The Productologist

I went to visit a customer a few weeks ago as part of a commitment to myself (and my products) to get out into the field more often. My goal with them and with all of my planned visits to the field was to talk about how they use my product, what business challenges they face and what they see for the future in terms of their own growth and what they would want and need from my product. I got what I was looking for…and a whole lot more.

The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley with Jonathan Littman

I spotted this book at my local library while perusing the business book section and was drawn to it by the fact that it was written by someone involved with IDEO.

For those of you who don’t know what IDEO is, they are a world renowned product design firm based out of the San Francisco Bay area. They are responsible for many product designs you are probably familiar with, such as the Palm V and HandSpring PDAs, the Swiffer sweeper, the interior of the Amtrak Acela commuter train and others. You can check out more about what they have done and what they do on their website.

I recently decided that it was time to get a replacement to my dead USB mouse, which I used when I moved my laptop to conference rooms, prospect and customer sites and while traveling. I had put off replacing it, since the laptop provided by my employer has both a track pad and keyboard nub pointing device and I figured that I could get by using one of those when I had to undock from my desk. However, I have come to the conclusion that pointing devices that are built into the laptop are fine for general UI navigation (starting apps, opening files and the like), but not so much for hard-core navigation inside an app or through a document. Enter the Logitech VXNano.

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 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.