Purist Product Management

Poll: Should The Guardian And Madgex Pay for CIFAS Subscriptions

2009-10-25T05:44:00.000-07:00

In light of the security issues on The Guardian Jobs, and the risk that users of this site could be facing, Should the Guardian or Madex pay the £12 one year subsciption for CIFAS for those effected? Vote Here:

Guardian Jobs Hacked - Email Notification Also Not Secure

2009-10-25T01:38:00.000-07:00

With the news that the Guardian Jobs Website had been hacked a couple of days ago, it appears that the email that they sent to tell everyone that they'd been hacked, also posed a security risk as reported by ThatDanny. Basically if anyone had an original email that was notifying users about the breach, then they could potentially obtain at least some of the email addresses of effected by the security breach.

Now a couple of days into the security breach, and with some users worried about the potential financial consequences, I'm left wondering why the mainstream news has yet to pick up and report on this story (as of Sunday 8am GMT). I know there will be a few product managers at The Guardian running around trying to resolve the problem, but it seems their PR managers are also working overtime too!

- Updated - As of 11.08am GMT the BBC pubished this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8324630.stm

Guardian Jobs And Madgex Hacked

2009-10-24T14:11:00.000-07:00

News emerged yesterday that the Guardian Jobs, a site powered by jobs board service providers Madgex has been hacked putting thousands of users personal data at risk. As a user I received an email about this security breach today and you can see this below. This echo's a recent security breach from Jobs giants: Monster.

So what makes a Jobs boards data so valuable? Well, if you think about it, what more information could potential fraudsters want than what can be found on a CV? Think of basic data that exists on a CV:

- Name
- Address
- Email Address
- Phone Numbers
- Work History
- Salary details
- Personal details
- Professional qualifications

Actually just about everything other than your blood type and bank details. With this in mind, surely jobs boards, and particularly third party jobs boards should be as hot on security as online banking is required to be. I've yet to hear whether it is only the Guardian's version of the Madgex software or whether other Madgex customers have been effected, but one thing is for sure, jobs seekers should chose their jobs boards carefully.

And as for other players in this market: Watch out for the scramble to improve site security and advertise the fact. If, like me, you've used the Guardian jobs site before, it's recommended that you take precautionary actions such as changing your regular passwords. The full email from the Guardian can be seen below:

-----------------------------------------------
24 October 2009

Security breach - Guardian Jobs

Dear xxxxxxxxxx,

We learned yesterday evening that the Guardian Jobs website has been targeted by a sophisticated and deliberate hack, which has breached the security of the data on the site. You have used the site to make one or more job applications and we believe your personal data, relating to those applications, may have been accessed.

We are absolutely committed to the privacy of our users, and would like to assure you that we are treating this situation with the utmost seriousness. The matter has been reported to the police, who are now undertaking a full investigation through the police central e-crime unit at New Scotland Yard.

The supplier who runs the site has identified the manner in which it was hacked and taken steps to prevent a recurrence.

We have no reason to believe that any financial or bank data was compromised in this incident. However the police advise that those whose personal data may have been stolen in this way should take a number of precautionary measures. These are outlined below:

1) Contact your creditors, even if they have not been affected, so that they can monitor your accounts to ensure they remain protected.

2) Contact a credit reference agency: Callcredit, Equifax or Experian provide suggested steps to resolve the situation and prevent it happening again.

3) Contact CIFAS protective registration: If you think you have been a victim of identity theft you should consider subscribing to CIFAS. This places a notice on your credit file indicating that your name and address may be used to perpetrate identity fraud.

In addition the following websites are sources of useful information:

www.met.police.uk/fraudalert/
http://www.stop-idfraud.co.uk/
http://www.banksafeonline.org.uk/
http://www.getsafeonline.org/

We will continue to work with the police whilst the investigation is carried out. Please refer to the following page for updates:

jobs.guardian.co.uk/securityupdate.html
Please do not reply to this e-mail.
--------------------------------------------

Interview With A Pure Product Manager

2009-10-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

Listen to my interview with Derek Morrison, Senior Product Manager at Yahoo!
Derek and I worked together until recently.

