42 Rules of Product Management: Learn the Rules of Product Management from Leading Experts "from" Around the World [Paperback]

Brian Lawley (Author), Greg Cohen (Author), Laura Lowell (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2010

42 Rules of Product Management is a collection of product management wisdom from forty experts from around the world. The goal of this book is to expose you to the wisdom and knowledge from a group of the world's leading product management experts. Among the contributors, there are leading authors, professors, CEOs and vice presidents, bloggers, consultants, trainers, and even a few salespeople and engineers. In total, there are over five centuries of collected wisdom represented here.

The contributors each share one rule they think is critical to succeed in product management based on their hands-on product management and product marketing experience with companies such as Apple, eBay, Intuit, SAP, and Yahoo!.

Packed with pearls of product management wisdom, this book has something for everyone. You will learn:

• How to focus on market needs, not just individual requests
• How to clarify your product positioning before your next big decision
• How to align your product strategy with company strategy – and then sell it
• Why agility is the key to product management success
• Why great execution trumps a great product idea

Best of all, it was written with the busy product manager in mind. Each rule is kept to two pages and designed to stand-on its own. The rules can be read in any order. In less than five minutes a day, you can learn from forty of the best product managers in the world. Whether you are a seasoned and experienced product manager or are just starting out, the 42 Rules of Product Management will help you lead with greater effectiveness and influence.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian Lawley is the CEO and Founder of the 280 Group. During his twenty-five year career in product management and product marketing, he has shipped more than fifty successful products. He is the former president of the Silicon Valley Product Management Association, won the 2008 AIPMM award for Excellence in Thought Leadership for Product Management, and is the author of the best-selling books Expert Product Management and The Phenomenal Product Manager. He is a Certified Product Manager and Certified Product Marketing Manager, has been featured on CNBC's World Business Review and the Silicon Valley Business Report and writes articles for a variety of publications including the Product Management 2.0 newsletter and blog. Greg Cohen is a Senior Principal Consultant with the 280 Group and a fifteen-year product management veteran with extensive experience and knowledge of Agile development, a Certified Scrum Master, and former president of the Silicon Valley Product Management Association. He has worked and consulted to venture startups and large companies alike and has trained product managers throughout the world on Agile development, road mapping, feature prioritization, product lifecycle process, and product management assessment. Greg is the author of the book Agile Excellence for Product Managers and a speaker and frequent commentator on product management issues. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: Super Star Press (October 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1607730863
• ISBN-13: 978-1607730866
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.2 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #606,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a book at all July 22, 2012

By Daniel

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This mini guide containes a couple of great thoughts and bits and pieces of wisdom, but you could also summerize them on a two page handout...so the book(lett) is not worth its money in any case and tells you little about Product Management really.

If you want to read some common sense go for it, if you are truely interested in PM better look somewhere else. I like Lawley a lot, but this one is just to make a quick buck and does not give you 20 USD of value in return.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good daily inspiration. Not much else. April 2, 2012

By ermy

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Think of this as a good daily inspiration. What the book lacks is detailed how-to's or examples on how to implement or abide by the rules.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Collection of Product Management Articles August 21, 2011

By Dave Moran

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a new product manager, I enjoyed gleaning insights from a variety of perspectives (the contributors include executives, consultants, authors/bloggers, and trainers as well as product managers). I appreciated reading what each contributor felt was important about product management, and why. It gave me a broad perspective on the subject of product management and I came away with plenty of notes that I'll use in my current role as a product manager.

A few pieces of advice to give you a feel for the advice that I found both useful and insightful:

Saying "no" because the customer isn't always right: There are times when saying "no" can be mutually beneficial. An example from the book talks about how saying "no" led to a call from the CEO expressing disappointment, yet once the customer got past their initial disappointment, they built the capability themselves. This is much better than leading a customer on, letting them think that a feature might make it in at some point in the future.

If you want to improve your product, talk to a competitor's customer. "...they'll tell you why they didn't buy your product, and what you would have to do to your product to make it worth purchasing." Conversely, customers of your own products typically point out things they don't like or would like to see added or fixed - for free.

A key test of your (as a product manager) being a CEO of your product: "When a question arises about product direction, all eyes turn to you. If that's not happening, ask yourself if you're being a true product leader."

If you're a product manager, this book is a must read!

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book if you want to get straight to the point December 15, 2012

By david d smalley

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

i was new to PM when i got this so it help me get familiar with the new role quicker

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard won experience you can benefit from November 4, 2010

By Phil Burton

Format:Paperback

Also as one of the authors of this book, I appreciate the fact that we aren't all 100% consistent with each other. That is to be expected in a field like product management. The principles are pretty universal, but they have to be applied according to the industry and company you are in. As you read through the various sections, and note how people have solved similar problems, the differences in perspectives can very very illuminating, just as in a discussion with your peers at a local meeting or a P-camp.

You can probably draw some insights precisely because there is some disagreement. But even if I disagree with some fine points, I have a lot of respect for the people who contributed. This is a group of people who have "been there, done that, had the successes (and sometimes the not-successes). I only wish that this book had been available to me at the beginning of my career. It might have made more more effective in a wide variety of situations.

In fact, don't just read this book yourself. Recommend it to colleagues, to your boss, even to the CEO. Pick out one or two topics and discuss them at a staff meeting. Discuss a few topics with engineering or sales, to help them understand the key role of product management and to have a better idea of what you must do to be successfully personally and to drive company success.

And maybe you'll even want to write a rule for "The next 42 Rules ..."

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great set of product management articles November 16, 2010

By Gary Parker

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is very valuable for anyone involved with the process of taking products to market. With their extensive experience and contacts, Greg and Brian have gleaned insightful jewels from thought leaders in the product management field. The format is refreshing because you get a fresh perspective on each page since each author has to get their most important observations into two pages. It makes for great reading and, as with one of the other reviewers, I found myself finishing the whole book in one sitting and really enjoyed it.

This is a great book for both experienced and new product managers as well as those in closely related responsibilities such as product marketing.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical advice for Product Managers November 3, 2010

By James Morehead

Format:Paperback

Practical advice for product managers in an easy to read format. Useful to have a diverse set of opinions.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars This "book" is a compilation of random words January 29, 2012

By Product Manager

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Not sure what is worse, the money spent on the book or the time to read it. Takes about 30 minutes to read the entire thing and appears the "Rules" were written by a child. Each story lacks explanation and detail.