As a 10-year product management vet specializing in online products and online games, I’ve seen and done a lot. This is one place where I share my thoughts on product management:

What Makes A Good Product Manager?

What makes a good product manager? Sacrifice. Passion. Determination. Empathy. Imagination. Let Robin, the new Boy Wonder, show you how…

Why Xena, Warrior Princess, Is The Greatest Product Manager Ever

When faced with a difficult situation–like saving Greece by fighting an entire army by herself–Xena does not cower and hide. She treats challenges like opportunities, and never fails to help someone in need…

The Twitter Handbook For Product Managers

Learn how product managers can leverage Twitter to network, gain recognition, create awareness, and build brand. Includes essential tools, Twitter etiquette…

New Year’s Resolutions For Product Managers

As 2008 draws to a close, we’re looking at a new year set against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty and a very challenging, competitive business landscape. Here are three new year’s resolutions, inspired by Amélie, that every product manager can utilize to help prepare for the challenge…

Celebrate The Holidays And Save The Day. Let The X-Men Show You How!

Holidays and New Years–much like returning haunted goods to their rightful owners on Christmas Eve–might seem to run contrary to your mission. But these things aren’t impediments to your mission unless you make them so…

Attack Of The Mushroom People!, Or How To Survive Your Office Holiday Party

In Matango, disaster strikes when sound advice from the captain is dismissed by the nouveau riche. Soon the shipwrecked survivors are eating irradiated mushrooms and literally devolving back to the primordial ooze. Many of us have been to office holiday parties that followed that same trajectory…

G.I. Joe Provides Product Managers With Practical Tips To Improve Communication

While you most likely don’t have masked ninjas with pet wolves skulking around your workplace, you probably do interact with many different personality types during the day…

Mr. Hyde Slays Logical Fallacies In Product Management

I haven’t conducted a formal survey to determine how many of you are involved with shadowy corporations breeding armies of clones. However, everyone engages with (or in) logical fallacies…

Christian Bale And Matthew McConaughey Teach Product Managers About Agile Development

One of Reign’s big conflicts is between Quinn (played by Christian Bale) and Van Zan (played by Matthew McConaughey). Quinn is trying to keep innocent people alive; Van Zan wants to kill the sole male dragon and drive the dragons to extinction. The ongoing argument between Product Management and Agile Development is pretty similar, just minus all the incinerating…

Jack The Ripper, H.G. Wells, And Choosing The Right Strategic Partner

To the best of my knowledge, no product that I’ve ever worked on has been linked to time traveling serial killings. However, I have been involved in at least one strategic partnership that was disastrous…

“The Blob”, Feature Creep, And Determining The Right Product Features

Yesterday we summarized “The Blob” In 10 Screencaps Or Less™. Today, we extract a product management lesson from that classic 1950’s sci-fi flick.

Meeting Management Lessons From “The Great Yokai War”

Yesterday we summarized “The Great Yokai War” In 10 Screencaps Or Less™. Today, we extract a product management lesson from the strangest, most violent children’s film I’ve ever seen…

What Does A Product Manager Actually Do?

The role of “product manager” is often loosely defined and not well understood, but a good PM can mean the difference between a product shipping on time or not, and meeting customer needs or not…