The Secrets of Product Management Podcast by Nils Davis: tips for product managers, covering storytelling, go to market,innov Nils Davis

Unveiling the PDMA Body of Knowledge with Chad McAllister

This episode my guest Chad McAllister introduces us to the Product Development and Management Association’s (PDMA) Body of Knowledge (BOK), a valuable yet underappreciated resource in product management.

Established in 1976, PDMA has been pivotal in advancing product development and management practices across industries.

Chad, a key figure in the third edition of the PDMA BOK, discusses its importance, contents, and the benefits it offers to both new and experienced product managers.

The conversation also covers Chad’s Product Mastery Now podcast, the significance of certifications, and strategies for increasing PDMA’s visibility in the product management community.



Links



* Chad on LinkedIn

* Chad’s website, including several great training options for product managers.

* The Product Mastery Now podcast – 483 episodes and counting as of these show notes.



* Chad’s episode introducing the PDMA Body of Knowledge (previous edition): TEI 307: Introduction to the PDMA Body of Knowledge for product managers and innovators – with Allan Anderson, PhD





* Learn more about PDMA at pdma.org

* Check out the PDMA Body of Knowledge, Third Edition, on Amazon



 

Unveiling the PDMA Body of Knowledge with Chad McAllister

This episode my guest Chad McAllister introduces us to the Product Development and Management Association’s (PDMA) Body of Knowledge (BOK), a valuable yet underappreciated resource in product management.

Established in 1976, PDMA has been pivotal in advancing product development and management practices across industries.

Chad, a key figure in the third edition of the PDMA BOK, discusses its importance, contents, and the benefits it offers to both new and experienced product managers.

The conversation also covers Chad’s Product Mastery Now podcast, the significance of certifications, and strategies for increasing PDMA’s visibility in the product management community.



Links



* Chad on LinkedIn

* Chad’s website, including several great training options for product managers.

* The Product Mastery Now podcast – 483 episodes and counting as of these show notes.



* Chad’s episode introducing the PDMA Body of Knowledge (previous edition): TEI 307: Introduction to the PDMA Body of Knowledge for product managers and innovators – with Allan Anderson, PhD





* Learn more about PDMA at pdma.org

* Check out the PDMA Body of Knowledge, Third Edition, on Amazon



 

Chris Mason on Product Management Jobs

My guest on this episode is Chris Mason, the co-founder and leader of Intelligent People, a recruiting firm in the UK that focuses on product managers and other product people – designers, heads of product, etc.

In our interview, he shares his insights on the state of the product manager job market, hints and tips for folks looking a PM job, and even their first PM job, guidance for those hiring product managers, and lots of other great information.

Chris has been in the recruiting industry almost as long as I’ve been in product management! And as leader of a firm focused specifically on product roles, he has a lot of useful insights for us product managers. Especially if you are looking for a job or hiring people.

Links



* Intelligent People, Chris’ recruiting company. Their website includes job listings, job seeker resources, and a free mentorship offer that’s definitely worth investigating.

* Chris on LinkedIn.

* A few of Chris’s recent posts on LinkedIn:



* On their mentorship scheme.

* His appearance on JJ Rorie’s podcast. (JJ’s been a guest on this podcast, too!)

* A list of resources for folks searching for a new job in 2024.





* Here’s a transcript of this episode!



Comment, rate, subscribe

Please comment on the episode just at the bottom of this page – I’d love to hear your thoughts!

If you like this podcast, please share it with your colleagues and product manager friends, and subscribe via iTunes or your favorite subscription method.

And please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. The feedback helps other people find the podcast.

Chris Mason on Product Management Jobs

My guest on this episode is Chris Mason, the co-founder and leader of Intelligent People, a recruiting firm in the UK that focuses on product managers and other product people – designers, heads of product, etc.

In our interview, he shares his insights on the state of the product manager job market, hints and tips for folks looking a PM job, and even their first PM job, guidance for those hiring product managers, and lots of other great information.

Chris has been in the recruiting industry almost as long as I’ve been in product management! And as leader of a firm focused specifically on product roles, he has a lot of useful insights for us product managers. Especially if you are looking for a job or hiring people.

Links



* Intelligent People, Chris’ recruiting company. Their website includes job listings, job seeker resources, and a free mentorship offer that’s definitely worth investigating.

* Chris on LinkedIn.

* A few of Chris’s recent posts on LinkedIn:



* On a href="https://www.

