The PM Growth Bubble V.2.0.pdf

The PM Growth Bubble
V.2.0
A framework to help foster great conversations
between Product Managers and Product Leaders,
and nurture self-reflection on what great product
management looks like.
By Afonso Franco

About the author
Hey there! I’m Afonso.
I am a Product leader, coach, and geek.
I love creating products that customers love within sustainably profitable business
models that are able to change the world we live in - both society and the planet.
I’m passionate about building amazing product teams and helping people thrive, as
well as helping create high-performing product organizations to maximize their
impact towards their vision.
Former Vice-President in one of the world’s leading providers of solutions for
training and education (EdTech) in Healthcare, and now joining Easee as a
Product Director – helping shape the future of electricity and company culture.
I spend a lot of my time reading, thinking, discussing, and writing about Product. I
write to understand and mature my thinking. It helps me to dig deeper into topics I
am passionate about and explore my curiosity. You can find me on Medium, where
I regularly share my thoughts on some of the most relevant topics in Product. I am
also on LinkedIn. Feel free to connect, I love meeting new people :)
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Contents
Part 1: Why, What, and How
Part 2: Expected behaviours
Why the PM Growth Bubble?
What is the PM Growth Bubble?
How to use it: Dynamics
How to use it: Assessment and Reflection
10 PM Dimensions
Expected behaviours per level
Part 3: Reflection and Coaching
Conversation and reflection guide
Part 4: PM Growth corner
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“I have never had a coach to help me
grow as a Product Manager. My 1:1s
are status updates. I want to grow in
my career but don’t know how…”
“I don’t know how to do my job well
as a Product Manager, and what
great looks like…”
Why the PM Growth Bubble?
“There are so many books and articles
these days. I want to learn more but
where should I even start?”
“My career has stalled… I’ve been a PM
for 8 years and I love it. I don’t want to be
a manager of people, but I want to keep
growing!”
“I was told I need to coach my PMs but
every time we go into a conversation, I feel I
am not doing what I am supposed to do. I
need something to help me guide the
conversation and assess how they’re doing.”
“I want to help my PMs, but I don’t really
know how… I have never seen or did great
product management so how should I
know what to ask them?”
5

The PM Growth Bubble is a framework for generating great
conversations between Product Managers and Product Leaders,
as well as fostering reflection on what great Product Management
looks like. It’s a tool to help PMs grow.
What is the PM Growth Bubble?
Understanding core Product Management skills, described in 10 dimensions;
Understanding “what great looks like” in each skill, as well as the expected behaviours as you progress and grow;
Reflecting on where you are today, and where you should focus on to get even better;
Generating great coaching conversations, as well as supporting coaching plans to foster PM’s growth;
Growing in each skill, with support from an extensive list of resources.
In essence, the PM Growth Bubble can help product people with:
6

Anyone who isn’t embarrassed by
who they were last year probably isn’t
learning fast enough.
- Alain de Botton -
“
7

The PM
Growth Bubble
@AFONSOFRANCO

Sources of growth: growing your bubble
Self-reflection & Learning
Coaching
Our growth is fluid...
Being great at something is not a rigid event that you sustain effortlessly. Sometimes, we
do amazing work or behave in a certain way that represents the best version of ourselves,
other times we don’t. That’s fine. We just need to be aware of the areas we should nurture
at a given point in time that will help us deliver on the outcomes we want to achieve as well
as accomplish whatever we want in our career – and life. We need to have sustained
passion and be resilient to improve those skills that will make us unique.
When we have a vision of who we want to be and why, and understand where we are
today, we can set goals for ourselves and just grow in that direction – until we make our
vision a reality.
There’s a lot we can do ourselves, of course. That’s the self-learning “stream” you can
generate through reading, courses and workshops, listening to podcasts, participating in
Product meetups in your community, talking with people, and so on. Just being curious and
feeding that curiosity and passion with all the abundance of knowledge out there.
The other “stream” to fuel your growth bubble – coaching - is not totally dependent on you,
but rather on your organization and your product leader (as well as those around you). This
is incredibly powerful and comes from great product leadership and organizational cultures.

“Our potential is one thing. What we
do with it is quite another.”
- Angela Duckworth -
“
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Product Management
Intern
Associate Product
Manager
Product Manager
Senior Product
Manager
Director of
Product
Group Product
Manager
Lead Product
Manager
Principal Product Manager
People management track
Specialist and coaching track
CPO
VP of Product
Dual-track
career journey in Product Management
This is a generic journey in Product. Needless to say, such path will differ according to company size, vision, and strategy.
The PM Growth Bubble framework is focused on Individual Contributor (IC) roles from Associate PM (APM) to Lead PM.
11

“People should be encouraged to design
careers that align with their values and help
them find fulfillment. […] What if you really
love being a product manager and want to
do more and better product work?”
- Ken Norton -
“
12

How to use the framework: Principles over process
Focus on the principles, not the
framework itself.
As George Box once said: “All models are wrong, but some are
useful”.
Use this framework with the intent to grow or help others grow. Like
any other framework, the end goal is never to use it, for the sake of
using it. Use it as a starting point, and tweak it according to your
own context – with specific outcomes in mind.
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… as a Product Manager … as a Product Leader (coach)
Reflect
Validate Set goals
Grow Help reflect
Provide
candid
feedback
Co-create
coaching plan
Follow up
How to use the PM Growth Bubble: Dynamics
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@AFONSOFRANCO

*Choose a cadence that feels right for you. Could be quarterly, every month, etc. In my experience, quarterly works best.
As a Product Manager:
- Go through your PM bubble and reflect on the dimensions that are most important for you right now
- Define where you want to grow, set some goals*, and discuss it with your coach
- Seek regular feedback from your peers and coach
- Enjoy the learning journey :)
As a Coach:
- Foster your PMs’ reflection on what’s important for them to focus on next. Consider their immediate growth areas as
well as their long-term career goals
- Assess your PM’s performance and co-create a coaching plan for them. Help define goals and action plan
- Use the coaching questions for inspiration, aiming to foster great coaching conversations
- Embrace a coaching habit mindset
- Follow up regularly on their progress
How to use the PM Growth Bubble: Dynamics
15

Reflect
Reflect on where you are today, and what’s important for you to improve. Consider
the short-term outcomes you want to achieve but also your long-term goals. Find a
good balance. Use the expected behaviours per role as well as reflection questions
to guide you. Discuss your reflections with your coach.
Validate
Validate your reflections constantly with both your closest peers (e.g. Product
Designer and Tech Lead), PM peers and coach. Be curious and ask for feedback
regularly. Take the feedback with a growth mindset, and don’t be satisfied with
simplistic comments such as “good job” or “you’re doing great!”… Ask them for
details and dig deep.
Set goals
Together with your coach, set goals for yourself. I recommend quarterly goals, but
it’s up to you. What do you want to achieve next? In which areas would you like to
grow? What actions are you taking to get there? Set the bar high! Be ambitious.
Grow
Enjoy the journey, learn, put it into practice, challenge yourself, share what you’ve
learned with others, and have fun! :)
How to use the PM Growth Bubble: Dynamics (PM)
16
@AFONSOFRANCO

