Unveiling the PDMA Body of Knowledge with Chad McAllister This episode my guest Chad McAllister introduces us to the Product Development and Management Association’s (PDMA) Body of Knowledge (BOK), a valuable yet underappreciated resource in product management. Established in 1976, PDMA has been pivotal in advancing product development and manageme…

Chris Mason on Product Management Jobs My guest on this episode is Chris Mason, the co-founder and leader of Intelligent People, a recruiting firm in the UK that focuses on product managers and other product people – designers, heads of product, etc. In our interview, he shares his insights on the state of the product Read More…

Clifton Gilley of Gartner’s Tech Product Management team In this week’s episode my guest is Clifton Gilley, a long time product manager, and now a VP Analyst with Gartner’s Tech Product Manager team. Cliff made the jump from product management practitioner to analyst because they had the data. As he says, “What really made me Read More…

Embracing Change and Customer Engagement in Product Management In this episode Mike Smart, an old friend and longtime product management leader, instructor, and consultant, says we can’t wait for the world to change (quoting an old John Mayer song). Product management needs to seize the day, and actively engage with customers even if it means Read …

The Transformative Power of Mindsets in Life and Leadership In this episode, an engaging conversation about mindsets with Ryan Gottfredson, a renowned leadership and management professor, author, and mindset expert. The core discussion revolves around the foundational role mindsets play in shaping our thoughts, behaviors, and overall success in lif…

Steve Johnson, OG product management thinker Steve Johnson is my guest on this week’s episode. I’m sure you know of him already. And if not, you will after this episode. He’s one of the OG product management thought leaders, especially in the software world. Many people got to know Steve during his long stint as Read More…

Looking Back, Leaping Forward: 2023 Retrospective In the last episode of 2024, I go through a retrospective of the show for 2023, and share some of my plans for 2024. A few stats, lessons learned, things that went well and went badly, and then a sneak peek into what I’m planning for 2024. 2023 recap Read More…

Welcome back Chris Butler! My guest on this episode is Chris Butler, whom we first heard from in episode 107! It’s great to have him back, sharing some of his new projects since we last talked 18 months ago. Chris is a self-described “chaotic good” product manager, as well as a prolific writer and speaker. Read More…

This episode is a rerun of episode 323: The Secret Product Management Framework. Use that link to visit the show notes page. This episode is a rerun of episode 323: The Secret Product Management Framework. Use that link to visit the show notes page.Av Nils Davis

Product Manager’s Guide To Cognitive Biases That sounds funny, doesn’t it? I’m not giving you cognitive biases in this episode. I’m giving you information about cognitive biases so you can manage them better. What’s a cognitive bias? According to Wikipedia: “A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment.…

Deconstructed storytelling can be your secret weapon I talk about “telling a story” and “using stories” all the time on this podcast. But I don’t mean sitting everyone around a campfire with a mug of hot chocolate and someone starting out “Once upon a time…” “Storytelling” often doesn’t mean literally “telling a story” in the Read More…

There are no rules that define who will make a great product manager This episode was inspired by a “rant” (actually, a well-reasoned post) from Graham Reed on LinkedIn, and another post by Greg Prickril. Both were about the ridiculousness of the people posting nonsense and disinformation about product management and what it “really” is Read More…

Mental Models for Product Managers – fundamental tools for creating impact Mental models are like tools in a toolbox. If you have only a few tools, you can only solve a few kinds of problems. Like the famous saying – If you only have a hammer, then you have to treat every problem as a Read MoreAv Nils Davis

86: Data-Driven Product Management (Rerun) This episode is a rerun of episode 86: Data-driven Product Management. Use that link to visit the show notes page. 86: Data-Driven Product Management (Rerun) This episode is a rerun of episode 86: Data-driven Product Management. Use that link to visit the show notes page.…

Antifragility is the word of the day! The idea of antifragility kept coming up today and yesterday (more on that in the episode itself), so I thought I’d do a quick episode introducing the idea. Antifragility is the quality of a system that it gets stronger when bad or unexpected things occur. It’s like a Read More…

The Product Bible In the previous episode I made a lot of complaints about PRDs, and then I made some claims that they could be better. In this episode, how you might actually make a better PRD. (This might be me tilting at windmills!) The overall argument PRDs are problematic. They go stale. No one Read More…