Clifton Gilley of Gartner’s Tech Product Management team

In this week’s episode my guest is Clifton Gilley, a long time product manager, and now a VP Analyst with Gartner’s Tech Product Manager team.

Cliff made the jump from product management practitioner to analyst because they had the data. As he says, “What really made me gravitate toward Gartner is I knew that they did research.”

In the interview we delve into what the data says sets successful companies apart. And the answer? Leading companies (we talk about what leaders and laggards mean in Gartner-speak in the interview), are involving product managers in strategy, and it’s an outward facing role, facing the market and customers. Laggards tend to see product as a delivery team, mostly internal facing.

It’s clear in Gartner’s data that the more strategic the product management role, the better the outcomes.



For more, check out the episode.

Links



* Cliff on LinkedIn

* His author page on Gartner’s site, and Gartner’s Tech PM practice site

* The Clever PM blog (in stasis since 2018, but all the articles are still there)



 

Clifton Gilley of Gartner’s Tech Product Management team

In this week’s episode my guest is Clifton Gilley, a long time product manager, and now a VP Analyst with Gartner’s Tech Product Manager team.

Cliff made the jump from product management practitioner to analyst because they had the data. As he says, “What really made me gravitate toward Gartner is I knew that they did research.”

In the interview we delve into what the data says sets successful companies apart. And the answer? Leading companies (we talk about what leaders and laggards mean in Gartner-speak in the interview), are involving product managers in strategy, and it’s an outward facing role, facing the market and customers. Laggards tend to see product as a delivery team, mostly internal facing.

It’s clear in Gartner’s data that the more strategic the product management role, the better the outcomes.



For more, check out the episode.

Links



* Cliff on LinkedIn

* His author page on Gartner’s site, and Gartner’s Tech PM practice site

* The Clever PM blog (in stasis since 2018, but all the articles are still there)



 

Embracing Change and Customer Engagement in Product Management

In this episode Mike Smart, an old friend and longtime product management leader, instructor, and consultant, says we can’t wait for the world to change (quoting an old John Mayer song). Product management needs to seize the day, and actively engage with customers even if it means breaking some glass and stepping on some toes, bending some rules.



Mike shares his history as a product leader, starting from a sales role to becoming a product management consultant.

Mike has an amazing historical perspective on product, and discuss the common challenges faced by product organizations, such as the influence of sales on product development and the importance of customer discovery.

The conversation also touches on the shift towards product marketing management and the vital role of go-to-market strategies in today’s competitive landscape.

Key takeaways include the imperative for product managers to initiate customer conversations and the pivot towards focusing on how products are marketed and understood by potential customers, and for product leaders in particular to have (or develop) business acumen focused on sales velocity rather than just release velocity.

Links and contact information



* Mike on LinkedIn

* Mike’s company, Egress Solutions

* Mike’s podcast is GTM Disrupted. You can listen on its home page, or find it wherever you get your podcasts (here’s the Apple link and the Spotify link).



Support this podcast



* The easiest and best way to support the podcast is to leave me a comment or question, drop a note or connection request to me on LinkedIn, or just send me an email at nils@nilsdavis.com.

* You can also rate and review the podcast on Apple iTunes – that really helps others find it.

* And you can just share the podcast directly with your product manager friends – they’ll probably really appreciate it!



Timings

00:00 Introduction: Waiting for the World to Change

00:34 Guest Introduction: Mike Smart of Egress Solutions

01:03 The Journey of a Product Manager

02:06 The Importance of Customer Conversations

03:22 The Evolution of Product Management

05:19 The Role of Product Marketing

10:22 The Challenges of Product Management

11:31 The Impact of Sales on Product Management

12:46 The Shift in Product Management Focus

14:56 The Importance of Business Acumen in Product Management

23:07 The Role of Go-To-Market in Product Management

33:06 Conclusion: The Future of Product Management

Embracing Change and Customer Engagement in Product Management

In this episode Mike Smart, an old friend and longtime product management leader, instructor, and consultant, says we can’t wait for the world to change (quoting an old John Mayer song). Product management needs to seize the day, and actively engage with customers even if it means breaking some glass and stepping on some toes, bending some rules.

The Transformative Power of Mindsets in Life and Leadership

In this episode, an engaging conversation about mindsets with Ryan Gottfredson, a renowned leadership and management professor, author, and mindset expert.

The core discussion revolves around the foundational role mindsets play in shaping our thoughts, behaviors, and overall success in life, work, and leadership.