Help reflect
Foster your PM’s reflection by asking great questions and being curious. “Be lazy”
and don’t rush to advise. Aim to become the coach you wish you had.
Provide candid feedback
Ensure you establish a relationship of trust first. Then, ask for permission to provide
feedback. Provide feedback concisely, in a detailed manner, and candidly –
whenever there’s an opportunity for it. Coaching is not a formal event that happens
once in a while… Instead, try to establish a coaching habit for yourself. 10 or even
5 min every day goes a long way! Seek for feedback yourself too, on how to be a
better manager, product leader, and coach: that’s a great way to build trust.
Remember, feedback goes both ways, always.
Coaching plan co-creation
Assess your PM. Then, together with him/her, develop a coaching plan to help
closing their biggest gaps or the ones they should prioritize according to the team
needs and their professional motivations. The coaching plan should include goals
and development initiatives to pursue next.
Follow up
Encourage your PM to follow up on their progress and coach them along the way.
Inspire them to grow. Revisit their growth goals every now and then and follow up.
Seek to expose them to opportunities to learn and apply those skills.
How to use the PM Growth Bubble: Dynamics (Product Leader)
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@AFONSOFRANCO

“Coaching is what turns ordinary people
into extraordinary teams”
- Marty Cagan -
“
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How to use the PM Growth Bubble: Reflection and Assessment
As you reflect on each dimension, think about:
- Its importance to the work you’re doing now and your long-term
goals
- Where you see yourself today (actual level) and;
- Your desired (or needed) level.
Use the following scale to drive the reflection and/or conversation:
1 – New to the topic
2 – Focusing on it now
3 – Doing well, applied a few times
4 – Overperforming in various settings
5 – Known for this
6 – Helping others on this
@AFONSOFRANCO

Reflection and Coaching Example
Product Leader: “Liz, as discussed, today let’s talk about your development goals for the next couple of months”
PM: “Awesome. Yes, I’ve been thinking that I need to get better at Communication and Evangelism”
Product leader: “Ok, let’s explore that in just a minute. But first, let’s zoom out a bit… What would you say are the top 3 things you need to improve
next?”
PM: “Hmm, communication - definitely. Collaboration, and Discovery maybe…”
Product leader: “I agree. Let’s start with Communication then. Just to make sure we are on the same page, from a scale of 1-6, how good do you think
you need to be, or are aiming for?”
PM: At least a 4?
Product leader. “Ok. I know this is not an exact science, specially with skills like communication, but how well do you think you are doing today?”
PM: It’s never been my strongest side, especially in sessions with large audiences. But I would say I’m doing just fine and are focusing on improving, so
like a 2 or 3 in our scale”
Product leader: “I agree. I want to explore that reflection with a few questions. But first, is this a good time to give you some feedback? I can see some
improvement recently, especially in the way you started to write emails more concisely like we talked about, and the way you pitched your business
idea to Jenny yesterday. But where I think you still need to improve is on your storytelling. For example, yesterday, you started your presentation by
showing the prototypes with Josh and then went straight into the business model financials. You didn’t talk about the problem you are trying to solve,
how this fits in with our company vision, and so on. You didn’t tell a story… That made me feel slightly disengaged and a bit lost. Does my reflection
come as a surprise?
PM: “Yeah I know! Thanks for the feedback. Not at all… I thought about exactly the same right after.”
Product Leader. “Ok, that’s great. Would you agree that improving your storytelling skills would be beneficial for you? Let’s plan that together now and
discuss it :)”
A s s e s s m e n t
F e e d b a c k
C o a c h i n g
p l a n

Curiosity and Critical Thinking
Strategic Thinking
Discovery
Business Acumen
Technology and Data fundamentals
Company, Product, and domain knowledge
Driving Outcomes
Collaboration
Leadership and Consciousness
Communication and Evangelism
PM Growth Bubble:
10 Dimensions

#1 Curiosity and Critical Thinking
Leveraging her curiosity and critical thinking, she actively seeks evidence to generate relevant and actionable insights. She shows desire to know the
unknown. She makes data-driven and data-informed decisions, rather than opinion-driven.
#2 Strategic Thinking
She understands the big picture. She has a solid strategic rationale on why the team is trying to solve a customer
problem in a certain way. It’s clear how she intends to make the product vision a reality, while meeting her company’s
business needs. She clearly articulates the desired impact of her team’s decisions, the outcomes leading to it, and
the outputs that will drive those outcomes.
#4 Business Acumen
She understands that great ideas are not enough and turns them into sustainably profitable
business models (or optimizes existing ones) to create value for her customers and capture that
value.
#3 Discovery
Building on her curiosity and strategic thinking, she thrives to find new products that are desirable,
usable, feasible and viable. Together with her team, she identifies and runs series of continuous
experiments to validate their hypothesis, learn, reduce product risk and act upon.
PM Dimensions: Overview
23