Evolution Vs Revolution

2009-07-14T05:56:00.000-07:00

The product management function is in most cases a function of necessity. In all previous organisations I’ve worked for Product Management as a function was instigated by the problems it was trying to solve. The thing about organisational evolution, is that it repeats itself. The same problems occur time and time again. So what happens when you already know how the evolution process ends - Should you choose evolution or revolution? Let’s take an example:

Company X has a group of business people, and a group of technologists. They have 4 problems and each occurs after the other:
1. The technical department are getting beat up every day, they’re receiving multiple requests from different stakeholders, and are working flat out to meet the demands. Despite this on the weekly conference calls all the business owners from around the world beat up on technology. Then the organisation decides that they need a group of people between the business and technology to simplify communication and undertake stakeholder management. They create product managers.
2. Communication is better now, but the company realises that their products are being delivered late and over budget. As a result they empower the product management function to manage the delivery of the products rather than just decide what products are built. This was previously the role of the development managers.
3. Products are now being delivered on time and on budget but they are not actualising the expected revenue benefits. To solve the problem they increase the size of product management and empower them to deal with actualisation of product benefits by liaising with the sales and marketing teams. The P&L’s still remain with the business owners.
4. Finally they’re delivering products that are on time, on budget, and actualising their ROI estimates. However, they’ve realised that they are always a step behind the market, they’re followers, but they actually want to become leaders. So they further empower their product management department to manage innovation, and idea creation work themes.

In the space of this evolution, Product Management as a function went from: Non Existence to Mini CEO. Now, let’s read the first problem again: The technical department are getting beat up every day, they’re receiving multiple requests from different stakeholders, and are working flat out to meet the demands. Despite this on the weekly conference calls all the business owners from around the world beat up on technology. Then the organisation decides that they need a group of people between the business and technology to simplify communication and undertake stakeholder management. They create product managers.

If the answer to this problem had been: Create a product management department to manage communication, stakeholders, delivery, costs, benefit realisation, innovation – in essence create mini CEO’s, then the organisation would not have fully bought into the change. The reason for this is that the solution solves problems that don’t yet exists. It almost definitely would have caused more conflict than benefit.

Roles and organisations evolve to meet the challenges they face. If man had evolved in a single step from insects, he’d have become extinct as quickly has he was created, because the problem this revolution was trying to solve did not exist yet. So when it comes to evolution or revolution of products, roles, organisational structure – I say; Evolve to meet the challenges you face today and in some cases tomorrow. Next week’s challenges will decide your next evolution.

If you have any views on this post feel free to comment.

Idea Management Vs Innovation Management

2009-07-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

Recently I've had a few different conversations, offline and online about the process for creating a culture of innovation I've previously posted on. A comment from the ever insightful Stewart Rogers got me to thinking. He wrote: "..... this smells a lot like idea management vs. innovation. Thoughts?" Well, as ever, I have plenty of thoughts. To further contextualise this post, as I've been going through the exercise of helping implement this process within my current organisation. By going through this process a few things have come up which are similar to Stewart's point. The aim of this post is to answer a single question:

Is this really an idea management process?

