Essential Reading for Product Managers
In my last post, I mentioned how online research was crucial for the Product Manager position in my case. Since then, I’ve received questions on recommended reading for PMs.
So in Guy Kawasaki fashion, following are my top 10 essential reads for Product Managers:
Disclaimer – about three years ago we introduced agile practices where I work (we used to develop waterfall style) and some of the reading suggestions are geared towards successful adoption of agile methodologies which from my point of view is crucial for success.
Inspired: How To Create Products Customers Love (Marty Cagan) – This book is “the” essential primer for any product person. From product discovery to the specific process to execute.
The Lean Startup (Eric Ries) – A lot more detailed approach on not only product, but overall strategy and how we often times miss the metrics that really matter.
Agile Product Management with Scrum (Roman Pichler) – Great book on the roles and responsibilities of scrum teams full of real world examples.
User Stories Applied (Mike Cohn) – Teaches effective ways of gathering requirements for software development through user stories and how to effectively implement them.
Take Charge Product Management (Greg Geracie) – Geared specifically towards PMs, the book covers the reality of entering the product management field and how to be a successful PM.
The Art of Product Management (Rich Mironov) – Full of Silicon Valley stories and use cases, this book provides great advice for both PMs and tech professionals from a person that has actually walked the walk.
Running Lean (Ash Maurya) – Provides actual examples of lean implementations and how to’s. The concept of the “Lean Canvas” alone is worth the read.
Purple Cow (Seth Godin) – Great book on how to build products that stand out and are truly noticeable to users. While some of the info may be redundant for people that know marketing, the book contains solid information for non-marketing product people.
The Inmates Are Running the Asylum (Alan Cooper) – While it would be ideal to develop products without having to think about money, the reality is that at most companies you will be expected to talk bottom-line. This book is great resource on how to find the balance between greatly designed products and a well thought-out bottom line. While Cooper’s ego sometimes jumps out, he has knowledge and experience to transmit very valuable product information.
The Innovator’s Dilemma (Clayton Christensen) – A valuable insight on how sometimes even though you do everything right your product or company fails and how sometime traditional business practices are not enough. Christensen examines the shift in business/product every time a disruptive technology is born.
Bonus – Steve Jobs (Walter Isaacson) – Up-close view at the life of the ultimate product manager. This books covers both the birth of the ultimate tech product and the practices of Jobs in creating great products. I found this book quite inspiring.
In upcoming posts I will share some other useful resources for Product Managers, stay tuned.