Relevant Quips: Technology Product Management

None of the authority. All off the accountability.

PM 101

It’s easier to find products for people you know than it is to find people for products you know.

Steve Johnson

Pragmatic Marketing

A computer program will always do what you tell it to do, but rarely what you want it to do.

CS 101

You are always doing something marginal when the boss drops by your desk.

PM 101

The P&L is a beautiful barometer.

BUS 101

Know your and trust your product team

PM 101

Always be shipping! Nothing helps a team become efficient more than a steady release tempo

Ken Norton

VP, Product Marketing

JotSpot

WARNING: Cool technology can cause feature anemia and schedule slip

OJT

Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.

OJT

If only PowerPoint ran on Unix, better yet a ppt code generator.

Trade Show Quip

15 Year Solution Architect Veteran

Competitor information IS required reading.

PM 101

While product is the biggest P, the others drive revenue and profit

MKTG 310

On time delivery with quality is a catalyst for loyalty

OJT

You cannot win by doing the same thing as your competitor, only 10 percent better. Offer something different and be 10 times better.

PM 210

A product roadmap is best considered a business plan.

PM 215

He who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning.

PSY 101

If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.

OJT

Warning: dates in the calendar are closer than they appear.

PM 101

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.

OJT

Hit ‘em where they ain’t.

MKTG 215

Don’t look for answers in your office. Get your ideas and products in front of customers sooner, not later.

OJT

Other people have good ideas too.

PM 101

A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked perfectly.

OJT

Two heads are better than one. When you’re wrestling with a thorny issue, get others involved. Creativity is not a one-man job.

FA 215

The challenge of developing products is not in deciding what to include but what you can omit .

PM 150

The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there’s a 90% probability you’ll get it wrong.

PM 315

Accept what your product is, understand what it is not, know what it MUST be.

PM 510

Never miss a good chance to shut up.

PM 301

The basic principles of reasoning: first, define the problem, for a problem clearly defined is already half solved; to gather evidence, pro and con; to discard the irrelevant; to formulate a tentative solution; and finally to put the solution to the test.