suprises me。 The advise is very practical and definitely something that I will revisit in the future。 This book does not teach you on how to use framework a， how to use framework b， instead this book show you how you decide the framework and how you do it so you could have better potential to success。The case shown also relates to what I experienced during work and definitely prepared me better for my job。 。。。more
C。A。 Martin
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If you work in just about any type of organization， you should be able to find useful information in this book。 The writing is clear and the advice he gives can help anyone communicate and focus on common goals within a group。
Bryan
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Really good。 Lots of good detail in this book that I'll be chewing on for quite some time。 I give it a 4/5 because it's not my favorite book I've ever read on the subject， but it's REALLY REALLY good for all the PMs out there that want to have a better sense for how to be a PM。 It's always a nice refresher to read these types of books。 Really good。 Lots of good detail in this book that I'll be chewing on for quite some time。 I give it a 4/5 because it's not my favorite book I've ever read on the subject， but it's REALLY REALLY good for all the PMs out there that want to have a better sense for how to be a PM。 It's always a nice refresher to read these types of books。 。。。more
Omri Herman
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*I am a Product Manager* This book really tackles some very important aspects of actually being a Product Manager that I could have used since day 1。For me， this book is a gap from the 'Theoretical' Product Manager to the 'Working' Product Manager。Also， it covers some pitfalls very very well， It's like she was walking in my shoes for the first 2 years of me being an amateur Product Manager。Super informative， effective， and enjoyable read。 *I am a Product Manager* This book really tackles some very important aspects of actually being a Product Manager that I could have used since day 1。For me， this book is a gap from the 'Theoretical' Product Manager to the 'Working' Product Manager。Also， it covers some pitfalls very very well， It's like she was walking in my shoes for the first 2 years of me being an amateur Product Manager。Super informative， effective， and enjoyable read。 。。。more
Edgar Andriasyan
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casual PM read， you can have an interesting journey through this book if you have experienced the enterprise culture， and know a bit about the startups
Konstantin Valiotti
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Excellent。
Patrik Lindberg
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Great hands-on book on product management applicable to project management as well。
Ranjan
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Great Book。 The book is full of great ideas and experiences vividly shared by experienced product managers。 There's a lot of value in those！ Great Book。 The book is full of great ideas and experiences vividly shared by experienced product managers。 There's a lot of value in those！ 。。。more
Alagappan AL
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Author's thoughts are well articulated。 Good book to understand product management。 Author's thoughts are well articulated。 Good book to understand product management。 。。。more
Petri
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Concise， nicely opinionated with useful examples and clear references for futher reading。
Joel Davis
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I generally base my rating on how many highlights I make in the book。 Even though I'm not a product manager， per se， I found a lot of valuable information in this book。 It helped me understand the PM role better and gave me insights into managing the products that I do work on better。 I especially found his insights about working with those above you and those below particularly helpful。 I generally base my rating on how many highlights I make in the book。 Even though I'm not a product manager， per se， I found a lot of valuable information in this book。 It helped me understand the PM role better and gave me insights into managing the products that I do work on better。 I especially found his insights about working with those above you and those below particularly helpful。 。。。more
Paiman Chen
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Very practical indeed。
KC
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In this book， Product Management guru Matt LeMay offers his wisdom surrounding the question: "So， what exactly does a product manager do all day， anyhow？"The acknowledgment of the ambiguity of the role is a welcome relief。 He offers the primers to frame the role: （1） You are not the boss （2） You are not actually building the product yourself and （3） You can’t wait around until somebody tells you what to do。The introductory profiles lampooning the "bad examples" of product managers were both ente In this book， Product Management guru Matt LeMay offers his wisdom surrounding the question: "So， what exactly does a product manager do all day， anyhow？"The acknowledgment of the ambiguity of the role is a welcome relief。 He offers the primers to frame the role: （1） You are not the boss （2） You are not actually building the product yourself and （3） You can’t wait around until somebody tells you what to do。The introductory profiles lampooning the "bad examples" of product managers were both entertaining and surprisingly easily identifiable。 The Jargon Jockey， The Steve Jobs Acolyte， The Hero Product Manager， The Product Martyr， and The Nostalgic Engineer all embody attributes that are easy to gravitate towards but must be avoided to be successful。When the book gets down to the nitty-gritty， I found the discussion about Product Roadmaps to be most valuable。 This quote in particular: "As a product manager， your job is not to covet and defend the roadmap; rather， it is to open the roadmap to a shared， company-wide discussion about what you are building， who you are building it for， and why。 As a rule， the product roadmap should be something that encourages collaboration and focuses that collaboration around high-level goals。"Getting people on the same page， talking to each other， and discussing points that are actually relevant to the product itself seems to be the key function of product managers， in addition to taking responsibility for product outcomes。 。。。more
Ahmad
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a must-read for every new product manager
Lehel Ferencz
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One of those rare books which changes professional paradigms。 Clear， practical， memorable and easily applicable。
Jesse Richards
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The book I wish I had read 10 years ago。 I had already come to most of the same conclusions as the book， but through lots of trial and error。 An excellent guide。
Martyna
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Excellent book！
Ayush Jain