Well, the short answer is yes, it does include a large element of idea management. However, I feel that it has to have this element as without it, creating a culture of innovation is more difficult. The process is based on a few key facets, and one of those is that feedback and reward encourages a culture of innovation, rather than having a one off innovation exercise. The element of the process which deals with idea management is really important to ensure that those ideas go through appropriate elaboration and to ensure that the results of those elaborations are fed back to the originator of the idea - thus helping to create a culture that rewards and encourages innovation. But the most important elements are; to capture the idea's in the first place, to reduce the entry barriers for ideas to be considered from any source of an organisation, to create a critical mass of ideas so that within that pile of ideas there are nuggets of innovation gold. This leads me onto another point, something that came out of a recent innovation group meeting. A very senior member of the organisation mentioned: "I really want to get to the big nuggets of gold". He was right, the big nuggets of innovation gold are the end reward for creating a culture of innovation, but I must be clear, that is the END REWARD for this process. To get to that end reward we have to go through the process of creating that innovation lead culture. Let's use a metaphor: Thousands of men dig through mountains in the Ivory Coast in search of diamonds. To find a single diamond they have to go through hundreds of tonnes of rock. Sometimes within the tonnes of rock they won't find a diamond, but a ruby (don't know if that's true or not, but you get the point). Now the ruby is still valuable, not as valuable as the diamond, but in search of the diamond he found the ruby. The key point is this: If we didn't go through all the rocks we'd never find the diamonds or the rubies and if the mountains didn't exist at all, then there would be no chance what so ever of finding anything of value. The process of creating a culture of innovation is actually a process of creating a large pile of rocks. Within those rocks at some point you'll find a diamond, and in your search for diamonds you're bound to come across a few rubies. Therefore to find the diamonds (innovation), you have to be able to successfully manage rocks and rubies (ideas).

The full 'Creating a Culture of Innovation' series is below:

Introduction - Creating A Culture of Innovation
Pt1 - Capturing Ideas
Pt2 - Review and Eliminate Ideas
Pt3 - Validating Ideas
Pt4 - Final Decision
Pt 5 - Implementation

I'd also like to direct you to a few excellent post which were produced By Derek Morrison of All About Product Management:

The Innovation Value Chain and Product Management

How Product Managers can avoid innovation traps #part 1

How Product Managers can avoid innovation traps #part2

If you have any views on this post feel free to leave a comment.

Product Benchmarking For Dummies

2009-07-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

If you look up benchmarking strategic analysis online there are thousands of resources to help you. What I’m going to go through isn’t a benchmarking analysis in it’s strictest form – If you’ve ever had to do a full organisational benchmarking analysis, you’ll know it’s not much fun. What I’ll go through in this post is a basic product benchmarking template I use. Its purposes are:

To give a high level overview of which competitors value propositions are more compelling than your own
Which features to focus on when doing customer interviews, or creating your road map.

There are some disadvantages with this method, notably that it is subjective. To help get around this I tend to use my buyer personas as a guide to the mindset of the end users of my product and try to get into their frame of mind.

Firstly select your competitors and list the key common functions. So if you are a Jobs platform, you’d say your main competitor is Monster.com and that the key functions are; searching for a job, posting a job, applying for a job, registering to the site, uploading your CV etc. The overview sheet of your workbook will look something like this:

Then take each function one at a time and benchmark vs. your own product. Any given function will look something like this:

In the middle is your product, and then each competitor is color coded so you can easily spot trends across functions. Then to the right is a description of why you reached the benchmarking decision that you did. If you like you can then create Radar diagrams to give a global view of all features benchmarks vs. your own.

Making benchmarking really complicated is surprisingly easy, and I know that there will be strategy purists out there reading this and spitting venom! I see things like this: What do I need? How can I get it? What I need is to be easily see and communicate to stakeholders how our competitors features match up against ours. And the easiest way for me to get this is to do a product benchmarking exercise.

If you have any views on this post feel free to leave a comment.

You can download the template here.

Competitive Analysis For Dummies

2009-06-23T05:50:00.000-07:00

I've been in a number of meetings this year when I've said something like; "Just do a benchmarking analysis and come back to us with the results" and be faced with stonewall faces. I don't know what it is, maybe it's the word 'Competitive' maybe it's 'analysis' but whatever it is, for some unknown reason people think that competitive analysis is more complex than it actually is.

I did a quick google search and things started to make sense. There are so many resources that over complicate competitive analysis, making it seem much more than it really is. The basic aim of any competitive analysis is to give insight where previously there was ambiguity (or just darkness in some cases). A recent presentation from one of my colleagues really put things into context for me: Competitive analysis is really easy, as long as you know what you're doing. He presented his ideas on this area in such a clear, concise, step-by-step way that actually, a 12 year old could have done a decent job of the work.

