My Product Management Learning Path

I’ve been thinking a lot about my learning path as a product leader. I’ve been in the technology industry for over 15 years now, but rarely had the title of the job I now love. What I have learned is that the title of the job won’t matter as much as the skills I choose to learn, and when I look back at my career, I have always thought like a product person.

I have been asked often enough to share my learning path, so I’ve put together that list here. I hope it helps you as you think about your own learning path and as you find your own style.

Educational Resources

Specific to landing a product job:

• Lewis C. Lin’s 2 Week Product Management Interview Preparation Plan helped me fine-tune my product thinking along with the books he lists in there (especially https://www.lewis-lin.com/decode-and-conquer)

For books, I consider the following great foundational knowledge:

• Lean startup is the most principled “method” I’ve found and Lean analytics for deep dive on metrics
• Lean customer development for essentials of talking to customers to validate product ideas
• Inspired then Empowered if you’re a people leader (by the creator of SVPG)

Advanced (and last I knew a core practice at Microsoft):

• The Customer-Driven Playbook: Converting Customer Feedback into Successful Products

I also like this book from Google, it’s an alternative perspective on the design process with a lot of helpful ideas:

• Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days

Continuous Learning

The people who inspire me:

• Melissa Perri - her podcast is my absolute favorite resource, especially when she answers questions in a “Dear Melissa” session
• John Cutler - his Beautiful Mess newsletter helped me see myself as a fellow deep thinker product leader (and I subscribe via Omnivore so I can read at my own pace)
• Shreya - I love his principled approach and thoughtful summaries. He’s inspired me to be clearer in my communication (he calls it “product editing”)
• Lenny Rachitsky - also has a popular newsletter but I like his podcast the most

And the most influential organization worth a read:

• Silicon Valley Product Group has a lot of great content from the 2010s that are becoming more common today.

Essential history that filled in a big gap for me:

• The Collision of Product Management and Product Ownership

Digging deeper – this has an infinite amount of stuff to learn:

• https://practicahq.com/topic/product-management

Systems of Thought

My style of product is especially observant of systems and the mental models that mold around us. My top reads for that include:

• The combo of Team Topologies and Wardley Maps feel like a super power. When others feel stuck as they speak past each other, I draw pictures and get to clearer answers.

• Core concepts from Thinking in Systems to Making Work Visible

• Wiring the Winning Organization and Flow Engineering are recent favorites that challenged while clarifying something as simple as the definition of “simplification” or “value”

• Both are inspired by politics but essential for understanding:

  • Nudge taught me the phrase “choice architecture”
  • Don’t Think of an Elephant summarizes brilliant research on cognitive frames

That’s plenty

It’s a lot to take in. I hope you find something useful amongst the suggestions, but–most importantly–believe in your own style. I’d love to hear what ends up inspiring you.