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I recently completed this book and I have to say， this is one of those books that you would want to revisit at various stages of your Product Management career。 You can buy it from Amazon here。The learnings present in this book are timeless and would be applicable differently to product companies at various different stages but principles more or less remain relevant and highly applicable。I highly recommend reading this book but just so you get a glimpse of what to expect， here is a summary of t I recently completed this book and I have to say， this is one of those books that you would want to revisit at various stages of your Product Management career。 You can buy it from Amazon here。The learnings present in this book are timeless and would be applicable differently to product companies at various different stages but principles more or less remain relevant and highly applicable。I highly recommend reading this book but just so you get a glimpse of what to expect， here is a summary of the book。You can read the full summary here https://www。linkedin。com/pulse/produc。。。 。。。more
Greg
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NOTES: • Pursue clarity over comfort to build your communication skills。• Seek out opportunities to solve organizational problems on the systemic level rather than the individual level。 If the rules aren’t working， change them， don’t break them。• Don’t let the day-to-day organizational conflicts of your work pull you out of your user’s reality。 Remember that what your company cares about and what your users care about are different things， and be a relentless advocate for the latter。• Remember t NOTES: • Pursue clarity over comfort to build your communication skills。• Seek out opportunities to solve organizational problems on the systemic level rather than the individual level。 If the rules aren’t working， change them， don’t break them。• Don’t let the day-to-day organizational conflicts of your work pull you out of your user’s reality。 Remember that what your company cares about and what your users care about are different things， and be a relentless advocate for the latter。• Remember that there is no work beneath you， and no work above you。 Be willing to do whatever it takes to help your team and your organization succeed。• Even if you don’t self-identify as a “technical” person， avoid saying things like “I’m not a technical person， so I could never understand that！” Trust in your own ability to learn and grow。• Find ways to align， motivate， and inspire your team that do not require formal organizational authority。• Don’t let insecurity turn you into the caricature of a bad product manager！ Resist the urge to defensively show off your knowledge or skills。• Don’t be afraid to ask “the obvious。” In fact， the more obvious something seems， the more insistent you should be about making sure everybody is in fact on the same page。• Ask your teammates about the most valuable and well-run meetings they’ve ever attended， and work with them to set a clear vision for what a “good” meeting should look like in your organization。• Create and protect space for informal communication in your organization， like team lunches and coffee breaks。• Ask yourself how a particular best practice might help your team deliver user value， instead of just how it will change the way you work。• Take the time to truly understand the goals and needs of your organization before rushing to implement any specific practices。• Avoid the temptation to solve the problems that seem the most familiar to you， as opposed to the problems that are having the most impact on your users。• Approach best practices as a place to start， not a prescriptive one-size-fits-all solution。• Organize “demo days” and other opportunities for product teams to share and discuss their work with the organization at large。• Be just as vigilant about getting to know people outside of your immediate team， and take the time to understand their goals and motivations before you need something from them。• Reach out to folks in your organization， ask to meet up for coffee （or over Slack， Skype， or whatever other remote collaboration tools you might use if you are not colocated）， and say， “I’m curious to learn more about the work that you do。”• If you can， take your goals for a “test drive” with the senior leaders who are setting the company vision and strategy。 See if the goals can serve as a stand-in for their vision， and change your goals if they aren’t giving you the guidance you need。• Remember that learning， testing， and experimenting is still valuable work， and should be treated as such。 Prioritize tasks like creating prototypes and researching implementation approaches alongside the work of actually building your product。• Make sure that everything on your roadmap is tied back to a “why” so that if that “why” changes， you can adjust the roadmap accordingly。• Be prepared for short-term prioritization to be much more challenging than creating a long-term roadmap。• Do everything in your power to make sure that the goals against which you are prioritizing are clear， well understood and actionable。• Don’t make assumptions about how your organization uses roadmaps。 Ask lots of questions， and create a clear and well-documented understanding of how roadmaps are to be used within your organization。Key Concepts/Templates: Disagree and CommitGoals: t• Encourage people to share dissenting and complicating information that might prove critical in deciding upon a path forward。t• Avoid consensus-driven compromise solutions that placate meeting participants but fail to meet underlying goals。t• Force a clear decision， and create shared accountability around that decision。t• Allow participants to pick their battles by committing quickly to low-stakes decisions that are often prone to disagreement （i。e。， “What’s for lunch？”）How to do it: Introduce disagree and commit before you use itInterpret silence as disagreementAsk for affirmative commitmentSet clear goals， test， and learnOrg-level Problem StatementMy organization is facing the following challenge:This challenge is affecting our ability to deliver value to our users in these ways:I believe that this challenge is caused by the following current beliefs and practices:Emergency Requests TemplateWhat is the issue？Who reported this issue？How many users is it affecting？Is there revenue directly tied to this issue？If so， how much？What would happen if this issue were not addressed in the next two weeks？What would happen if this issue were not addressed in the next six months？Who is the contact person for further discussing/resolving this issue？Making Data-Driven DecisionsThe decision I’m trying to make or problem I’m trying to solve:The data I’m using to make this decision:Why I believe that this data will help me make this decision:What I believe the data is telling me:What assumptions are present in my interpretation of this data:How we might test those assumptions:The next steps I intend to take: 。。。more
Galichka Sidarenka
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Great read to dive into a new role of a product manager。 Lots of real and practical examples that teach you to go beyond frameworks and tools in order to succeed。
Daniel Hollands
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