While it's obviously critically important to understand and prioritize user needs and wants (the "why" before the "how") I feel like the manifesto goes too far in ignoring initial conditions. Your history -- your team, your company, your technology, your partners -- dramatically affects the products you can produce. Is that what "how it fits in with the company" means? If so, I feel like that can use a little more emphasis. Product people need to focus on the games they can win, not just the ones they want to play. You want to figure out what your "unfair advantage" is and exploit it for all it's worth.
For #2 "Set ambitious goals", I believe not only ambitious goals should be realistic as well. Perhaps we should have mentioned as "Set ambitious & realistic goals.."
For #6 In the Summary part, we are saying "Use the 5 whys (who, what, where, when, why)". Are we trying to say 5 W instead of Whys because in parenthesis you have mentioned not only why but also what, where, when, who.
Very tactical understanding and appreciation for what products do. Sorry but this needs a lot more work in order to be taken seriously. Good attempt, but needs a ton more work.
To be honest, “The product manifesto” doesn't quite connect me. I perceive a lot of strength in being a Product Manager and his tasks, some merely tactical. But on the other hand, I perceive an absence of principles related to stakeholders. For instance. I don't find the word "communication" mentioned anywhere in the Manifesto, and I think if we want to connect with the user, the developers, the business, etc. We must be the best communicators. Tell stories that connect at the right time. From good communication, we can build relationships, the key to convincing and aligning others.
Nor do I agree that the product people are the ones who understand "How a problem is solved", many times we are mere enablers of the solutions, not those who foresee it.
I do not feel that it is necessary to find a role with problems that I am passionate about solving, every day we must make sure that: the problem is real, the users are real, and the solutions deliver value, not whether I am passionate about them or not. There are some principles that are key when we want to make sure that we build products that people want, one of them is shared by Alan Klement in his book When a coffee and Kale Compete, “Make better users, not better products”. We must be passionate about generating progress for users, not explicitly about finding a role with problems that we are passionate about. If it were for that, I would have quit one thousand times.
Not everything is a framework, sometimes we must believe in intuition.
There is good data and bad data. The key is not to measure all, it is to differentiate which data is useful and which is not. We live in an age where everything is measured, but we forget to assign the proper weight to what we measure.
I just start a lengthy conversation, I have so many thoughts, but to be honest, I really love this initiative to make a Product Manifesto.
- 2nd paragraph - sounds like 'we are all heroes come to save the world' :) A bit too much-
- 3rd paragraph - sounds a lot like 2nd too.
- what does even 'value creators for ourselves' mean? that I can do whatever I want to make MY life better? Sounds weird for the professional
- Suggestion - cut those 2 paragraphs to 1..2 sentences
1. Cool. It's really a #1
2. Not bad. Makes sense
- '...most team fail...' - adding negative to such a generic document is not a good idea
- I might suggest exchanging it with #10
3. it seems a bit overwhelmed. It's about a strategy and a vision...it's hard for me to suggest something specific here.
- '...most leaders fail...' - negative phrasing again
4.
- '...I'd you want to go fast - go alone...' - if you'd allow me to change 1 thing in this document it would be this phrase. This phrase rarely works.
- '...set team...principles...' - not sure how this relates to product management. It is more up to the team itself to develop their own principles
5 Great. Maybe it should be even moved to the earliest numbers
- '...but can still fail...' - negative again
6 good.
- it's extremely hard to start retrospective with 'who' and then conduct it blamelessly. Maybe it is worth swapping questions by starting with 'what' or 'why'. This will change focus from individual zone to the problem zone
7. Not sure I get it at all. Sounds like anyone (housemaid, turner, etc.) can easily turn into PM. This principle doesn't have anything concrete in it. It feels like it would allow anyone to have a 1-month training and claim him/herself a new baked senior PM.
8 Cool. However, I am not sure whether this is from this document as more about not who PM is, but how to get to this point. It might be in the end, but not in the main list. Maybe it could be re-written to something like 'constant attention to learning and self-education'. It would make more sense then
9 Great point. Complex. Probably worth moving to the top 5
10 I have doubts, but it seems to me that there are 2 principles in this one. The point itself is excellent.
- '...many teams fail...' - negative again
IMHO - adding negative points without detailed explanations and/or statistics is non-professionally.
I like how the tenth principle mentions building a cross-functional team. I believe that Product Managers are leaders who empower their teams towards reaching their goals and objectives. They have the "moral and ethical" authority to help drive decisions that benefit users, the business, and the product team through the continuous delivery of well-prioritized and balanced value.
While it's obviously critically important to understand and prioritize user needs and wants (the "why" before the "how") I feel like the manifesto goes too far in ignoring initial conditions. Your history -- your team, your company, your technology, your partners -- dramatically affects the products you can produce. Is that what "how it fits in with the company" means? If so, I feel like that can use a little more emphasis. Product people need to focus on the games they can win, not just the ones they want to play. You want to figure out what your "unfair advantage" is and exploit it for all it's worth.
Thanks for your feedback! We're using a survey to collect all of the ideas. Feel free to add your thoughts over here https://research.typeform.com/to/K3BVeKhM?typeform-source=productmanifesto.substack.com
For #2 "Set ambitious goals", I believe not only ambitious goals should be realistic as well. Perhaps we should have mentioned as "Set ambitious & realistic goals.."
