In this exclusive 60-minute product talk with Wren Ludlow, we will discuss the 5 skills a modern Product Manager must have. To know more visit: www.pragmaticleaders.io

1. 5 Skills For Modern
Product Managers
Wren Ludlow

2. WHAT WE’LL COVER
• A Little About Me
• The 5 Skills of Modern Product Managers
• Design Fluency
• Technical Competency
• Relentless Learning
• Smart Networking
• Business Acumen
• Q&A

3. ABOUT ME

4. Program Manager
Senior Product ManagerMarketing Intern
MY BACKGROUND
Principal Product Manager

5. WHAT I DO

6. DESIGN
FLUENCYInternalize the principles of good design and experience.

7. “Design is so simple, that's
why it is so complicated.”
-Paul Rand

8. PRINCIPLES OF GOOD DESIGN
1) Clarity
2) Consistency
3) Visual hierarchy
4) Appropriate contrast
5) Simplicity
Source: HH Design

9. HAVE USER EMPATHY
Source: The Interaction Design Foundation

10. DESIGN IN DEVELOPMENT
Source: Gartner

11. SOME DESIGN RESOURCES
1) UX Collective
2) HH Design
3) design.google
4) Medium.com

12. TECHNICAL
COMPETENCYFeel comfortable leading development teams.

13. “At the end of the day, your job isn’t
to get the requirements right — your
job is to change the world.”
-Jeff Patton

14. Do I need to know
how to code?
Maybe.

15. TECH-SAVVY PRODUCT MANAGERS
1) Sizing projects (what’s easy, what’s hard, and what’s impossible)
2) High-level knowledge of how a product’s systems fit together
3) The software development process
4) Pros and cons of different development languages and frameworks
5) Applications of new technology to users and product
6) Tradeoffs between technical debt and doing things the “right way”
7) Technology trends in an industry and in general
Source: Hackernoon

16. Source: Gartner

17. SOME TECHNICAL RESOURCES
1) Codecademy
2) Hackernoon.com
3) Language/framework communities
4) Open source repos
5) Scrum teams
6) Medium.com

18. RELENTLESS
LEARNINGConstantly expand your skills and your knowledge.

19. “Study the science of art. Study the art of
science…Realize that everything connects
with everything else.”
-Leonardo Da Vinci

20. Malcolm XLeonardo Da Vinci
Steve JobsAbraham Lincoln

21. Source: The Mission Podcasts

22. 1) Choose a concept
2) Try to explain it simply
3) Find knowledge gaps and fill them
4) Simplify more and create analogies
THE FEYNMAN TECHNIQUE

23. 1) Choose a task or skill
2) Learn through detailed instruction
3) Get immediate and meaningful feedback
4) Practice the same or similar activities
5) Quantify improvements over time
6) Where there are gaps, repeat 1-5
DELIBERATE PRACTICE
Source: Peak: Secrets from the new Science of Expertise

24. SOME LEARNING RESOURCES
• Coursera, Udemy
• Khan Academy
• YouTube
• Edx
• Class-central.com
• Lynda.com, Pluralsight.com
• Medium.com

25. SMART
NETWORKINGGrow and connect yourself to opportunity.

26. “The currency of real networking
is not greed but generosity.”
-Keith Ferrazzi

27. AUTHENTIC ENGAGEMENT

28. BUILD YOUR STORY
Passions
Goals
Skills
Experience
Strengths
Value
Accomplishments

29. TIPS FOR SMART NETWORKING
1) Spend at least 1 hour on LinkedIn per week
2) Do an informational interview once a month
3) Do a networking 1:1 lunch once a month
4) Attend 2 professional networking events each quarter
5) Engage your network regularly with authentic engagement
6) Always be willing to mentor and be mentored

30. SOME NETWORKING RESOURCES
• LinkedIn
• Company network
• University network
• Product Usergroups

31. BUSINESS
ACUMENConnect your work to the success of the business.

32. “Every time your customers purchase from you,
they’re deciding that they value what you have to
offer more than they value anything else their
money could buy at that moment.”
-Josh Kaufman

