The Productologist

At the end of each calendar year, I spend a bit of time cleaning house (figuratively, and sometimes literally). I look at the things that I have accomplished (or not), the tools that I have used (or not) and formulate a plan for the coming year.

This year, I realized that I was not spending enough time reading. Not reading for pleasure, but for professional and career growth. As a Product Manager, the majority of my time is spent on 3 things:

1. Meetings
2. Customer/Prospect Calls
3. Product Documentation (MRDs, PRDs, Sales training, product evangelization, status reports, etc)

I wrote earlier about how I was confused about why someone would base their business on someone else’s APIs. I found this article on Programmable Web about a company called YottaMusic that had done just that and gotten bit by the API owner (Rhapsody) discontinuing support of the API.

You can read their write up and check out other reports.

From what I have read, it sounds like the YottaMusic service was a well-liked enhancement to the Rhapsody service, but they developed their product based on undocumented APIs.

Thoughts? Am I missing the boat on this?

Getting It Done by Roger Fisher and Alan Sharp

I picked this book up based on some positive reviews on Amazon and the fact that I recognized one of the authors from a popular sales/negotiation book that I was familiar with. The book covers a topic that is a common challenge for all types of Product Managers–how to lead through influence rather than hierarchy.

I mentioned late last year that I was planning to add some new features to The Productologist. Book Reviews is one of those new features.

My motivation is somewhat self-serving (isn’t it always that way?) in that I wanted to spend more time reading about topics that appeal to me professionally and this is the carrot/stick that I am using to accomplish that goal.

I do a good bit of reading already, online and off line, but most of it falls into two categories:

• Escapist fiction (primarily science fiction, but I’m also prone to political or societal farce, too)

I have read (examples here and here) and heard in numerous places that a Product Manager is like the CEO of the product. I’ve even used it to describe what I do to folks who are unfamiliar with the job. It makes for a nice visual and makes Product Managers feel good about themselves and the role that they play in a company. But it’s not really true.