Product Management in Practice: A Real-World Guide to the Key Connective Role of the 21st Century

Written by Matt LeMay

Narrated by Mitchell Dorian

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, and toolsets.

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

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ascent Audio
• Release date: Jan 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781663728012

Matt LeMay

Christian Crumlish is a product and UX leadership consultant at Design in Product, where he also hosts a product/UX community. He is currently leading the product management of COVID19.CA.GOV and consulting on govtech product practices with California’s Office of Digital Innovation. He is also a mentor at Code for America and StartX, and a fellow in the Rosenfeld Media Experts network. Christian earned an AB at Princeton in philosophy, where he graduated sine laude. Formerly, he was VP of Product at 7 Cups, winner of the 2016 Stanford Medicine X Prize for health systems design, and a 2019 World Economic Forum Pioneer. He has also co-hosted the monthly BayCHI program, was senior director of product at CloudOn, was director of messaging products for AOL (AIM), was the last curator of the Yahoo design pattern library, and served two terms as a director of the late lamented Information Architecture Institute. He is the author of the bestselling The Internet for Busy People and The Power of Many, and co-author of Designing Social Interfaces. Christian lives in Palo Alto with his wife, Briggs Nisbet, and an ever-growing collection of ukuleles.

Reviews for Product Management in Practice

[ofir adany · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I expected more from this book. It was too negative and didn't bring enough useful tips but rather just focused on "don't do" things...

[scottjpearson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Product management is a new role in the world of business. Mainly built around building and deploying technology, product managers began to spring up in early-21st-century corporations. They have been pioneered by organizations around computer technologies, like Intel, Google, or Microsoft. As common with most new roles, figuring out how to meet the challenge on day one can be daunting. To fill that need, Matt LeMay provides a book filled with sage advice from somewhere who has been there before.Of note, this book exists in a second edition, which does not have an audiobook (yet). Therefore, I read this book instead. The revised edition appears to have its subtitle revised to target those who aspire to become a product manager.LeMay offers anecdotal stories and pearls of wisdom to spur product managers on to producing great works. He often tries to de-glamorize the role by emphasizing how much grunt work is required. (It isn’t all mimicry of Steve Jobs!) He contends that this job is about the only managerial title without direct reports, despite heavy responsibility and accountability. This type of advice helps those new to the role or ambitious to achieve the position, but those already exposed and with a good mentor might not need this advisory approach. No new research data or philosophy is presented here, unfortunately, just mentorship based on experience.LeMay’s most popular chapter, no doubt, consists of his takes on Agile Methodology. In it, he argues for a pragmatic approach to now-popular Agile management methodologies and their many derivatives. A lot of people fall in love with a “perfect” Agile process – the how’s – instead of understanding the why’s. By doing so, they end up missing the opportunity to improve their process critically – which runs contrary to the ethos of Agile to begin with! Many advanced product labs, alongside original leaders of the Agile movement, have realized this, but LeMay gives wider published voice to their objections.This book clearly most helps for early career folk who want to master the role of a product manager. It can also help those who, like me, want to cross-train in someone else’s job to learn how to work with their co-workers better. The skills and broader perspectives described here can frankly benefit anyone working in a production environment. Nonetheless, this book best excels at demystifying a complex job to aspirants while coaching how to avoid common mistakes.