The difficult part of competitive analysis is not in the analysis itself, it's in the interpretation of the results. So, in this series of posts, I'll be going through some analysis tools, and with real examples and a step-by-step approach. I'll be starting with Benchmarking.

If you have any particular analysis tools that you'd like me to try and demystify please feel free to comment.

Innovation - A Simple Process

2009-06-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

In this series of posts I've been going through the various steps in process of creating a culture of innovation within a product set, or organisation. This is a process I've used successfully in the past, and do so currently. The slide show below takes you through each of the key steps, but please take the time to read the related posts in order to fully understand the process.

It is extremely easy to understand, and for the most part common sense.

Fostering A Culture Of Innovation

View more OpenOffice presentations from PuristProductManagement.

If you have any views on product management innovation, feel free to comment on this post or any of the related posts.

Quick Links:
Introduction - Creating A Culture of Innovation
Pt1 - Capturing Ideas
Pt2 - Review and Eliminate Ideas
Pt3 - Validating Ideas
Pt4 - Final Decision
Pt 5 - Implementation

Innovation Pt5: Innovation

2009-06-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

The final part of the innovation process is to implement the idea, feedback and reward. Once the item has been added to the backlog, then the current measurements of the metrics that had been created in the review and validate phases should be measured. The item is then developed in the normal way (depending on your development methodology). Once the idea has been live for a pre-determined period of time, the new metric measurements are taken. These measurements are fed back into the innovation group so that the group can continuously learn from the product enhancements it agrees to.

Finally, and most importantly, the originator of the idea is rewarded, and the process is evangelised throughout the company. This helps increase faith in the process as well as encouraging more and more people to submit their ideas.

This innovation process is one of many. As with many processes it will evolve to meet your own organisations needs at any given time, but as a starting point it helps to give structure to the ultimate aim: Creating a culture of innovation within your organisation.

Quick Links:

Introduction - Creating A Culture of Innovation
Pt1 - Capturing Ideas
Pt2 - Review and Eliminate Ideas
Pt3 - Validating Ideas
Pt4 - Final Decision

Pt 5 - Implementation

6 Reasons To Engage With The Product Management Community

2009-06-20T07:03:00.001-07:00

As we shuffle along in our days at work, being bombarded with emails, phone calls, requests for demonstrations and our daily demands, the questions should be asked of this post- Why should I engage in the product management community? There are some key benefits to engaging with the community:

Product Management is a complex discipline: There are people around the globe who have been doing this for many years more than you. By engaging with them, you can learn from their experiences. The reality is that however many challenges you face today, thousands of product managers have faced and over come them in the past. Learn from them, and ultimately save yourself time and heartache.

Not engaging is false economy: So every product manager has more work than he can handle, what's new there? The argument that there's not enough hours in the day to engage with the community is a paradox in itself. By engaging with the community, you'll learn more about the nature of the challenges you face, how to overcome them and how to prevent them happening in the future, ultimately saving time.

The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts: There are always those in a community that share, and those that consume. I've been acutely aware that there are a large number of product management professionals who are willing to share their knowledge and do so on a regular basis. Through their, and your efforts, product management, as a discipline, can become greater than the sum of its parts.

It's cathartic: Ok, we all have stressful days, but sometimes, when you're going through the daily strains and stresses, it's helpful to know that people have been going through the same stresses for years before you. Advice is always at hand within the community, after all most product managers have faced similar problems.

Same problem, different perspective: What I find most useful in engaging with the product management community, are the differences in approach internationally, specifically from the US to the UK. I've posted in the past on my views in this area, but people like Stewart Rogers, Jim Holland, Chris Cummings and the On Product Management Team really help to give a different perspective.

