Comments on: Guest Post: This is NOT a Democracy

By: bob corrigan

bob corrigan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:13:19 +0000

In order for the organization to say “yes” to the most important things, it is essential to be ruthlessly discriminating. My best line is “I can say yes to anything, but that’s not what I’m paid to do.” My second-best line is “It’s not could we, but should we, and right now, the answer to should we is no.”

My third-best line is “Log the request in salesforce.” Actually, that’s my favorite line, it’s just not my most erudite.

By: LisaGardelle

LisaGardelle — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 02:48:33 +0000

This was great – I agree with Linda – let’s talk about product vision and strategy and how to get agreements amongst the stakeholders so we can actually say NO and mean it. Or is that really just a big ole pie in the sky thought?

By: Linda

Linda — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:46:48 +0000

Kudos to Ivan! Next step: how to say “no” so that everyone agrees with it. It’s called “product strategy”.

By: Paco

Paco — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:27:22 +0000

Sorry to hear about the lay-off. I hope he finds a new gig really soon, and if he decides to start his own PM consulting firm instead, tell him to hire me ;)

By: Yuhri

Yuhri — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:29:55 +0000

I’m really sorry to hear about your layoff woes, CrankyPM! I hope things work out for you and yours.

By: Geoffrey Anderson

Geoffrey Anderson — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:48:32 +0000

Wow, just wow. I am going to print this out and send it to everyone in my division.

It says EXACTLY what needs to be said.

I got in to an argument once with our field sales liaison and he whined about why his features didn’t make the cut. He got indignant when I told him the truth, that as product manager, I get to play petite dictator and just make it so. There were a ton of reasons why his pet feature didn’t make it in. He still never got it.

Truer words have never been said.

By: Dr. Jim Anderson

Dr. Jim Anderson — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:43:09 +0000

Well said Ivan! But you missed the final point…

So there you sit Mr. / Ms. Product Manger with all of these “helpful” inputs. What next? I view Product Management sorta like being a homicide detective (no, not because of constant bad thoughts) because inputs are NOT the answer (as Ivan said), but rather are clues.

The key is to be able to look at the clues and uncover what the underlying customer need is. It’s there, it just may not be visible. A really good product manager delivers products that solve problems that the customer may not have even known that they had.

Now that is providing real value…

P.S.: Sorry about the it’s-not-you-layoff CPM. However, you should now have a very clean house, warm meals waiting for you, and a data dump of what was on Oprah today waiting for you when you get home. On a more serious note: this is exactly what LinkedIn was created for. Remember, 70% of jobs never get posted, you just need to talk to the right person at the right time. Good luck!

- Dr. Jim Anderson
The Accidental PM Blog
“Learn How Product Managers Can Be Successful And Get The Respect That They Deserve”

By: roadmapwarrior

roadmapwarrior — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:10:23 +0000

Is there, per chance, a we-work-with-product-managers-but-aren’t-them blog that this could be posted to? I don’t know how many times I chanted, at a former company, “product management is not a democracy.” People thought it was just me.