tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post6678974693350087146..comments2023-12-08T01:42:31.590-06:00Comments on Cauvin: 5 Ways Companies Make Product DecisionsRoger L. Cauvinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969779835314260680noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-3093812867276400622013-11-26T23:28:14.459-06:002013-11-26T23:28:14.459-06:00This is a very nice summary of what goes through t...This is a very nice summary of what goes through the mind of a Product Manager when trying to work out the next feature or new productAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-79399392937074416562013-09-11T13:09:15.280-05:002013-09-11T13:09:15.280-05:00Bruce, yes, and in many cases, product management ...Bruce, yes, and in many cases, product management can drive the alignment, not by asking executives what the goals should be, but by understanding executive pain points and then working with executives and the team to craft a straw man set of product metrics that indicate product decisions are addressing those pain points.Roger L. Cauvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08969779835314260680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-61346848955503611582013-09-10T09:24:53.488-05:002013-09-10T09:24:53.488-05:00I agree that it may be a function of people and no...I agree that it may be a function of people and not the product decision methodology.<br /><br />But, I believe that any change in an organization, whether it's how you make a decision or with whom you interact, is a function of the culture.<br /><br />If you don't foster a culture of change - you won't achieve a culture of innovation. (And, it won't matter how you make your product decisions.)Jennifer Doctorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02975962511354534490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-73915321308387547302013-09-10T09:15:44.401-05:002013-09-10T09:15:44.401-05:00Jennifer, you raise a key consideration about the ...Jennifer, you raise a key consideration about the culture of making product decisions and how difficult it can be to change.<br /><br />In the end, it seems mostly to be a function of people and not which method a company currently uses.<br /><br />I do agree, however, that a culture of driving product decisions based on industry experience can be difficult to change when the personalities involved are too comfortable with existing industry thinking and practices.<br /><br />The deal driven approach sometimes results from short-term financial pressures from investors. The people inside the company who are answering to these investors may resist a change to the deal driven approach and the hope for relief from these pressures.Roger L. Cauvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08969779835314260680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-90554341750852635222013-09-10T07:58:24.416-05:002013-09-10T07:58:24.416-05:00Great piece, especially the highlighting of the pr...Great piece, especially the highlighting of the pros and cons. I am, unfortunately, familiar with several of these decision models and can attest to the truth you speak (write).<br /><br />I’d be curious to hear what you feel would be the model that would be the most difficult to recover from, not necessarily the worst model for the business, but the hardest to recover. In my opinion – and this is only mine – I think the industry experience model you put forth would be the hardest to bring about change. Why? Because it requires a larger culture of change to happen, an understanding that knowledge can be taught, learned and shared. If innovation – the desire and ability to change how something is done – is being sought, these cultures will be the hardest since they keep looking for the same and repeating what has been done .<br /><br />It’s my opinion, but curious what other thoughts are out there.<br />Jennifer Doctorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02975962511354534490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-36258010512033061372013-09-07T16:51:43.181-05:002013-09-07T16:51:43.181-05:00Great points, Roger. I agree that product manageme...Great points, Roger. I agree that product management can and often should drive strategy. <br /><br />When I said "alignment," I meant that it's important the PM get execs on board with their strategy. The PM may not get the time to see their strategy through if the executive team doesn't believe in it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00275953168256288348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-85014998986439827942013-09-07T14:15:43.423-05:002013-09-07T14:15:43.423-05:00Bruce, sometimes executives need product managemen...Bruce, sometimes executives need product management to provide guidance on what the strategy should be. In those cases, it doesn't work to start by eliciting the strategy from executives and align activities to the strategic goals.<br /><br />Indeed, product management can play a key role in providing information on the market opportunity that drives the strategic goals. For example, whether or not maximizing renewals should be a goal depends on the nature of the market, which is something product management can elucidate.