Your opinion is important: It doesn't matter if you've been in Product Management for 10 days or 10 years, engage with the community, and share your experiences. Ultimately you'll receive support and you'll be supporting others at the same time.

Not engaging with the Product Management community is false economy, so take the first steps today: Start a blog, engage in twitter, listen to the Pragmatic Webinars and most importantly of all, share your ideas!

If you have any views on engaging with the product managment community, feel free to comment on this post.

Innovation Pt4: Final Decision

2009-06-18T04:07:00.000-07:00

By now there should be a fully formed idea which has been through the majority of the innovation process. Now all that remains before the idea goes into development is the final decision. There will be numerous things that need to be considered when making the final decision, but the most important ones are:

Road Map Review: What does building this idea do to the road map? At this point we need to make sure that the idea is still compatible with the road map and make any required changes to it.

Organisational Changes: We also need to consider if there are any organisational changes that need to juxtapose the innovation idea. Do rate cards need changing? Are there additional staffing requirements, do teams need additional training?

Interdependence's: Finally we need to take a wider view of the organisation (depending on the size of the organisation you're working for). With this view we need to make sure that the change still fits with the organisational strategy, and start to communicate the amended road map around the organisation.

As I mentioned, there will be others. In my experience, of all items that make it to stage 4 more than 90% end up on the road map. If the work done in stages 1-3 have been done correctly, this should be quite an easy decision.

In the next post we'll be looking at implementing the idea, and how this process interacts with the Innovation Group and the wider organisation.

If you have any comments or recommended changes to this process please feel free to comment.

Quick Links:
Introduction - Creating A Culture of Innovation
Pt1 - Capturing Ideas
Pt2 - Review and Eliminate Ideas
Pt3 - Validating Ideas
Pt4 - Final Decision
Pt 5 - Implementation

Why PURIST Product Management?

2009-06-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

OK, I've been asked a few times now; Why Purist Product Management? I guess the title reflects my own personal discontentment with how the role is sometimes perceived. I remember when I started in product management, and Pragmatic came over to the UK, it really helped me come to grips with the fact that it's not a technical role, but a role that facilities technology (the department). However, in the majority of the various incarnations I've come across product management, I've seen it be: too focused on sales, too focused on marketing, too focused on technology and even too focused on finance (!). For me, product management is the bridge that translates customer need into business benefit, business benefit into technical requirements, and technical issues into business language. It's a strategic role. It's a role that sits between marketing, sales and technology. It's a role that if it disappeared, would ultimately be filled by those departments. But often, I feel that organisations forget why they decided to have product managers in the first place. They forget the problem they were trying to solve to start with, and allow the role to morph into either a technology role, or a marketing role or a sales role. Product managers do themselves no favours either: A product manager who came from a marketing background tends to lean towards the marketing side of the role, likewise with product managers coming from a technical background. I notice an absolute divide internationally too. I think product management in the US is better understood than in the UK. They say that when America sneezes the UK gets a cold - When it comes to product management, the US has got the flu, and the UK's wearing face masks!

I've come from Sales, procurement and business development background, so my early months in product management were very sales focused, but as the role evolved, I evolved too. I don't have all the answers, and like all product managers I've got plenty to learn, and the best way to learn for me is to be an active member of the international product management community.

So why purist? Well, I love my job, I love my profession, I love doing what I do, and as with anything that you love, when you see it change beyond it's original purpose, then its saddening. I like product management as it's supposed to be; customer focused, inclusive, strategic, purist!

6 Tips for Awesome Presentations

2009-06-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

I've spent much of my early career dreading presentations, being extremely nervous and then making a mess of them. Over time I managed to get to a point where I could successfully give a presentation without feeling too nervous. As the years moved on, and I moved upwards, I spent less time giving presentations, and more time listening too them. Then, after a bit of time analysing and reading around presentation styles, I became a 'good' presenter. So I'd define a good presenter, as someone who can successfully convince an audience of a course of action first time round. Someone who is confident when presenting, gets his message across, keeps the audience engaged and getting a round of applause!