For #6 In the Summary part, we are saying "Use the 5 whys (who, what, where, when, why)". Are we trying to say 5 W instead of Whys because in parenthesis you have mentioned not only why but also what, where, when, who.
Very tactical understanding and appreciation for what products do. Sorry but this needs a lot more work in order to be taken seriously. Good attempt, but needs a ton more work.
Interesting initiative but a tad weak from an intellectual and practical perspective.
To be honest, “The product manifesto” doesn't quite connect me. I perceive a lot of strength in being a Product Manager and his tasks, some merely tactical. But on the other hand, I perceive an absence of principles related to stakeholders. For instance. I don't find the word "communication" mentioned anywhere in the Manifesto, and I think if we want to connect with the user, the developers, the business, etc. We must be the best communicators. Tell stories that connect at the right time. From good communication, we can build relationships, the key to convincing and aligning others.
Nor do I agree that the product people are the ones who understand "How a problem is solved", many times we are mere enablers of the solutions, not those who foresee it.
I do not feel that it is necessary to find a role with problems that I am passionate about solving, every day we must make sure that: the problem is real, the users are real, and the solutions deliver value, not whether I am passionate about them or not. There are some principles that are key when we want to make sure that we build products that people want, one of them is shared by Alan Klement in his book When a coffee and Kale Compete, “Make better users, not better products”. We must be passionate about generating progress for users, not explicitly about finding a role with problems that we are passionate about. If it were for that, I would have quit one thousand times.
Not everything is a framework, sometimes we must believe in intuition.
There is good data and bad data. The key is not to measure all, it is to differentiate which data is useful and which is not. We live in an age where everything is measured, but we forget to assign the proper weight to what we measure.
I just start a lengthy conversation, I have so many thoughts, but to be honest, I really love this initiative to make a Product Manifesto.
Preamble
- 2nd paragraph - sounds like 'we are all heroes come to save the world' :) A bit too much-
- 3rd paragraph - sounds a lot like 2nd too.
- what does even 'value creators for ourselves' mean? that I can do whatever I want to make MY life better? Sounds weird for the professional
- Suggestion - cut those 2 paragraphs to 1..2 sentences
1. Cool. It's really a #1
2. Not bad. Makes sense
- '...most team fail...' - adding negative to such a generic document is not a good idea
- I might suggest exchanging it with #10
3. it seems a bit overwhelmed. It's about a strategy and a vision...it's hard for me to suggest something specific here.
- '...most leaders fail...' - negative phrasing again
4.
- '...I'd you want to go fast - go alone...' - if you'd allow me to change 1 thing in this document it would be this phrase. This phrase rarely works.
- '...set team...principles...' - not sure how this relates to product management. It is more up to the team itself to develop their own principles
5 Great. Maybe it should be even moved to the earliest numbers
- '...but can still fail...' - negative again
6 good.
- it's extremely hard to start retrospective with 'who' and then conduct it blamelessly. Maybe it is worth swapping questions by starting with 'what' or 'why'. This will change focus from individual zone to the problem zone
7. Not sure I get it at all. Sounds like anyone (housemaid, turner, etc.) can easily turn into PM. This principle doesn't have anything concrete in it. It feels like it would allow anyone to have a 1-month training and claim him/herself a new baked senior PM.
8 Cool. However, I am not sure whether this is from this document as more about not who PM is, but how to get to this point. It might be in the end, but not in the main list. Maybe it could be re-written to something like 'constant attention to learning and self-education'. It would make more sense then
9 Great point. Complex. Probably worth moving to the top 5
10 I have doubts, but it seems to me that there are 2 principles in this one. The point itself is excellent.
- '...many teams fail...' - negative again
IMHO - adding negative points without detailed explanations and/or statistics is non-professionally.
I think watch out for the parentheses after mentioning 5 whys. Isn't it just going more "whys" deeper into the problem?
Love the preamble and wish there were more "why" elements than "how" key questions. Like can it tie back to the reason for our existence as PMs?
Also unsure about the need for how to enter your first role?
Still a great resource already.
Thanks for your feedback! We're using a survey to collect all of the ideas. Feel free to add your thoughts over here https://research.typeform.com/to/K3BVeKhM?typeform-source=productmanifesto.substack.com
I like how the tenth principle mentions building a cross-functional team. I believe that Product Managers are leaders who empower their teams towards reaching their goals and objectives. They have the "moral and ethical" authority to help drive decisions that benefit users, the business, and the product team through the continuous delivery of well-prioritized and balanced value.
Thanks for your feedback! We're using a survey to collect all of the ideas. Feel free to add your thoughts over here https://research.typeform.com/to/K3BVeKhM?typeform-source=productmanifesto.substack.com
Congratulation! on the first draft, It's a good one!. few points
1. In some / other ways, is it internally breathing Agile values and principles?
2. Value / Potential value not clearly visible
3. What will be the guiding light if everything breaks?
4. Marketing, Operations plays critical roles, where you are planning to fit them
Congratulation! with the first draft, It's a good one!. few points
1. In some / other ways, is it internally breathing Agile values and principles?
2. Value / Potential value not clearly visible
3. What will be the guiding light if everything breaks?
4. Marketing, Operations plays critical roles, where you are planning to fit them
Thank you for your feedback! We're using a survey to collect all of the ideas. Feel free to add your thoughts over here https://research.typeform.com/to/K3BVeKhM?typeform-source=productmanifesto.substack.com