Book Review: Product Management in Practice
As a budding product manager fresh out of university, most of my product management knowledge came from books I’ve read and online courses I’ve taken. A few months into my role, I often find myself being dissatisfied with the processes and structures at my workplace as they weren’t following the best practices recommended in the books and online courses. In my quest to resolve this uneasiness, I decided to pick up this book by Matt LeMay.
While other product management books tend to focus on the ideal situations and provides frameworks to implement, Matt LeMay does the opposite. He highlights common situations that product managers face at work, and explains how to implement/utilise the best practices and frameworks. As such, the book really resonated with me as the scenarios described are relatable and realistic. In turn, I find that the advice and takeaways from this book are more practical and applicable.
Best practices — are they really better?
While best practices are important and serve as a north star for how product development should be, in most cases, there are circumstances and existing processes that do not allow the full adoption of best practices. Every company is different, and so is every team within a company. There is no one-size-fits-all solution that works for every team. Sometimes, the existing processes exist for a reason, and attempting to force your team to conform to the best practices may do more harm than good.
The best product managers always take time to learn about what makes an organization unique before they start implementing — or even suggesting — specific best practices. And when they do start implementing those best practices, they start small and build incrementally.
The small things do matter
Another topic Matt LeMay dives into that I enjoyed is the subtle behaviours and nuances in communications that product managers should pay attention to. He points out specific things that some product managers do (either consciously or unconsciously) that may seem good/bad, but actually has the opposite effect on the team and the product. Not only is this for managing stakeholders, but also when seeking help from developers, speaking to users, and presenting data. I find myself guilty of a couple of these behaviours, and being aware of it now does make me more conscious of the way I handle certain situations.
Developing the skills needed to “live in your user’s reality” often means unlearning specific behaviors that have helped you to successfully manage internal stakeholders.
Who should get this book?
Do note that there is an implicit assumption that you already have an understanding of the Agile methodology and Scrum frameworks. So I believe that this book actually complements the popular product management books that are more theoretical!
Overall, while this book doesn’t seem to be featured widely by many as a must-read book for product management, it is certainly a gem! This is a fantastic book for fresh graduate product managers that have been in their role for a couple of months, and also for product managers having joined a new team. Definitely a book I would recommend!
No matter how smart you are, product management demands that you learn how to be wrong. No matter how charismatic you are, product management demands that you learn how to back up your words with actions. And no matter how ambitious you are, product management demands that you learn how to respect and honor your peers. Product management does not give you an airtight job description or a veneer of formal authority to hide behind. If you want to succeed, you will need to become a better communicator, a better colleague, and a better person.