Here are my 6 tips for giving awesome presentations:

Just be Good: Accept this single, truth - Most presentations are rubbish. The base level at which a presentation is classed as good is where no mistakes are made. You don't have to be great, you don't have to be perfect, you just have to be good. Even if you aren't good, what are you really losing? Very little, as you in the company of most people!
It's all about the opening: Be creative in your opening. Don't start with, "My names Abdelaziz Musa, and I'm going to talk about....." Its boring, everyone does it! Be creative.
Have 1 message: Don't complicate your presentation with too many messages. Define what your key message is and be clear about how your presentation is going to deliver that message. If you're an extremely skilled presenter then you may be able to get away with 2 messages, any more than that and you'll risk losing the audience in complexity.
Less than 15 words per slide: Yes, that's right! Less than 15 words per slide, no more, under any circumstances. The reality is this, people don't read slides. Even if they did, why not just send an email? It's easier. Slides should facilitate the message you're delivering vocally. So if you're saying, "Product management is the core of an organisation" Then don't write those words on the slide, what's the point, you've just said it? Have a picture of a core, or something that represents a core, or something that's representitive of your overall message.
Body language: Keep your hands out you your pockets (especially men), it draws attention to the wrong area. Hands should be above the navel. Also use the space around you, if there's a lectern then there's no need to stand behind it. Walk around, keep the audience moving with you.
Smile: Whatever happens, whatever breaks, however many times your computer crashes, smile! Smile as if it's supposed to be that way. Equally, don't apologies, people will switch off very quickly and it looks very unprofessional.

As I started writing this post, I've noticed that actually there's about 20 tips I could give, so I'll post again on this topic soon. The key message is this: Keep it simple, be confident, don't write too much on your slides.

Below you'll see some slides I presented to get a single message across. Can you guess what the message was? I'll give you a clue - it's to do with social networking....

6 Tips For Awesome Presentations

View more OpenOffice presentations from PuristProductManagement.

Innovation Pt3: Validating Ideas

2009-06-16T02:35:00.000-07:00

So far in the "creating a culture of innovation" series we've discussed; The overall process, capturing ideas and reviewing ideas. In this post I'll discuss the most important area of all: Validating ideas. The difference between a product manager and a purist product manager is defined partly by their interaction with customers. If a product is being built based entirely on internally driven analysis and never sees the customers eye before development, then it is an internally driven process. Purist Product Management is all about empowering the end user, making sure he drives the product, and not internally driven number crunchers!

However, passing every idea by end users can be very difficult, so we do have to use internal analysis as a filtration method of getting to the product ideas we feel would really work. Once we're at this stage, we need to validate these ideas with customers. There are numerous ways that we can do this, but I'll go through a few of my favourites:

Usability testing: At this stage, there is no product, but there should be mock-ups or even a prototype. If you have the luxury of having an internal usability team then use them! Have them look over the idea, and give their advice on how the product should look and feel. This isn't strictly customer interaction, but it's still useful to do. I'd certainly never use this method alone.

Customer Reviews: Most people use one-2-one interviews when doing customer reviews, which is completely valid. However at this stage we need as much feedback as possible. In the past I've used customer panels to review products which are at this stage. The advantage of this is that we can gain a lot more information with much less time investment. However, the type of business environment you work in will partly define whether is a good idea to have multiple customers in the same room at the same time or not. The focus of the interview should be validating that the problem that the product is trying to solve actually exists. Once this is confirmed its about validating that the product will solve the problem.

Polls: For some smaller developments it may not be cost effective to use a panel, but it is still very important to get some feedback from the customer. I've used polls in the past, with varying degree's of success. A poll will give you an indicative view of whether a customer likes or dislikes your product, but the interaction is only 1 way, so there's no feedback on how it could be improved further. Therefore I'd only use polls on small developments, or as a first step in validation of larger developments. For information on how to conduct effective polls click here.

