Output vs Outcome: A Product Mindset

Until recently, there existed little in the way of a formal education route for aspiring product professionals [1] wishing to major in the subject. Most of us find ourselves being thrown head-first into the world of Product Management, learning on-the-fly while dealing with customers’ feature requests, code-hungry engineers and expectant CEOs. And while I wouldn’t change my journey into Product Management for the world, there is a danger that without a formal education, fundamental areas of Product Management may get overlooked by some of the more rudimentary practices.

One area often overlooked, or perhaps deprioritised, is that of a product mindset. A product mindset is, without doubt, one of the essential attributes of a great product manager. Therefore, it concerns me greatly that aspiring product professionals may not be fully aware of its importance in building great products.

So what constitutes a product mindset, and how do you know if you have one? You can rest assured that a product mindset is not some mystic psyche that takes decades to master, but a lens through which all product decisions are made, it’s the ability to look beyond what’s right in front of you see the bigger picture. It is a different and more profound way of thinking about the problems you are trying to solve and the customers you are solving them for, and it’s this that…