#7 Driving Outcomes
She understands the broader product development process, as well as her responsibilities as the team’s product owner. She’s focused on delivering better value,
sooner – and is familiar with Product Delivery methodologies, techniques, frameworks and tools that help the team driving outcomes. She understands that such
delivery frameworks are important, but only means to an end: deliver value to her customers, sooner.
#6 Company, Product, and Domain Knowledge
She understands her company’s values and the various dimensions of the business, such as marketing, sales, finance, privacy, partners, and so on. She’s an
expert on her products, their business model, who her customers and users are, their pains & gains and jobs-to-be-done, the industry and domain she
operates in as well as the competitive landscape and relevant industry trends.
#5 Technology and Data Fundamentals
She understands the technology behind her products (strengths and weaknesses, capabilities and limitations) and how to leverage data to learn and
improve quickly. She’s familiar with technological concepts in her domain and what’s just now possible, from a technology point of view. She knows how to
effectively collaborate with engineers, by understanding and appreciating their issues as well as speaking their language.
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#8 Collaboration
She’s focused on building and supporting an environment that values and encourages teamwork. She
understands the power of empowered cross-functional team and works effectively with Designers and
Developers. Fosters a fun environment, promotes psychological safety, and provides and seeks feedback.
She’s obsessed for building trust and alignment with her team members and key stakeholders.
#9 Leadership and Consciousness
She invests in herself and those around her through reading, coaching, fitness, wellness, and
mindfulness. Her priority number one is to help others grow. She influences others and inspires the
team to achieve their objectives together. She creates a feeling of outcome ownership in the team. She
elevates the best of each team member, praises in public, and provides constructive feedback in private.
She values different points of view, listens intently, embraces vulnerability, brings clarity to the team,
provides context, and ensures strategic focus. She’s seen as a role model.
#10 Communication and Evangelism
She communicates clearly, concisely, and assertively. She builds confidence and inspires in the way
she communicates, including what she says and how she says it. She evangelizes her product vision and
strategy across the team and company and motivates people to pursue it.
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Expected behaviours,
per level
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Demonstrates curiosity to remain
informed and learn more about her
users and customers.
Remains critical and asks for evidence
when involved in decision-making.
Is relentless about truth-seeking,
whether it has to do with discovering
a customer problem or the why’s
behind certain data.
Shows endless willingness to learn
about the craft of Product
Management.
Contributes at the team level.
Demonstrates curiosity and is obsessed about
her users and customers.
Leads the team critically and generates evidence
across the whole customer journey for decision-
making – with guidance
Proactively identifies metrics to track and
measure the most important things
Makes data-driven and data-informed decisions.
Seeks to learn and gather shared insights from
various stakeholders and teams.
Understands statistics, probability, and
uncertainty.
Shows endless willingness to learn about the craft
of Product Management.
Contributes and influences across teams
Demonstrates curiosity and is obsessed about her
users and customers.
Leads the team critically and generates evidence
across the whole customer journey for decision-
making – with little or no guidance.
Proactively identifies metrics to track and measure
the most important things. Goes way beyond features
and neglects vanity metrics.
Shares relevant context with other Product Managers
and teams regularly. Gathers and dissects shared
insights from various stakeholders and teams.
Understands statistics, probability, and uncertainty.
Reflects on cognitive bias and demonstrates great
degree of self-awareness
Is able to draw complex conclusions by identifying and
synthesizing patterns.
Shows endless willingness to learn about the craft of
Product Management.
Demonstrates curiosity and is obsessed about her users and
customers.
Leads the team critically and generates world-class evidence
for decision making – with no guidance
Proactively identifies metrics to track and measure the most
important things that impact P&L as well as team’s
performance
Shares relevant context with other Product Managers and
teams regularly. Coordinates shared insights across teams.
Understands statistics, probability, and uncertainty. Reflects on
cognitive bias and demonstrates great degree of self-
awareness
Is able to draw complex conclusions by identifying and
synthesizing patterns.
Help others by asking relevant questions about their decision-
making process.
Fosters a culture of endless curiosity and continuous learning.
Contributes and influences across the organization
Leveraging her curiosity and critical thinking, she actively seeks evidence to generate relevant and actionable insights. She shows desire to know the unknown. She makes data-driven
and data-informed decisions, rather than opinion-driven.
Associate PM PM Senior PM Lead PM
27

Thinking like a scientist involves more than
just reacting with an open mind. It means
being actively open-minded. It requires
searching for reasons why we might be
wrong—not for reasons why we must be
right—and revising our views based on
what we learn.
- Adam Grant -
“
28

Aims to understand the company and team’s
goals as well as how her product’s vision and
strategy relate to it.
Supports gathering inputs to optimize the
product strategy. Seeks to understand what’s
important and why.
Is curious and critical with regards to why we
are solving problems in certain ways and
suggests potential improvements.
Supports setting a clear prioritization and
challenges it.
Clear understanding of how the company
goals relate to her product’s vision and
strategy.
Ensures that there’s a product vision and
product strategy to make that vision a reality.
Gathers relevant insights (quantitative,
qualitative, technology, industry, and shared
learnings) to inform and continuously improve
product strategy.
Connects the dots between the outcomes her
team wants to achieve and the outputs that
should be prioritized to achieve such outcomes
– in ways that work for the business.
Clear understanding of how the company goals relate
to her product’s vision and strategy.
Thinks strategically beyond her product. Works closely
with Product Leadership to set a holistic vision and
strategic rationale to make that vision a reality.
Gathers relevant insights (quantitative, qualitative,
technology, industry, and shared learnings) to inform
and continuously improve product strategy.
Connects the dots between the outcomes her team
wants to achieve and the outputs that should be
prioritized to achieve such outcomes – in ways that
work for the business.
Demonstrates great “product sense”, by showing high
degree of “taste”, intuition, empathy and ability to
think differently. “Dreams big”.
Ensures focus.
Clear understanding of how the company goals relate to
her product’s vision and strategy. Supports Product
Leadership setting such goals.
Thinks strategically beyond her product. Works closely with
Product Leadership to set a holistic vision and strategic
rationale to make that vision a reality.
Gathers relevant insights (quantitative, qualitative,
technology, industry, and shared learnings) to inform and
continuously improve product strategy.
Connects the dots between the outcomes her team wants
to achieve and the outputs that should be prioritized to
achieve such outcomes – in ways that work for the
business.
Helps others connecting the dots and prioritize.
Demonstrates outstanding “product sense”, by showing
high degree of “taste”, intuition, empathy and ability to
think differently and “dream big”.
Ensures strategic alignment across teams.
Ensures focus.
Contributes and influences across teams and organization
She understands the big picture. She has a solid strategic rationale on why the team is trying to solve a customer problem in a certain way. It is clear how she intends to make the product vision a
reality, while meeting her company’s business needs. She clearly articulates the desired impact, the outcomes leading to it, and the outputs driving those outcomes.
29

The product strategy describes how we
plan to accomplish the product vision, while
meeting the needs of the business as we
go. The strategy derives from focus, then
leverages insights, converts these insights
into action, and finally manages the work
through to completion.
- Marty Cagan -
“
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Supports the team to speak with
users and customers every week.
Shows curiosity to learn the
foundations of product Discovery.
Shows understanding of the team’s
hypothesis and contributes to de-risk
their ideas.
Shows understanding of various risks
(desirability, usability, feasibility,
viability) an idea may carry in the
context of her business
Shows curiosity to learn more about
designing and running experiments.
Speaks with users and customers every week
and seeks to master how to extract valuable
insights – with guidance.
Focuses on prioritizing and testing the riskiest
hypothesis, continuously generating evidence
and translating that evidence into insights to
act upon – with guidance.
Is comfortable designing and implementing
series of experiments with the team, aiming
to de-risk their ideas and discover customer
and business value.
Understands the principles of Design Thinking
and is comfortable crafting and navigating
e.g., user story maps, user journeys and
service blueprints – with guidance
Speaks with users and customers every week.
Knows how to drive the conversation, dig into the
why’s, and find patterns - with little or no guidance.
Focuses on prioritizing and testing the riskiest
hypothesis, continuously generating evidence and
translating that evidence into insights to act upon –
with little or no guidance.
Can clearly articulate the team's hypothesis, how to
validate them, and identifies the existing value
proposition and business model’s risks – with little or
no guidance.
Shows extensive knowledge on how to design and
implement series of experiments to test desirability,
feasibility and viability.
Strong understanding of Design Thinking and
comfortable crafting user story maps, user journeys
and service blueprints if needed – with guidance.
Helps others with Discovery
Speaks with users and customers every week. Masters the art and
science of talking with customers/users – with no guidance.
Prioritizes and tests the riskiest hypothesis, continuously generating
evidence and translating that evidence into insights to act upon –
with no guidance.
Can clearly articulate the team's hypothesis, how to validate them,
and identifies the existing value proposition and business model risks
– with no guidance.
Is a go-to-expert on how to design series of experiments to test
desirability, feasibility and viability.
Strong understanding of Design Thinking and comfortable crafting
user story maps, user journeys and service blueprints.
Shares Discovery good practices across the organization, and brings
everyone from other disciplines on board (e.g. Engineering) with the
power of cross functional discovery
Coaches others on Discovery.
Ensures alignment of continuous learnings across teams. Reflects on
how to collect and share such learnings.
Drives a culture of experimentation and fast learning.
#3 Discovery
Building on her curiosity and strategic thinking, she thrives to find new (and optimize existing) products that are desirable, usable, feasible and viable. Together with her team, she identifies and runs
series of continuous experiments to validate their hypothesis, learn, reduce product risk and act upon.
31