Once the product has been successfully validated, a final decision has to be made. This decision is made by the innovation group with all information to hand.

In the next innovation post, I'll discuss the 4th process: Final Decision. If you have any comments or recommended changes to this process please feel free to comment.

Quick Links:
Introduction - Creating A Culture of Innovation
Pt1 - Capturing Ideas
Pt2 - Review and Eliminate Ideas
Pt3 - Validating Ideas
Pt4 - Final Decision
Pt 5 - Implementation

Innovation Pt2: Review and Eliminate Ideas

2009-06-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

So far in the innovation series I've covered the overall process I've used in the past for creating a culture of innovation, and the first area of that process: Capturing ideas. In this post I'll cover the next phase, which is a process to review and eliminate ideas.

This area of the process relies on 2 key assumptions:

1 - Organisational instinct is strong. By having an instinctive review of an innovative idea, with the right people undertaking that review, and with the right level of detail for the idea, it is likely that the Innovation Group can successfully decipher ideas that just won't be of enough benefit to pursue.

2 - That every idea needs elaborating, and that the process of elaboration alone will show that many ideas will offer little or no benefit to the end user.

Reviewing and Eliminating ideas requires each idea to go through 3 gates (how waterfall!):

Gate 1

The process begins with the innovation backlog created by capturing the requirements in the part 1. The innovation group reviews each item on the backlog against the vision statement, and the product road map. The group then discusses the idea and makes a decision to either; not pursue the idea, or to move the idea onto further elaboration.

If the decision is not to pursue the idea, then the originator of the idea is informed, with valid reasons as to why this idea will not be taken forward. This is really important so that there is quick feedback for each product idea. A common pitfall of many innovation processes is that no credit or feedback is given to the originator of the idea. My process attempts to address this by giving continuous feedback, and therefore encouraging further ideas from the organisation.

Gate 2

If the decision is to pursue the idea, then the originator of the idea, along with their Innovation Group representative are requested to elaborate the idea, potentially with mock ups and metric projections where applicable. The group then reviews these elaborated ideas further and decides whether to pursue or otherwise. Again, if the decision is not to pursue the idea, then the originator must be informed.

Gate 3

Most product ideas will stop at gate 2. However, larger product ideas (i.e. ones that require either business process change, large technology changes, or brand new products) go through a further elaboration. During this elaboration the idea has to have actual metric projections, business process modelling where applicable and an estimated cost projection. Again, with this information the innovation group will decide whether to pursue the idea or otherwise.

Through experience, most idea's wont make it past gate 1 (about 60%) but by the time you get to gate 3 (or 2 where applicable) you're left with about 15-20% of the original number of ideas. Once an idea is at this stage, it has to be validated both internally, and by externally (by customers).

In the next innovation post, I'll discuss the 3rd process: Validating the idea's. If you have any comments or recommended changes to this process please feel free to comment.

Quick Links:

Introduction - Creating A Culture of Innovation

Pt1 - Capturing Ideas

Pt2 - Review and Eliminate Ideas

Pt3 - Validating Ideas

Pt4 - Final Decision

Pt 5 - Implementation

5 Ways To Reduce Stress At Product Launch

2009-06-15T03:24:00.000-07:00

I'm going through a couple of product launches over the next few weeks, which is not ideal, but that's the way things have panned out. Oddly, the 2 products couldn't be more different, both in terms of business benefit, and the actual launch program itself. Having thought about it a bit, I think there are some key differences which are making one product launch significantly less stressful that the other. Here are 5 tips for making product launches as stressful as a stroll in the park:

Get your ducks in a row: Product launch requires multiple teams to be working in harmony in a given time frame. As early as possible, make sure that all the relevant parties are booked out for the launch.
Give clear instructions: Make sure that you're giving very clear instructions about what is required from each and every resources. Equally important is to make sure that they know what is required of them, and that you repeat this information often.
Trust your team: Over management of product launches can be counter productive. Once you're convinced that everyone knows what they are doing, let them get on with it, and give as much encouragement as possible. Also make sure that everyone is aware that any impediments to the launch should be escalated to you as soon as possible
Get fresh eyes: If you've worked on a product for a number of months, then this is a good time to get a fresh set of eyes to look over the product. This should be above and beyond the normal user experience testing.
Celebrate the wins: As product manager, it's your responsibility to make sure that you shout about the product once it's launched, and where it is a replacement product that you compare and contrast old vs. new. Doing this, gives everyone involved a clear view of what all the hard work was for.