PRDs are problematic Among other things, PRDs have problems like this: “They go stale fast” “No one reads them” “They are about what and not why” At the beginning of a real product effort, you have very high uncertainty There’s lots of experimentation What you know changes constantly They often don’t talk about the customer, Read More…

What’s the first skill you should teach a new product manager? Carl Vellotti asked this question on LinkedIn a few months ago. (I can’t actually find the post, unfortunately.) My answer was about learning to do inquiry – asking good questions. I’ve covered this on the podcast before, in episode 114: Great Questions for Market Read More…

Manan Modi, author of The Startup Product Manager My guest on this episode is Manan Modi, author of The Startup Product Manager, just published and available on Amazon. Manan reached out to me as part of his go to market plan for his book (good thinking, by the way!). And I was intrigued by his Read More…

How to show up as the amazing unicorn you are in your resume and job interviews This episode was inspired by a LinkedIn post from Jason Knight, in which he gave product managers advice on their resumes. Basically, he’s not seeing what he wants to see in peoples’ resumes. They’re boring. They don’t do a Read More…

This episode is a rerun of episode 66, Miles Davis Vs. The High School Jazz Allstars. Use that link to visit the show notes page. This episode is a rerun of episode 66, Miles Davis Vs. The High School Jazz Allstars. Use that link to visit the show notes page.Av Nils Davis

This episode is a rerun of episode 82, The Perfect Product Manager Resume. Use that link to visit the show notes page. This episode is a rerun of episode 82, The Perfect Product Manager Resume. Use that link to visit the show notes page.Av Nils Davis

This episode is a rerun of episode 124, Unconventional Perspectives on Product Roadmaps. Use that link to visit the show notes page. This episode is a rerun of episode 124, Unconventional Perspectives on Product Roadmaps. Use that link to visit the show notes page.Av Nils Davis

This episode is a rerun of episode 89, 3 Decision-Making Hacks for Product Managers. Use that link to visit the show notes page. This episode is a rerun of episode 89, 3 Decision-Making Hacks for Product Managers. Use that link to visit the show notes page.Av Nils Davis

Creativity and fear – daily realities for product managers We product managers are inventing stuff most of the time. Whether it’s new features, or designs, or go to market materials, or just making decisions. And that means we are going to have creative blocks. A lot. That is, except for those times when we can Read More…

What stories can I tell? Everyone knows that “stories are fundamental tools of persuasion.” At least, that’s what everyone says. But what does it actually mean? It’s clear that they’re not just talking about any story, right? So, what stories are they talking about? And the answer is actually very simple, even if you’re not Read More…

Why do product managers need to know about sales funnels? I’m not successful if my product doesn’t sell. And I’ve argued before on this podcast that I have a lot of influence – as a product manager – over the success of my product. And my framework, what I call the Secret Product Management Framework, Read More…

“Your team is failing” This episode is inspired by a story a friend recently told me. In an interview, he got the question I used as the title, “Your team is failing. What do you do?” I thought, “Well, I have some opinions on this question!” (And note, I also incorporated his very good answer Read More…

Russ Meek on (over) simplifying a business presentation My guest on this episode is Russ Meek, a product manager in the travel and hospitality industry. For many years he was with Sabre Corporation, focusing on Hotel Property Management. After several years of working on a very successful product line there, he volunteered to take on Read More…

What’s the best way to learn product management? Can you learn product management from bullet points? Well. no. Or yes. Maybe? If you follow me or other product management people on LinkedIn, you know there are a LOT of posts about product management. They are short and pithy, often presented in bullet points. (Including my Read More…

Authenticity is great – if you can fake that, you’ve got it made! Confidence is often a big challenge for product managers, because so much of the time we are in the realm of uncertainty. But to be persuasive we need to be confident – our audience is more likely to be persuaded by a Read MoreAv Nils Davis

How to Make an Impact As A Product Leader In this episode, how to accelerate your career growth by developing your leadership skills. Practical advice and actionable steps for product managers looking to advance in their careers. There’s a difference between management and leadership. John C. Maxwell said, “Leadership is not about titles, positions…

Managing Your Cognitive Resources To Be More Effective As a product manager, one of your most precious resources is your “cognitive storage tank.” It’s like a real fuel tank – when it’s exhausted, your cognitive abilities stop working well. And when that happens, it means you can’t be as innovative, you can’t be as creative, Read More…

