Empowered: Product Mastery Book Club
In October, I blogged about the Product Mastery Book Club that a senior colleague of mine started for our organization. We get a group together to do reading on our own, with guided stopping points that are met with a group discussion. The discussions bring our notes, thoughts, feelings, and expertise to the conversation as we pull from people at much different stages of their careers and knowledge in this space.
So let’s talk about the first book we read: EMPOWERED by Marty Cagan & Chris Jones
First off, here’s quick introduction on the authors: Marty Cagan and Chris Jones. Marty Cagan is widely regarded as the face of product management. It doesn’t take long for you to hear his name when product is discussed anywhere — I’ve been hearing his name and references to his books, blogs, and articles for over a year now, about the same time I heard about product. He’s the founder of the Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG), and has spent time building products for and coaching at impressive companies. Chris Jones has logged over a quarter century working with product teams. In his 25+ years in product, he’s helped guide product teams in mobile, web, data, and platforms while gaining ownership of several patents. These are two highly regarded names in product, and have a wealth of knowledge to share.
Highlights
I’ll use this section to talk through a few brief highlights/insights I pulled from the book, with a section of quotes that stood out further down.
- EMPOWER teams, giving them autonomy and ownership of what they build. The authors talk about ‘feature teams’ and how, in many ways, they’re responsible for the output and delivery of a solution that’s already been defined for them. “This is the problem, and this is the solution… please build it.” Cagan and Jones are firm in their reasoning that teams structured this way are not empowered product teams, but rather feature teams led by a project manager (not product). A truly empowered product team should take a problem and define, plan for, build, and deploy the solution they develop — and be held accountable to the results. Empower!
- Managers are critical to how a product team and organization operates, especially when there are young, and perhaps unproven, product managers they’re managing. Rather than needing to hire the absolute best talent, the authors argue that hiring competent people and providing stellar coaching and mentoring will lead to success. If you can’t devote the time to provide that coaching, you’ll need to find someone who can. Invest in their development and you’ll reap the rewards of their growth!
- The most applicable topic, for me, mentioned in this book was around imposter syndrome. I’ve had my bouts with imposter syndrome in the past, and often continue to. The name of the game is improving through iteration. Learning as you go and surrounding yourself with people, seeking them out when necessary, who can give you honest feedback. This field, and likely the products you’re working on, are constantly evolving, so we all will run into an area where we’re not really experts… Learn!
- Engineers aren’t just coders. Developers should be leveraged for the full range of value they can bring to your team and organization. Give them the space to innovate, and see how much your product can improve. Don’t make the assumption that they’re not interested in more than coding… involve them in the product process!
- A clear product vision is critical for organizational clarity and success. There should be something that teams can use as a ‘North Star’ of sorts, uniting the organization on where they’re headed. Is there no clear vision laid out, or has it not been communicated with your teams? That needs to change, ASAP!
- Product is hard. No matter how much experience, or lack thereof, you have, your job will be difficult. You’re coordinating with a lot of stakeholders. You’re navigating ambiguity. You’re held accountable to the results of your team. But that’s also why you pursue it. Put yourself in an environment that continues to evolve and change as technology and markets dictate, and where you are held to a high standard. Go build something great!
- Great PMs can be developed. There’s no skillset or attribute that’s better than competence. Pair competence with great coaching, and you’ll develop a more than capable PM. Hire great people, coach them, and let them be great!
As you can imagine, there’s much more I can share for highlights, but I’ll leave something to be desired for when you read the book!
Stand-out Quotes
“Empowering means creating an environment where your people can own outcomes and not just tasks. This doesn’t mean less management — it means better management.” (35)
“Trust comes from expressing genuine interest in the person as a person, and not just a member of the team.” (37)
“People join a company but leave their manager.” (40)
“…the PM needs to establish the relationship necessary for true collaboration, which is built on trust and respect… The key to successful working relationships with stakeholders is establishing mutual trust.” (56-57)
“Hopefully, it’s clear to you that product jobs are very hard. It is a journey not a destination. You can have 25 years of hands-on experience and you will still be learning and improving. Every product effort has its own risk profile. New enabling technologies constantly emerge. Today’s services are tomorrow’s platforms. Markets develop. Customer behaviors change. Companies grow. Expectations rise.” (69)
“Whether you’re a product person or a product leader, there’s no reason to be an imposter. Listen to your mind warning you of the consequences of not preparing, seek out people you trust to give you honest and expert feedback, and iterate until they are satisfied that you are truly adding value.” (104)
“The best product companies hire competent people of character, and then coach and develop them into members of extraordinary teams.”(140)
“Failing in discovery is not really failing — it is very fast and inexpensive learning. Failing in the market truly is failing, as these mistakes are typically very slow and very expensive.” (364)
“A leader should articulate what needs to be done and why, and then let the team decide how to do it.” (372)
“Great teams are made up of ordinary people who are inspired and empowered.” (375)
“Empowered engineers are the single most important thing that you can have in a company… If you’re just using your engineers to code, you’re only getting about half their value.” (389-390)
The Bottom Line
I really enjoyed the book — you will too!
This book was well worth the read. Short chapters (~3–7 pages). Straightforward. Easy to understand and apply. There’s a ton of good content here about the make up of quality product organizations and the roles that people must play in order to get the most value, and satisfaction, from your team(s). I’d recommend it to those on a product team.
I do think the target audience for this can be anybody interested or involved in product, but it’s definitely geared more toward those in more of a leadership role where you’re hiring, building, and coaching/teaching. For me, it was a good read at this stage in my career, to see how the authors view a strong and empowered product organization to be, along with what support managers and mentors should be giving (and ultimately what I should be receiving). But in a few years, I think this will require a re-read when I’m perhaps in a more senior role that is hiring instead of being hired, building/empowering teams and organizations at a bigger scale, and providing coaching instead of receiving it.
What’s next?
I’m not sure (yet) what the next book will be as part of the book club, we just casted some votes on a few recommendations… TBD!
Want to read more?
In addition to EMPOWERED, Marty has also authored other books, most notably INSPIRED (which I’ve yet to read). Mentioned in the book, there are at least two more books of similar structure on the way: LOVED and TRANSFORMED. I’d anticipate these will both cycle into my reading backlog when they’re released.
