“If we really care about our users, we’ll help them do what they want, not what we want.”
-Kathy Sierra
#Quotes #ProductManagement
Great products solve problems.
Exceptional products anticipate them.
Think about what happens to your customers when they no longer have to worry about these problems. How do they change?
Some of the best advice I ever received from a manager:
“Hope? I get to ‘hope’. You need a plan.”
Make sure you always have a plan.
“Our world is random and messy. Collecting data does not make it more perfect or more controllable.”
-Giorgia Lupi
#Quotes
Remember: nostalgia is an expensive commodity.
Perhaps contrary to popular belief, you don’t just write product specs and plot roadmaps as a product manager.
You’re also a storyteller. You create narratives that inspire your team and excite your clients about the future you’re collectvely building.
“The opposite of courage is conforming.”
-Brian Collins
#Quotes
“You get an astronaut’s life whether you want it or not. Leave it all behind for a world you know nothing about. That’s just the deal."
-Joe Hill
#Quotes
As a product manager some of the most important time you spend is talking to users or poring over feedback to uncover their most pressing challenges. Then you prioritize solutions to address those issues.
That’s how you make sure you’re delivering real value.
It’s about being prepared and staying agile in a fluid environment. Think about the future. Anticipate challenges. Identify potential risks before they become problems.
“Point of view is worth 80 IQ points.”
-Alan Kay
#Quotes
“Indeed, no one can thwart the purposes of your mind - for they can’t be touched by fire, steel, tyranny, slander, or anything.”
-Marcus Aurelius
#Quotes
“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”
-G.K. Chesterton
#Quotes
Sometimes simply writing things down and then methodically reviewing your lists can be a superpower.
“It is easier to judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
-Pierre-Marc-Gaston de Lévis
#Quotes
Remember to always ask “how will this simplify things?”
For example: before you buy that retro mechanical keyboard that looks exactly like your childhood Commodore 64.
“Listening is the engine of ingenuity. It’s difficult to understand desires and detect problems, much less develop elegant solutions, without listening.”
-Kate Murphy (no relation 😁)
#Quotes
“It’s hard to do a really good job on anything you don’t think about in the shower.”
-Paul Graham
#Quotes
“The most effective communicators pause before they speak and ask themselves: Why am I opening my mouth?”
-Charles Duhigg
#Quotes
“Users don’t evangelize to their friends because they like the product, they evangelized their friends because they like their friends.”
-Kathy Sierra
#Quotes