Product teams make decisions every day.
Our goal with continuous discovery is to
infuse those daily decisions with as much
customer input as possible.
- Teresa Torres -
“
32

Seeks to understand her product’s business
model and the various business constraints.
Seeks to learn about how to conduct business
analysis to help her uncover business insights,
patterns, and opportunities
Seeks to learn about the various areas of the
business including marketing, sales, finance
(both revenue and costs), services, privacy, legal,
partners, and so on.
Understands well her business model and the
various business constraints. Seeks to
continuously improve business outcomes and
grow her business.
Is comfortable conducting basic business
analysis when needed, allowing her to uncover
business insights, patterns, and opportunities –
with guidance. Comfortable with basic business
lingo.
Understands the various areas of the business
including marketing, sales, finance (both
revenue and costs), services, privacy, legal,
partners, and so on.
Very deep understanding of her business
model and the various business constraints.
Seeks to continuously improve business
outcomes and grow her business.
Is comfortable conducting complex business
analysis when needed, allowing her to uncover
business insights, patterns, and opportunities –
with little or no guidance. Comfortable with
advanced business lingo.
Strong understanding and focus on her
product’s P&L
Very deep understanding of the various areas
of the business, including marketing, sales,
finance (both revenue and costs), services,
privacy, legal, partners, and so on.
Very deep understanding of her business model and the
various business constraints. Seeks to continuously improve
business outcomes and grow her business.
Is comfortable conducting complex business analysis when
needed, allowing her to uncover business insights, patterns,
and opportunities – with guidance. Comfortable with
advanced business lingo.
Strong understanding and focus on her product and company
overall’s P&L.
Supports Product Leadership with business strategy and
relevant business decisions (e.g. acquisitions).
Very deep understanding of the various areas of the
business, including marketing, sales, finance (both revenue
and costs), services, privacy, legal, partners, and so on.
Helps and coaches others with business modeling, pricing,
willingness to pay discovery, and so on.
#4 Business Acumen
She understands that great ideas are not enough and turns them into sustainably profitable business models (or continuously optimizes existing ones) to create value for her customers and capture
value for her company.
33

A business model really is a system where
one element influences the other; it only
makes sense as a whole. Capturing that
big picture without visualizing it is difficult.
In fact, by visually depicting a business
model, one turns its tacit assumptions into
explicit information.
- Alexander Osterwalder -
“
34

Willing to learn the most important data
tools to collect, analyze and visualize how
her products are being bought by customers
and used by users.
Seeks to learn the technology behind her
products and how to leverage data to
improve quickly.
Shows interest and curiosity about new
technologies.
Seeks to gain the engineer’s respect, by
starting to understand their challenges and
appreciating them.
Shows good understanding of the most important
data tools to collect, analyze, and visualize how her
products are being bought by customers and used by
users.
Shows understanding of the technology behind her
products (strengths and weaknesses, capabilities and
limitations), and knows how to leverage data to
improve quickly.
Understands new technologies and what’s now just
possible.
Seeks to gain the engineer’s respect, by starting to
understand their challenges and appreciating them.
Capable of understanding basic technology challenges
such as scalability, availability, and maintainability.
Shows good understanding of various data tools (currently used by the company as well as other relevant
options) to collect, analyze, and visualize how her products are being bought by customers and used by users.
Shows understanding of the technology behind her products (strengths and weaknesses, capabilities and
limitations), and knows how to leverage data to improve quickly.
Understands new technologies and what is now just possible.
Is respected by engineers, speaks their language and is capable of effectively collaborate with them.
Capable of appreciating technology challenges such as scalability, availability, and maintainability.
Able to bring her tech knowledge into strategic conversations.
#5 Technology and Data fundamentals
She understands the technology behind her products (strengths and weaknesses, capabilities and limitations) and how to leverage data to learn and improve quickly. She’s familiar with
technological concepts in her domain and what’s just now possible, from a technology point of view. She knows how to effectively collaborate with engineers, by understanding and appreciating their
issues as well as speaking their language.
35

Technology Competency is when the
product manager can quickly learn new
and relevant technologies, not necessarily
in order to code to them, but to apply them.
Strengths and weaknesses, capabilities
and limitations.
- Marty Cagan -
“
36

Seeks to deeply understand her products, users,
and customers.
Understands her company’s goals, vision, strategy,
and mission.
Shows interest in learning more about the domain
and industry, including its relevant trends.
Deep understanding about her products, users, and
customers (pains & gains, jobs-to-be-done, willingness to
pay, etc.)
Understands well her company’s goals, vision, strategy,
and mission.
Good understanding of her domain and industry,
including its relevant trends.
Has a thorough understanding of the competitive
landscape and industry opportunities.
Expert about her company, products, users, and customers (pains & gains, jobs-to-be-done,
willingness to pay, etc.). Goes beyond her own products.
Deep understanding of her company’s goals, vision, strategy, and mission. Connects the dots
between what she’s doing and the overall company direction.
Leverages her company, product and domain knowledge to influence relevant leadership strategic
decisions.
Expert in her domain and industry, including its relevant trends. Comfortable being a public speaker
in industry conferences, on behalf of her company.
Has a thorough understanding of the competitive landscape and opportunities.
Helps others gain industry, domain, and company knowledge through training, public speaking,
coaching, and mentoring.
#6 Company, Product and Domain knowledge
She embraces her company’s values and understands the various dimensions of the business, such as marketing, sales, finance, privacy, and partners. She’s an expert on her products, their
business model, who her customers and users are, their pains & gains and jobs-to-be-done, the industry and domain she operates in as well as the competitive landscape and relevant industry
trends.
37

Key to industry knowledge is to identify
which industry trends are expected to be
relevant to the PM’s product. The first step
is to identify the trends, and then there may
be some education needed to understand
what the trend or technology enables, and
what the capabilities and limitations may be.
- Marty Cagan -
“
38