33. Do I need
an MBA?
Maybe.

34. BUSINESS: THE BASICS
Every successful business:
1. Creates or provides something of value
2. that other people want or need
3. at a price they're willing to pay
4. in a way that satisfies the purchaser's needs and expectations
5. and provides the business sufficient revenue to make it
worthwhile for the owners to continue operation.
Source: The Personal MBA

35. THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• How a product is marketed, sold, and delivered to end users
• Principles of operating costs, profits, and losses
• Organizational power structure and how decisions are made
• How a product or service fits into overall success
• Why some companies are successful and some are not
• Principles of thinking and acting strategically
Source: The Personal MBA

36. SOME BUSINESS RESOURCES
• LinkedIn
• Harvard Business Review
• Wall Street Journal
• Bloomberg
• MBA
• Books

37. LET’S
CONNECT
linkedin.com/in/wrenludlow/

38. QUESTIONS?

39. Thank
You

40. REFERENCES
• https://medium.com/flowcap/why-you-need-to-learn-how-to-code-as-a-product-manager-54815aea031b
• https://medium.com/hh-design/crash-course-ui-design-25d13ff60962
• https://medium.com/hh-design/intro-to-product-design-c2dbbc7809d3
• https://medium.com/hh-design/defining-the-big-d-afc856b4b8d
• https://medium.com/hh-design/design-resources-5071be5f2e43
• https://www.logodesignlove.com/next-logo-paul-rand
• https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/bad-design-vs-good-design-5-examples-we-can-learn-frombad-design-vs-good-design-5-examples-
we-can-learn-from-130706
• https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1541416932&sr=1-
4&keywords=the+lean+startup
• https://design.google/
• https://uxdesign.cc/if-satan-was-a-web-designer-dc5cdf06dff9
• https://medium.com/@ericyi/ux-teardown-3-robinhood-79e310f7578
• https://hackernoon.com/learn-to-code-in-2018-get-hired-and-have-fun-along-the-way-b338247eed6a
• https://hbr.org/2017/12/what-it-takes-to-become-a-great-product-manager
• https://hackernoon.com/technical-skills-for-non-technical-product-managers-cbd202b8dac0
• https://www.businessinsider.com/google-email-product-manager-2017-3
• https://community.uservoice.com/blog/technical-skills-every-product-manager-should-know/
• https://online-learning.harvard.edu/course/cs50-introduction-computer-science

41. REFERENCES CONTINUED
• https://medium.com/pminsider/should-a-product-manager-know-how-to-code-16f6f79b9716
• https://www.smartinsights.com/managing-digital-marketing/managing-marketing-technology/gartner-hype-cycle-2018-most-emerging-technologies-are-
5-10-years-away/
• https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/5-trends-emerge-in-gartner-hype-cycle-for-emerging-technologies-2018/
• https://medium.com/taking-note/learning-from-the-feynman-technique-5373014ad230
• https://medium.com/personal-growth/richard-feynman-how-to-not-cheat-yourself-out-of-lifes-beauty-e4c70eee3ab
• https://collegeinfogeek.com/feynman-technique/
• https://medium.com/the-mission/modern-polymath-81f882ce52db
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/tuva-richard-feynman/?from=http%3A%2F%2Fresearch.microsoft.com%2Ftuva
• https://www.scotthyoung.com/learnonsteroids/grab/TranscriptFeynman.pdf
• https://medium.com/@noah_weiss/10-traits-of-great-pms-a7776cd3d9cd
• http://projects.ict.usc.edu/itw/gel/EricssonDeliberatePracticePR93.pdf
• https://medium.com/swlh/the-3-most-important-skills-to-learn-now-to-thrive-in-2019-be7a29bb16bf
• https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/
• https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Secrets-New-Science-Expertise/dp/0544947223/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
• https://www.amazon.com/Never-Eat-Alone-Expanded-Updated/dp/0385346654/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1541384120&sr=1-
1&keywords=NEVER+EAT+ALONE&dpID=41x1dFaUd7L&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch
• https://www.amazon.com/Personal-MBA-Master-Art-Business/dp/1591845572

42. REFERENCES CONTINUED
• https://www.themuse.com/advice/26-different-ways-to-build-your-personal-brand-meaning-youll-like-at-least-one
• https://www.inc.com/nicolas-cole/how-to-build-a-personal-brand-in-5-steps-and-why-everyone-messes-up-on-number-1.html