<br /><br />Moreover, many executives aren't familiar with, or overlook, marketing principles such as those outlined in Ries and Trout's THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MARKETING. Executives and product managers who ignore these principles run the risk of making poor strategic decisions that doom the entire business to failure.Roger L. Cauvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08969779835314260680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-24648273275094444092013-09-04T10:00:34.922-05:002013-09-04T10:00:34.922-05:00It is, of course, a balancing act. If you never he...It is, of course, a balancing act. If you never help sales with a feature for that big deal, never listen to your big customer requests, and never trust your gut, you do risk an uninspired product that people don't want to sell.<br /><br />And, yes, I have seen situations where people were slaves to their spreadsheet and missed the forest for the trees. I usually see this, though, when a PM is keeping a spreadsheet of requests from customers and sales without first getting alignment with executives on what the strategic goals of the product are. <br /><br />In the absence of explicit goals, the default often becomes just give people what they ask for. This may or may not align with where the product needs to go in the next phase of its life.<br /><br />I do want to say, though, that I agree with the spirit of Magnus' comment when he said we shouldn't "let the model be above the human brain." The best-crafted and aligned spreadsheet model is only an aid to decision-making. In the end, the people around the table have to make the decisions.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00275953168256288348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-54824850777310760432013-09-04T09:10:53.192-05:002013-09-04T09:10:53.192-05:00Thanks, Steve, for the additional thoughts and the...Thanks, Steve, for the additional thoughts and the help with the content of the blog entry itself.<br /><br />Bruce, I do agree that the left-brained approach is very useful (if not essential). To keep your eyes on the ball, you have to align the analyses with larger goals, as you emphasized in your great set of slides. I mentioned in my conclusion that all of these approaches have shortcomings if they don't incorporate timeless marketing principles, ruthlessly maintain focus, and orient features and messaging around solving market problems. Have you ever observed an organization that applied left-brained methods but was stuck in the weeds?<br /><br />Magnus, interesting view that "decisions must always be away from the Excel sheet". What do you see as the dangers of using spreadsheets to drive product decisions?Roger L. Cauvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08969779835314260680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-22075982540041053852013-09-04T01:56:53.981-05:002013-09-04T01:56:53.981-05:00Great summary.
Oftenly we of course combine the d...Great summary. <br />Oftenly we of course combine the different ones. We often work with creating insights which would be similar to industry experience and then combine it firstly with analysis and then add intuition and deals. To rely one perspective will almost always fail. What I do miss is a strategic aligmnment. We often work with customers such as Ericsson, Wurth, Volvoa Trucks, (>USD 10 billion) companies. Then the strategic direction has a huge impact on the direction for products. The worst misstake to make is let the left side rule. Then we let the model be above the human brain. Th edecisions must always be away from the excel sheet. Magnus Billgrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06981601506545951720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-80191827352676461372013-09-03T20:35:08.158-05:002013-09-03T20:35:08.158-05:00I agree with Steve this is a good summary of the v...I agree with Steve this is a good summary of the various means teams use - and I appreciate the pros and cons, but I would not weigh each of these equally. <br /><br />Maybe I'm just too left-brained, but I would recommend starting with agreeing with your management team on what the business goals for the product are (revenue, market share, renewals, etc.), then analyze every proposed bit of work against those goals. <br /><br />The other approaches, including responding to deals, granting customer requests and going with your gut should, IMO, be the reality check, minor course correction or garnish on the plate - not the drivers of strategy.<br /><br />If you believe in the left-brained, goal-driven approach, I've got a presentation on prioritization from last year's ProductCamp Boston you may like on Slideshare at http://www.slideshare.net/ProductCampBoston/prioritization-301-advanced-roadmapping-class-bruce-mccarthyAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00275953168256288348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7879107.post-4365269371750261532013-09-03T09:25:58.999-05:002013-09-03T09:25:58.999-05:00This nicely summarizes the pros and cons of differ...This nicely summarizes the pros and cons of different techniques for decision-making. <br /><br />There are many examples of companies who have used intuition or deal-driven methods--Apple and Microsoft come to mind.<br /><br />Some firms use only one approach. Most firms _ought_ to use more.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12580476890121296151noreply@blogger.com