Seeks to understand the basics of
the Product Owner role.
Thinks big, starts small. Works
incrementally and iteratively
whenever possible.
Seeks to learn how to facilitate
effective sessions with the team,
such as scoping sessions,
retrospectives, OKR reviews, and
other ceremonies that may help
the team deliver better value
sooner.
Seeks to learn how to work
effectively with Product Marketing
and Sales, in a Go-To-Market
context.
Understands the Product Owner role
Comfortable using the most relevant Product
Delivery techniques and understands her team’s
delivery process and relevant frameworks – with
guidance.
Thinks big, starts small. Works incrementally and
iteratively whenever possible.
Knows how to facilitate effective sessions with
the team, such as retrospectives, OKR reviews,
and other ceremonies that may help the team
deliver better value sooner – with guidance.
Measures real progress and keeps the team’s
progress updated and transparent to the whole
organization and key stakeholders – with
guidance.
Obsessed about driving customer and business
outcomes, rather than outputs
Knows learn how to work effectively with Product
Marketing and Sales, in a Go-To-Market context.
Comfortable using various modern Product Delivery
techniques and understands her team’s delivery process
and relevant frameworks – with little or no guidance.
Seeks to experiment new ways of working that add value
to the team.
Thinks big, starts small. Works incrementally and iteratively
whenever possible.
Knows how to facilitate effective sessions with the team,
such as retrospectives, OKR reviews, and other ceremonies
that may help the team deliver better value sooner – with
little or no guidance.
Measures real progress and keeps the team’s progress
updated and transparent to the whole organization and
key stakeholders – with little or no guidance
Obsessed about driving customer and business outcomes,
rather than outputs
Continuously improves the way we work with Product
Marketing and Sales, in a Go-To-Market context.
Knows how to approach and manage high-integrity
commitments – with guidance.
Comfortable using various modern Product Delivery techniques and understands
her team’s delivery process and relevant frameworks – with no guidance. Creates
new frameworks.
Seeks to experiment new ways of working that add value to the team – and
company. Implements success cases across teams.
Thinks big, starts small. Works incrementally and iteratively whenever possible.
Vast experience facilitating effective sessions with the team, such as
retrospectives, OKR reviews, and other ceremonies that may help the team
deliver better value sooner – with no guidance.
Measures real progress and keeps the team’s progress updated and transparent
to the whole organization and key stakeholders – with little or no guidance
Obsessed about driving customer and business outcomes, rather than outputs
Continuously improves the way we work with Product Marketing and Sales, in a
Go-To-Market context.
Knows how to approach and manage high-integrity commitments – with no
guidance.
Helps and coaches others with Delivery techniques.
Works closely with Product Leadership to shape the broader product
development process and improve how the organization delivers new value.
#7 Driving Outcomes
She understands the broader product development process, as well as her responsibilities as the team’s product owner. She’s focused on delivering better value, sooner – and is familiar with Product
Delivery methodologies, techniques, frameworks and tools that help the team driving outcomes. She understands that such delivery frameworks are important, but only means to an end: deliver value
to her customers, sooner.
39

Your job isn’t to build more software faster:
it’s to maximize the outcome and impact you
get from what you choose to build.
- Jeff Patton -
“
40

Seeks to learn how to promote
teamwork and create great
teams.
Seeks to learn how to effectively
collaborate with engineers,
designers, and other team
members. Helps aligning the
team around the outcomes they
want to achieve – with guidance
Seeks to learn how to run
effective meetings and
workshops.
Provides and seeks candid
feedback. Is coachable and eager
to learn from her coach and those
around her.
Promotes teamwork and team building – with guidance.
Facilitates effective collaboration with engineers, designers, and other team
members. Aligns the team around the outcomes they want to achieve together
– with guidance
Ensures that whatever gets built is both usable, desirable, feasible and viable
– collaboratively. Embraces intellectual debate and understands that
collaboration is not the same as consensus.
Respects the “maker schedule”.
Seeks to continuously improve the team’s effectiveness towards their
outcomes – with guidance
Seeks to learn how to run effective meetings and workshops.
Promotes psychological safety.
Provides and seeks candid feedback. Is coachable and eager to learn from her
coach and those around her.
Deals with difficult situations in a calmly manner. Seeks to resolve any team’s
challenges.
Promotes teamwork and team building, being part coach, motivational speaker, and moderator -
bringing disparate parts together – with little or no guidance.
Leads and facilitates effective collaboration with engineers, designers, and other team members. Aligns
the team around the outcomes they want to achieve together – with little or no guidance.
Ensures whatever gets built is both usable, desirable, feasible and viable – collaboratively. Embraces
intellectual debate and understands that collaboration is not the same as consensus.
Respects the “maker schedule” and promotes flow.
Seeks to continuously improve the team’s effectiveness towards their outcomes. Measures flow,
identifies areas for improvement and produces change ideas.
Knows how to run effective meetings and workshops.
Promotes psychological safety.
Provides and seeks candid feedback. Is coachable and eager to learn from her coach and those around
her.
Deals with difficult situations in a calmly manner. Resolves any team’s challenges effectively.
Builds strong alignment across teams and thrives to increase transparency across the organization.
Seeks to destroy any possible silos in effective and creative ways.
Coaches teams on how to collaborate effectively to discover and deliver value.
#8 Collaboration
She’s focused on building and supporting an environment that values and encourages teamwork. She understands the power of empowered cross-functional teams and works effectively with Designers
and Developers. Fosters a fun environment, promotes psychological safety, and provides and seeks feedback. She’s obsessed about building trust and alignment with her team members and key
stakeholders.
41

In the context of an empowered, cross-
functional product team, being collaborative
has a very specific meaning, and it is most
definitely not how many people, especially
product managers, are inclined to work.
- Marty Cagan -
“
42

Challenges herself and seeks to
go beyond her comfort zone
with grit.
Endless focus on being a better
version of herself, through
learning, fitness, wellness and
mindfulness.
Takes ownership of problems
and doesn’t blame others. Is
humble and leads with
curiosity.
Helps bringing clarity to the
team and ensures focus.
Cares deeply about those around her.
Endless focus on being a better version of herself,
through learning, fitness, wellness and mindfulness.
Shows ability to influence the team.
Provides and seeks candid feedback to her team
members.
Challenges the status quo. Promotes an environment of
different opinions and listens intently.
Dares to be wrong, embraces vulnerability, and is open-
minded to new ways of thinking from any source.
Champions diversity and inclusion.
Brings clarity to the team and ensures focus – with
guidance.
Ensures those around her are both happy and thriving.
Removes barriers and solves challenges when possible.
Shows ability to influence, motivate, and inspire others.
Provides and seeks candid feedback to her team
members.
Challenges the status quo. Has strong opinions yet weakly
held. Promotes an environment of different opinions and
listens intently.
Dares to be wrong, embraces vulnerability, and is open-
minded to new ways of thinking from any source.
Brings clarity across teams – not just her own - and
ensures focus – with little guidance.
Seeks to be a great coach and help others grow.
Ensures those around her are happy and thriving. Removes
barriers and solves challenges when possible
Shows ability to influence, motivate, and inspire others.
Provides and seeks candid feedback from and to anyone.
Challenges the status quo. Has strong opinions yet weakly held.
Promotes an environment of different opinions and listens
intently.
Dares to be wrong, embraces vulnerability, and is open-minded to
new ways of thinking from any source.
Takes ownership of problems and doesn’t blame others. Resolves
conflicts in a calmly and effective manner.
Brings clarity across teams – not just her own - and ensures focus –
with no guidance.
Coaches and helps others grow. Gives the spotlight to others,
rather than herself.
Masters the art of coaching.
Works closely with product leadership on various areas.
She invests in herself and those around her through learning, coaching, fitness, wellness, and mindfulness. Her priority number one is to help others grow. She influences others and inspires the team
to achieving their objectives together. She creates a feeling of outcome ownership in the team. She elevates the best of each team member, praises in public, and provides constructive feedback in
private. She values different points of view, listens intently, embraces vulnerability, brings clarity to the team, provides context, and ensures strategic focus. She’s seen as a role model.
43

