The Clever PM

Tips, tricks, and hacks that help you to be a better, more clever, Product Manager.

10 Questions: Jay Stansell of the Product Coalition

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At some point in my meanderings online, I heard tell of a Slack channel that had been set up for Product Managers to engage with each other and discuss topics of concern to those in the profession.  And, being the Clever PM that I am, I had no choice but to check it out — that channel turned out to be hosted by the folks at the Product Coalition, and administered by none other than Jay Stansell.  The channel has turned out to be an exceptionally popular location for PMs to share articles they’ve written, ask for thoughts or feedback on idea that they have about how to improve the craft, and even to just humbly ask for advice when they’ve hit a brick wall on something.  When creating my list of participants for this 10 Questions series, I knew right away that I’d want Jay’s thoughts on the role, and he was more than happy to oblige.

In his own words:

I’m a product person, who is grounded in design, shaped by technology and inspired by profitable business models. I “cut my teeth” in a travel start up in 2007, and grew it into one of Australia’s leading travel products. I’ve since been fortunate to craft products and product experiences for some of Australia’s largest brands. Today, I take my start-up learnings, attitude and culture, into coaching Agile, Lean Startup and Design Thinking methodologies at Australia’s most innovative insurer, IAG.

What I’ve enjoyed the most from my story so far, is the talented people who have become friends. It’s these connections that inspired me to launch the product community ProductCoalition.com – a place for product people globally, to connect, collaborate and inspire.

And without further ado…my ten (eleven) questions for Jay…
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Agile Transitions – Managing Expectations

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We live in a day and age where there’s a ton of information and mis-information out there about pretty much every topic imaginable, and Agile development is certainly not immune to this phenomenon.  In fact, anyone who looks for help in pushing through an Agile transformation in their organization is immediately confronted with a vast array of presumptions and preconceptions about what Agile is, why it matters, and most importantly what it delivers.  The simple truth is that the reality of an Agile transformation — both in process and in outcome — is often so very far removed from the myth that we as Product Managers need to be ready, willing, and able to step in and manage the expectations that our stakeholders have about what’s going to happen and what they’re going to get from it.  Here are three very common preconceptions that simply must be squashed for us to lead a successful cultural transformation.

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The Many Hats of the Product Manager

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Sometimes an idea just strikes me out of the blue and sounds interesting enough to sit down and write a little bit about.  This is one of those posts, spurred on by a discussion I had today with a newly-hired Product Manager with almost as much experience as me.  As we were talking about our past experiences, where the current company is at, and how we can work together to improve some of the practices and procedures throughout the organization, I started to think about all the different things it is that we actually do as Product Managers, and all of the hats that I’ve worn in the past.  These are some thoughts on a few of these hats…

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Why Does Agility Matter?

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We tend to take the fact that agility is important as a given, when the reality is that not everyone in the business world has reached the same conclusion.  Thus, it’s important sometimes to take a step back and examine why agility actually matters, so that when we’re faced with people who aren’t as convinced as we are, we have salient points that we can raise to help them understand the value that agility brings with it.  Here are a few important things to remember when thinking about why agility is important in our jobs…

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Stakeholders: Overcoming Passive Resistance

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A recurring challenge that many Product Managers face is coping with stakeholders who attempt to block our efforts, either covertly or overtly.  Sometimes these situations arise due to simple miscommunication, but other times they’re power plays, the results of internal politics, or even caused by grudges held from previous slights — real or imagined.  To excel in Product Management, one must not only deal with these blockades as they arise, but you need to predict when, where, and how they’re likely to come up so that you can head them off before they even become an issue.  To do that, though, we have to try to figure out what the most common reasons are for stakeholders to actively or passively interfere — and that’s what the Clever PM is here to share with you.  In this first installment I’m going to focus on overcoming passive resistance, and we’ll address more active resistance in a future piece.

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How to “Level Up” Your Product Management Skillset

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A common theme in online discussions and forums around Product Management lies in how to level up our skills and be a better Product Manager.  While there are a lot of different options available, just as there are as many different aspects of Product Management to focus on, there are some very specific areas that any given Product Manager can assess themselves in and decide what next steps they want to take to become a better Product Manager.

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How Accepting Uncertainty Drives Successful Teams

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If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you’ve probably noticed that accepting uncertainty is a a recurring theme when it comes to Agile and agility.  While it’s never stated outright as a “value” in either the Agile Manifesto or the Twelve Principles of Agile, the concept itself underlies many of the points made in those documents.  In my opinion, it’s the primary cultural distinction between organizations that still cling to the old, outdated “waterfall” approaches.  Waterfall creates a false sense of security by defining everything possible up-front.  Agile accepts that we don’t always know everything, and that new information will not only be discovered, but might alter the path.  Here are a few specific reasons why accepting uncertainty is essential for teams to be successful.

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