25 Rules for Product Managers

25

RULES FOR
PRODUCT
MANAGERS

Steve MacLaughlin
Director, Idea Lab
Blackbaud, Inc.

© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

www.blackbaud.com"
www.npengage.com
@smaclaughlin

25 Rules for Product Managers

Rule #01

The answers to most questions can only
be found outside of the building.



Rule #02

When in doubt, see Rule #1.



Rule #03

Know your priorities and make
them clear to others.



Rule #04

Strategy always comes before
technology. Just like in the dictionary.



Rule #05

Clarity and brevity equals mastery.



Rule #06

Success = Deliverables - Expectations.
Don't ever go negative.



Rule #07

If you're irreplaceable,
then you can't get promoted.



Rule #08

Aim for the Moon, but first focus on
getting off the launch pad.



Rule #09

If you have to explain it,
then you are losing.



Rule #10

You don't have to understand all the
details, but you do have to understand
the importance of the details.



Rule #11

Don’t build a product to solve a
problem people don't value
enough to pay to fix.



Rule #12

The roadmap is a path to the
product vision not a long list
of features or promises.



Rule #13

You have two ears and
one mouth for a reason.



Rule #14

Customer development is inextricably
linked to product development.



Rule #15

Don't deal in absolutes. Statements with
“always”, “all”, “none”, “any”, and
“every” in them are fraught with peril.



Rule #16

A list of decisions should include
things you decided not to do.



Rule #17

The more free something is
the more it ends up costing you.



Rule #18

All project dates are arbitrary.
Know what you want before
you mandate when you need it.



Rule #19

If you have to ask permission to innovate,
then you're not innovating.



Rule #20

Marketing and communication are
not the same thing.
Don’t mistake one for the other.



Rule #21

No one ever changed the world by
creating a great feature matrix.



Rule #22

If you don't have an outside perspective,
then you don't really have a perspective.



Rule #23

Given the choice, it's better to
play banker than gambler.



Rule #24

Every product must pass the
valuable, usable, and feasible test.



Rule #25

Don't make a decision based solely on
one person's wants. We're all day-to-day.


Thank You
Steve MacLaughlin
Director, Idea Lab
Blackbaud, Inc.


www.blackbaud.com"
www.npengage.com
@smaclaughlin

25 Rules for Product Managers

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