“The true price of leadership is the
willingness to place the needs of others
above your own. Great leaders truly care
about those they are privileged to lead and
understand that the true cost of the
leadership privilege comes at the expense of
self-interest.”
- Simon Sinek -
“
44

Listens intently.
Seeks to clearly articulate her opinions
concisely.
Seeks to become a great writer.
Is a great storyteller and seeks to learn
how to best influence others.
Seeks to learn when to communicate
asynchronously or synchronously. Uses
the right medium.
Listens intently.
Shows empathy. Considers the feelings of others and adjusts her communication.
Seeks to truly get to know people and build trust.
Clearly articulate her opinions concisely. Get her thoughts across without ambiguity.
Understands the different audiences.
Is a compelling writer.
Is a great storyteller and able to influence others.
Knows when to communicate asynchronously or synchronously.
Evangelizes her product’s vision and strategy at any time, motivating and inspiring
others to pursue it – with guidance.
Is open-minded. Considers all viewpoints rather than excluding them because she
knows the answer
Listens intently and ensures the room is listening to those that are less vocal.
Shows empathy. Considers the feelings of others and adjusts her communication.
Seeks to truly get to know people and build trust.
Clearly articulate her opinions concisely. Get her thoughts across without ambiguity.
Understands the different audiences.
Is an excellent writer.
Is an excellent storyteller and able to influence others.
Masters the art of persuasion.
Pays attention to nonverbal elements such as body language and eye contact.
Knows when to communicate asynchronously or synchronously.
Evangelizes her product’s vision and strategy at any time, motivating and inspiring
others to pursue it – with no guidance.
Is able to say “no” assertively and gracefully.
Is open-minded. Considers all viewpoints rather than excluding them because she
knows the answer (or believes she does).
Coaches other to becoming better at Communication and Evangelism
Listens intently. Communicates clearly, concisely, and through great storytelling – both speaking and writing. Knows how to persuasively evangelize the solution she and her team is putting together, as well
as the product’s vision and strategy – across the company. She influences, builds confidence and inspires others. Knows how to say “no” assertively and gracefully.
Associate PM PM
Senior PM
Lead PM
45

“It turns out that trust is in fact earned in the
smallest of moments. It is earned not through
heroic deeds, or even highly visible actions,
but through paying attention, listening, and
gestures of genuine care and connection.”
- Brene Brown -
“
46

Reflection & Coaching
Part 3
47

“Coaching is no longer a specialty. You
cannot be a good manager without being a
good coach”
- Coach Bill Campbell -
“
48

As a Product Leader, your
number one responsibility
is to grow your people.
The following questions serve both to facilitate great coaching
conversations and self-reflection. Use them as a guide, not a
script.
49

Is she stating the assumptions underlying what she is building now?
Is he seeking to generate evidence to validate those assumptions?
Does she question the degree of confidence in that evidence? Does she measure it with the
team?
Is he aware of how users are using his products? Customers buying it? Channels selling it?
Is he, in general, curious to understand the whole “system”?
Does she dig into the why’s of things again and again? Does she often reflect on “how do
we know this is true”?
Does he consider other ways of doing things? Other perspectives that are different than
his?
Is she making data-driven/ data-informed decisions?
Is he curious to learn more about Product Management?

Does she understand the ultimate “why”, before even talking about the “what”?
Does he clearly articulate the desired impact of what he’s building, the outcomes he wants to
achieve with the team and the outputs leading to those outcomes?
Does he have a clear vision for his product?
Does she have a clear strategic rationale on how to make her product’s vision a reality – in ways
that work for the business?
Is he able to connect the dots between his product strategy and overall company strategy? Does
he reflect and discuss how his objectives align with “the bigger picture”?
Does she link the insights generated by continuous discovery with Product strategy? Does she use
this information to ensure strategic focus on the most important things?

Does she understand the various discovery techniques and when to use them? Does she
reflect on the level of evidence her discovery initiatives are generating? Does she understand
how to balance the different qualitative and qualitative techniques to strengthen it?
Is he uncovering the usability, desirability, feasibility, and viability of his idea? Is he doing it
collaboratively with engineers and designers?
Is she thinking about risk appropriately, and does she understand the strengths and limitations
of each discovery technique?
Does he utilize optimization techniques for when products are live, to rapidly improve and
refine them?
Is she seeking to learn useful framing techniques, such as user story mapping, opportunity
trees, user journeys, and service blueprints?
#3 Discovery
Does he know the most important customer problems to solve next? Is he focused on discovering solutions to solve those problems?
Is she de-risking her and her team’s ideas upfront, collaboratively?
Does he clearly identify the hypothesis of his idea, both value proposition and business model? Is he prioritizing which hypothesis to test next?
Is he speaking with users/customers every week?

Does he have a deep understanding of the financials of his product (both costs and revenues)? Is he
identifying and following up on the most important financial KPIs for his product?
Does he dissect relevant business insights from various business analysis? Finds patterns to act upon?
Is she aware of all constraints and critical information with regards to legal (Privacy and Compliance) for
her product?
Does she understand the business impact (at the larger picture) of her product decisions?
#4 Business Acumen
Is he seeking to learn more about innovation, digital platforms, business models, growth strategy, and so on?
Is she able to fill out a business model canvas for her product, and deeply understand each element, constraint, opportunities, and
interdependencies?
Does he understand the entire funnel from awareness to, for example trials, and onboarding? The capabilities and limitations of his Sales’
teams?
Does she understand the fundamentals of Marketing, and is able to support and contribute to e.g. go-to-market strategy and tactics?

Is she skilled with the various data tools to collect, analyze and visualize how her
products are being bought by customers and used by users?
Does he understand the different types of data (user analytics, sales analytics, data
warehouse analytics)?
Can she clearly explain the technology behind her products? Is she curious and seeks to strengthen her knowledge about relevant tech concepts?
Is he curious about emerging technologies and how these work? Does he seek to go one step further to develop in this area, so he understands
what’s just now possible?
Does her knowledge of technology allow her to have insightful conversations with her tech lead and developers? Appreciate their challenges? Does
she understand the lingo?
Is she respected by her engineers? Is she able to effectively collaborate with them, and bring them closely to the customers?