Gottfredson emphasizes the potential for profound personal and professional transformation through the understanding and shifting of our mindsets.



The mindsets

He introduces four primary sets of mindsets identified through academic research and discusses the process of ‘vertical development’ as a means of enhancing one’s internal operating system for better outcomes.

The four mindset dimensions are:



* Fixed Growth

* Open Closed

* Prevention Promotion

* Inward Outward



If you take Ryan’s assessment, you’ll find where you stand on each of those dimensions.

How to improve your mindset – vertical development

The conversation also touches upon the impact of trauma on mindsets, the benefits of mindset-oriented personal development, and practical steps anyone can take to work on their mindsets.

Additionally, Gottfredson shares personal anecdotes and insights on overcoming self-protective mindsets for greater productivity and fulfillment, highlighting resources like his mindset assessment and the ‘Success Mindsets’ book.

Links



* Ryan Gottfredson’s site.

* Ryan on LinkedIn.

* Ryan’s mindset-related assessments.

* Ryan’s book, Success Mindsets: Your Keys to Unlocking Greater Success in Your Life, Work, & Leadership.

* Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, where many of first learned about the growth and fixed mindsets.



Time codes for the episode

00:00 Introduction to Mindsets

00:19 The Power of Shifting Mindsets

00:51 Meet the Guest: Ryan Gottfredson

01:14 The Role of Mindsets in Leadership and Management

02:26 Understanding the Concept of Fixed and Growth Mindsets

02:58 The Journey to Shifting Mindsets

03:45 The Neuroscience Behind Mindsets

06:36 The Impact of Mindsets on Success

07:41 The Process of Vertical Development

24:44 The Role of Trauma in Shaping Mindsets

30:21 Practical Steps to Improve Mindsets

32:11 Conclusion and Contact Information

The Transformative Power of Mindsets in Life and Leadership

In this episode, an engaging conversation about mindsets with Ryan Gottfredson, a renowned leadership and management professor, author, and mindset expert.

The core discussion revolves around the foundational role mindsets play in shaping our thoughts, behaviors, and overall success in life, work, and leadership.

Gottfredson emphasizes the potential for profound personal and professional transformation through the understanding and shifting of our mindsets.



The mindsets

He introduces four primary sets of mindsets identified through academic research and discusses the process of ‘vertical development’ as a means of enhanci...

Steve Johnson, OG product management thinker

Steve Johnson is my guest on this week’s episode.

I’m sure you know of him already. And if not, you will after this episode. He’s one of the OG product management thought leaders, especially in the software world.

Many people got to know Steve during his long stint as a trainer for Pragmatic Marketing, which followed a career as a product manager, product marketing manager and product leader.

He’s now running Product Growth Leaders, a community for product managers, and a training company. In his courses, including The Fundamentals of Managing Products, intensives such as The Product Launch Intensive, and assessments, he uses the Quartz Open Framework, a process framework for systematically managing and marketing products. Quartz is a non-proprietary model for product planning created by industry thought leaders, including the founders of Product Growth Leaders.

In this episode

Steve is renowned as a storyteller, and in this episode you’ll hear a lot of them, starting with how he learned what product management is and how it interfaces with other roles in the organization, especially sales and marketing.

He’ll share the origins of his statement that agile has to some degree broken product management. And what he means by that.

And we’ll talk about the different challenge that is leading product managers. And why so many companies struggle with that?

I started by asking Steve about his origin story in product management, because, you see, he started his PM career in sales.

Contacting Steve



* Product Growth Leaders

* Steve on LinkedIn

* The Quartz Open Framework



Support this podcast



* The easiest and best way to support the podcast is to leave me a comment or question, drop a note or connection request to me on LinkedIn, or just send me an email at nils@nilsdavis.com.

* You can also rate and review the podcast on Apple iTunes – that really helps others find it.

* And you can just share the podcast directly with your product manager friends – they’ll probably really appreciate it!



Steve Johnson, OG product management thinker

Steve Johnson is my guest on this week’s episode.

I’m sure you know of him already. And if not, you will after this episode. He’s one of the OG product management thought leaders, especially in the software world.

Many people got to know Steve during his long stint as a trainer for Pragmatic Marketing, which followed a career as a product manager, product marketing manager and product leader.

He’s now running Product Growth Leaders, a community for product managers, and a training company. In his courses, including a href="https://www.productgrowthleaders.com/offerings/fundamentals-of-managing-products" target="_blank"...