​Increasing your luck surface area “Chance favors the prepared mind.” From Louis Pasteur, the famous 19th century biologist and biochemist. Having a “prepared mind” is one way to increase your luck surface area. It gives you “more opportunities to be lucky.” And it can have a big payoff! How do you make your luck surface Read More…

Dan Balcauski, the product pricing guru (part 2) Dan’s interview is excellent – and long. It’s going to expand your mind on how to think about pricing – so much so, in fact, that I have to air the interview in two parts! And this is part 2. (Find part one at 134: Dan Balcauski Read MoreAv Nils Davis

Dan Balcauski, the product pricing guru Dan’s interview is excellent – and long. It’s going to expand your mind on how to think about pricing – so much so, in fact, that I have to air the interview in two parts! JJ Rorie introduced me to Dan a few months ago. She’s a product management Read MoreAv Nils Davis

Rerun of episode 108 This episode is a rerun of episode 108, Learning From Failure, and you can find the complete show notes at https://secretsofpm.com/108. Rerun of episode 108 This episode is a rerun of episode 108, Learning From Failure, and you can find the complete show notes at https://secretsofpm.com/108.…

Irene Yu is Helping Product Managers Become More Technical (Without Learning To Code) Irene is a former developer turned founder of SkipLevel, a consulting and training company focused on improving the interface between product managers and developers. Specifically, by helping product managers become more technical (but not teaching them to code, b…

Leading impactful product teams If you’re a product leader, then you probably have a few goals for yourself and your team: Having a big impact on the business. Increasing sales, revenue, and profits. Perhaps you aspire to be a gifted, charismatic leader. But what if the team isn’t meeting the potential? It’s not having the Read More…

5 Ways Product Managers Can Make More Money Software product managers are responsible for $5-$10 million in new revenue over the next 12 months. How do you get that? There are five ways your revenues can increase: Your market grows, and you grow with it naturally You beat your competitors more in your existing deals Read More…

A look back, a look forward for the podcast In this episode I look back at 2022 and its highlights on the podcast, and what you can expect for 2023. Episodes I mentioned 121: Andrew Bowker on “Build Your Own Product” 106: Product Management And The Smart Sales Method, with Joe Morone 98: The 5 Read More…

Putting knowledge in your product creates happier customers and great differentiation Even if it’s basic knowledge that everyone knows, putting it in your product will make your product more valuable. And of course, the more knowledge you can embed, the better. Links The article this episode is based on – Customers Don’t Buy Capabilities, They Read…

I asked ChatGPT some questions about product management. In this episode, I review its answers, and share my thoughts on this amazing new technology and its current limitations.Av Nils Davis

The goal is a repeatable sales process, but… One of the goals of a relatively early stage company is to establish some sales and marketing traction. This is often called “a repeatable sales model.” Which means that a trained sales person – trained on how to market and sell your product – can successfully sell Read More…

The Value Inequality is about Risk vs Price vs Value This is the second of two episodes (here’s part one) centered around what I call the Value Inequality. It’s a way of thinking about your customer’s perception of risk versus cost and value of your product. This episode is a bit wider ranging than the Read More…

The Value Inequality is new way of thinking about pricing, value, and the customer’s perception of risk.Av Nils Davis

Product Roadmaps – can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em Facts about roadmaps They are predicting the future As Neils Bohr said, “Prediction is hard, especially about the future.” A roadmap is interpreted as a commitment This is a cognitive bias of your audience You must manage it The audience doesn’t really want to Read More…

Is the Value Proposition problematic? Shreyas Doshi wrote in a post on LinkedIn a few months ago: In product management, it is easy to BS yourself (and others) when framing a proposal in terms of “Value Proposition”. Any proposal with the right business speak can be made to sound compelling that way. This happens all Read More…

You Can’t Test Quality In In this episode, some thoughts about quality: Two different ways of thinking about quality and its flipside, waste Fit for purpose vs lack of defects Mura, Muda, and Mira – the 3Ms of Japanese industrial engineering – waste (mura), inconsistency (muda), and overburden (mira) Links Shigeo Shingo A very thin Read More…

Build Your Own Product That’s the title of Andrew Bowker’s email newsletter, and his advice to anyone trying to get into product management. Andrew is a fast rising LinkedIn star, at least among the product management segment, focused on helping would-be product managers get their foot in the door of our amazing discipline. Links Andrew Read More…