Is she knowledgeable about her industry and domain?
Does she understand the competitive landscape and the relevant industry trends?
Does he understand the various dimensions of the business, including Marketing, Sales, Finance,
Legal, Supply Chain, Partners, and so on?
Is she an expert about her users/customers? Does she understand their jobs-to-be-done
(functional, emotional, etc) in detail, customer journey, pains and gains?
Is he an expert about his products? Can he demo them effectively to a large audience if needed
(e.g., Sales teams, conferences)?
#6 Company, Product and Domain knowledge

Is he focused on driving outcomes, rather than outputs?
Does she promote an agile culture, advocating for its main principles?
Does he know how to balance speed and efficiency, according to the type of initiative he’s working on and context?
Is she aiming to improve ways of working with the team constantly? Does she know how to run an effective retrospective meeting, for
example?
Is he able to describe his team’s take on quality? How they make sure everything works as well as possible?
Does she understand the various delivery techniques/approaches/frameworks that are being used (e.g., continuous delivery)? Does
she understand the role of the Product Owner (a fraction of her job), and take a more active role when needed?
When involved in high-integrity commitments, is he planning appropriately? Managing stakeholders?
Does she understand that delivery frameworks (e.g., Scrum) and tools are very important, but all means to an end? That the focus
should never be on e.g., scrum artifacts and Jira, but rather on delivering actual value and solving customers’ problems in ways that
work for the business?
#7 Driving Outcomes

Does she understand the real contribution of product design and engineering?
Is he aware of the top dysfunctions of a team, and how to address them?
Is she establishing strong relationships with her team members and across the organization?
Fostering trust and respect?
Does he understand what motivates those around her?
Does she foster an innovative, creative, fun, positive, and high-performing environment in her
team?
Is he aware of the power of “making work visible”? Is he ensuring the team understands what
they are doing and why?
Is she providing candid feedback to her team members? Is she pro-actively asking them for
feedback?
Is he collaborating effectively with other teams, especially when having shared or common
objectives?
Is she keeping important stakeholders in the loop when needed? Collaborating with them
effectively?
#8 Collaboration

Is she a role model to her team members?
Does he care about others’ development? Does he help them grow?
Is she praising others in public and providing honest criticism in private?
Is he inspiring others?
Is she able to resolve conflict assertively and calmly? Does her team members see her
as the go-to person to solve a problem or conflict?
Is he pro-actively coaching others (even if he’s not their “coach”)?
Does she come across as confident, yet able to show vulnerability and always leaving
her ego away?
Is he putting the success of her team before his own? Is he constantly elevating others?
Does she take accountability, and doesn’t blame others?

Does she listen intently?
Is he coming across as confident when communicating? Yet, is he honest and vulnerable
when he doesn’t know the answer?
Is she clear and concise when she speaks? When she writes?
Is he able to put together a clear, powerful or inspiring presentation? Is he able to convey
the message and influence others, through the power of storytelling? Is he providing room
for debate and incentivizing it?
Is she comfortable at facilitating discussions? Either between the team or leadership?
Is he able to effectively communicate with customers? Does he do it naturally?
Is she evangelizing her product across the organization? Inspiring others through her
communication about her product vision and strategy?
Is he able to say “no” assertively and gracefully?

(Bonus) Conversation and reflection guide
Background
- Throughout your career, which parts or roles brought you the most joy, energized you, and provided you with a true sense of meaning? Why?
- What has led you to boredom and disengagement? Why?
- Have your interests, values, and skills evolved over time? Any significant change the past couple of years?
- What will you definitely want to seek out in the future?
- What will you definitely want to avoid in the future?
- What do you enjoy learning about the most?
- What do you wish you had more time for?
- If you didn’t have to work, how would you spend your time?
Interests
60

- What kind of work or context have you typically avoided?
- What kind of tasks do you typically push down on your to do list?
- What bores you?
Dislikes
Preferences and opportunities
- How do you like to work?
- Do you enjoy receiving constructive feedback? How do you prefer it to be
given?
- How do you typically prefer to learn?
- What skills do you appreciate in others that you don’t always see in yourself?
- Where do you see yourself in a couple of years?
Background
61

- What have you always been naturally good at?
- What are you known for?
- What have you learned in past couple of years, that made you really proud?
- Looking back, what’s always been the most important thing for you in life and at
work?
- What are the things you really value in a team? In a manager? In a company?
Skills and Values
Background
62

(Bonus) Coaching example: DON’T
Product Leader: “So Liz, let’s start our 1:1. What’s the status on Discovery
right now? Have you guys finished those interviews?”
PM: “We are now dissecting the evidence from our experiments with
customers last week, but I’m kinda stuck… I don’t know what to do next. What
do you think I should do?
Product leader: “I think you should do a quantitative experiment since the
evidence we have so far is qualitative... I’m also thinking we need to start
viability testing. A fake landing page with a small call to action might be the
way to go. I can help you with that.”
PM: “Right! I will start working on that then!”
Product leader: “Great!”
Please note that the Product Leader starts this 1:1 as if the purpose of 1:1 meetings was a status update. But 1:1’s are not for the leaders… They are for the people
they serve. Also, notice that this manager is then rushing to give advice, once asked for direction. But remember: coaching is about fostering reflection – with the
ultimate goal of helping people grow. A great coach believes in people more than they believe in themselves. Instead of rushing to give advice, great coaches lead with
curiosity and ask good questions to foster great thinking.

(Bonus) Coaching example: DO
Product Leader: “So, what’s on your mind today Liz?”
PM: “We are now dissecting the evidence from our experiments with customers last week,
but I’m kinda stuck… I don’t know what to do next. What do you think I should do?
Product leader: “Well, I’ve been following you guys’ work closely and I have a few thoughts.
But I know you are really good in Discovery so let’s hear your ideas first and I’ll share my
thoughts after. What are you thinking?”
PM: Hmm, I was thinking I should conduct a quantitative experiment to increase the
confidence on our main hypothesis.
Product leader: “That’s a great reflection Liz. What else?”
PM: I definitely think we should start testing viability too.”
Product leader. “That’s smart. I agree. Any thoughts on how you might do that?”
Now, notice that this leader starts with the question “What’s on your mind”. That’s a very different question from the previous example. In this case, Liz could be
struggling with something personal she wanted to talk about or an uncomfortable barrier at work that her leader would be able to remove. This question opens the
game for all sorts of conversations. Then, notice that the leader is curious about what Liz is thinking – potentially even increasing her confidence. The leader knows
what Liz could probably do next, but Liz has great reflections too. So, let’s hear them first. This type of behavior builds trust and makes people feel heard. Be curious…

This is why, in a nutshell, advice is
overrated. I can tell you something, and it’s
got a limited chance of making its way into
your brain’s hippocampus, the region that
encodes memory. If I can ask you a question
and you generate the answer yourself, the
odds increase substantially.
- Michael Bungay Stanier -
“
65

Product Leader: “So Liz, you wanted to talk about something that happened during
the meeting this morning?
PM: “Yes, James (tech lead) wasn’t very happy with the requirements I’ve created for
him and the dev team.”
Product leader: “What’s the issue?”
PM: Well, he’s not onboard with the idea I think… and honestly I just want to get this
feature out. What do you think I should do?”
Product leader: “Hmm.. I see. Don’t worry, let me speak with him. Implementing this
feature is really important. He needs to understand that.”
PM: “Thanks!”
There are three major red flags with this dialogue. First, the Tech Lead seems to be getting the “requirements” that the PM “has created for him and the Dev
team”. This is waterfall and sequential product development, rather than collaborative. Engineers must be involved in problem-solving to a point that we don’t really
need to e.g. translate the user needs. They know the user needs. They discovered them together. Especially the tech lead – who's supposed to have spent around
80% of her time in discovery. Second, the PM seems to not be appreciating the complexity of the technology required – which could be related to her potential
lack of technology knowledge too. And lastly, from a coaching standpoint, this leader is going into “rescue mode” rather than being curious and coaching the
team – together – to build the right product in the right way, as well as coaching the PM on the importance of true collaboration.
(Bonus) Coaching example: DON’T

Product Leader: “So Liz, you wanted to talk about something that happened during the meeting this morning?
PM: “Yes, James (tech lead) wasn’t very happy with the requirements I’ve created for him and dev team.”
Product leader: “Ok. So, does that mean James hasn’t been involved until now?”
PM: “Well, not really… He wasn’t involved in the customer interviews and Bob didn’t involve him in the UI design either. But the feature is now fully spec-ed, we just
need to implement this asap I think”
Product leader: “Liz, I can feel you are a bit upset about the situation, but I need to give you some feedback here. Is this a good time?
PM: “Of course!”
Product leader. “You see, Modern product management is all about true collaboration between product, design and engineering. Have you tried to understand why
James is not happy?
PM: “No… He just mentioned that the design was too complex. But you know how he is…”
Product leader: “He wouldn’t be feeling and telling you this now if he had been part of designing the solution. Maybe he would have given you even better ideas,
because he really understands our platform and what’s just now possible technology-wise. Regardless, you should have involved James from day 1. Remember, great
product development happens collaboratively. What just happened seems like by-the-book waterfall. I think it would be really nice if we revisited together the real
contribution of product design and engineering, in an empowered and cross-functional product team. What do you think about that?
As opposed to the last example, notice that here the Product leader is coaching the PM on the importance of true collaboration in an empowered cross-
functional product team. A one-hour meeting with the whole team goes a long way and can be a vital coaching opportunity for the product leader to understand how
the PM is collaborating with the team. How engaged is the whole team? Are they taking orders from the PM or acting like a true empowered product team? Are they
spending too much time talking in meetings and not enough time trying (e.g. prototyping and testing ideas together)?
(Bonus) Coaching example: DO

If you are a manager, you should be
spending most of your time and energy on
coaching your team. This means spending
real effort on things like assessing your
team, creating development plans, and
actively helping them improve and develop.
- Marty Cagan -
“
68

PM Growth corner: what you’ll find here
Product People you should follow
We can learn so much by just following key people (Product and beyond…) and being attentive to their latest
tweets, LinkedIn posts, blog articles, newsletters, or Medium stories. This enables you to be in constant touch
with the latest and greatest views in Product – in a digestible way. The variety is also important… Don’t be
contented with only one or two points of view.
Podcasts worth listening to
Subscribe to the podcast below and browse through them to find specific topics of your interest. A single podcast
episode can inspire us to do things differently, change our minds, help us learn more about something specific, or
validate our current thinking (watch out for your confirmation bias though). It’s a great “low hanging” learning
moment, and a good companion for commutes, cooking, dog-walks, etc. For a better learning experience, I like to
pair specific book chapters with lots of different podcast episodes on the same topic. It allows you to go deeper.
Books you should consider reading
The following book list is vast and may seem overwhelming. But the intention is to allow you to explore. This is
not a prescription - it’s a guide. Do your own research and just read whatever you like. But just read… If you don’t
enjoy reading yet, “read what you love until you love to read”.

The means of learning are abundant, the
desire to learn is scarce.
- Naval Ravikant -
“
71

Marty Cagan Melissa Perri Jeff Patton
Petra Wille Ken Norton Julie Zhuo
Dan Olsen Teresa Torres John Cutler
Lenny Rachitsky
Christian Idiodi
Tim Herbig
David Bland
On the spotlight in Product: who to follow?
Jeff Gothelf

Deborah Liu Shreyas Doshi
Ravi Mehta Ami Vora Scott Belsky
Sachin Rekhi Casey Winters Jackie Bavaro Hari Srinivasan
Andre Albuquerque
Aakash Gupta
Maarten Dalmijn Moe Ali
Itamar Gilad

Elena Verna Nir Eyal David Pereira
Toby Sinclair Petra Färm Andre Marquet Roman Pichler
Shyvee Shi April Dunford Michael
Bungay
Stanier
Jens-Fabian
Goetzmann
Hope Gurion Daniel Elizalde
Gibson Biddle

Kim Scott
Dan Toma Tendayi Viki Mike Burrows
Ryan Singer Amy Edmondson
Jonathan Smart
Carlos Villaumbrosia Stefan Wolpers Manuel Pais Rich Mironov Alexander Osterwalder Joshua Seiden Klaus Leopold

Felipe Castro Christina Wodtke Mik Kersten
Marc Randolph Johanna Rothman Martina Lauchengco Henrik Kniberg

Product Love This is Product
Management
For the love of
Product
Masters of
Scale
The Science of
Success
Exponential
view
The Product
Experience
Product
Thinking
SaaStr Productized Leading Agile Lenny’s Podcast PM Hub Product Science Coaching for
Leaders
The Knowledge
Podcast
A few podcasts worth listening to…

Reading a book isn’t a race – the better the
book, the more slowly it should be absorbed.
- Naval Ravikant -
“
78

Some Books

Some Books
#2 Strategic Thinking and #4 Business Acumen

Some Books

Some Books
#7 Driving Outcomes
v
v

Some Books
#8 Collaboration and #9 Leadership and Consciousness

Thanks for reading!
Whether you are a Product Manager, a Product Leader, or
anyone who works or aspires to work in Product, I hope you
found this useful. If you did, please share it with your
network-so others can access it too 🙏
90

Do you have any feedback?
I would love to hear from you. If there’s anything I could add,
remove, or change – please let me know. I’ll make sure to
keep improving it in future versions 🙌
91

This framework is highly inspired by some of the greatest minds in Product,
particularly, Marty Cagan, Petra Wille, Teresa Torres, and Ken Norton.
Special thanks to Alejandro Moreno for some of the illustrations!
92

The PM Growth Bubble V.2.0.pdf

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