Have you got any ideas to make product launches less stressful? Leave and comment and share them with the community.

Innovation Pt1: Capturing Ideas

2009-06-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

In the last post, Creating A Culture of Innovation, I went through a process which I've used in the past to help foster and promote innovation as part of the product management process. In this post I'll be detailing some of the methods that can be used to capture ideas, and feed them into the innovation group.

Employees

Within the innovation group should be representation from all major departments in the organisation. Their role is to collate ideas from within their teams and bring them to the innovation group. The key in capturing ideas from the employee base, is to make it easy for them to post ideas to a central place. This can be done with a centralised inbox, a separate area on the companies intranet or within formal meetings where they can bring up their ideas. It also has to be quick. The aim is to reduce entry barriers for each idea as much as possible, so it should be acceptable in the 'Capture' phase to have a 1 line idea, without the need to fill out a long winded form. It is the responsibility of each member of the innovation group to; make idea sharing part of day to day culture, make it easy for employees to put forward their ideas, to never reject an idea without bringing it to the innovation group.

Win / Loss Analyses

From a personal perspective, I'd be more accurately describing this as a 'Loss Analysis'. A win / loss analysis is when product management visits a client after the sales team have completed the sales process. If that client has not opted to go with your product, then this is the ideal time to get some good feedback as to why. A typical win / loss interview starts with; "I'm sorry you decided not to take our product, but thanks for taking the time to see me. What I'd like to achieve from this meeting is to understand what changes to our product would have made you choose us above our competitors. I'm not here to sell you anything....." By taking this approach, we're actually asking the client to say not only what was wrong with our product, but what was right with our competitors. The ideas that come out of these sessions can be fed directly into the innovation group.

Stakeholder Product Review Interviews

It is THE core aspect of the purist product manager that he makes sure that his customers drive his product. However, it shouldn't be overlooked that there are internal customers too. Each quarter I try to meet with the key internal stakeholders and undertake a product review interview. This is a session which allows them to tell you what they like and dislike about the product, what their stakeholders are saying, what would make their life easier, what would enhance their product. There are particular times when I'd conduct more Product Review Interviews, particularly when someone new comes to the organisation. New people in a company is fertile ground for the Product Manager's Innovation drive. As people come to a new organisation, they come with their existing mindsets from their previous company. Having regular interviews with these people can be of great benefit in drawing out new ideas.

Social Media

At my current company we use Yammer. For those of you who have not come across yammer in the past, it's like Twitter but for internal company use. It's a great way to communication progress on projects, or recent quick wins, Yammer, and tools like Yammer really help the product manager keep in touch with their stakeholders. It's also a great way of capturing off the cuff ideas. The idea of the innovation process is to capture ideas where ever they are, and as soon as they are thought of, and Yammer helps greatly in this aim. Capturing the 'at the desk' spare of the moment ideas is very difficult, but tools like Yammer really help make it easier.

There are of course hundreds of ways to collect ideas from within your organisation, and the tools or methods you use really depend on what you're comfortable with, your companies size, structure and existing culture. The key aim is this: Capture ideas where ever they are, and as soon as they're thought of. Once you're done this the rest of the process will support and promote this culture.

In the next post I'll discuss how we can begin to review and sort these ideas into a meaningful order.

Quick Links:

Introduction - Creating A Culture of Innovation

Pt1 - Capturing Ideas

Pt2 - Review and Eliminate Ideas

Pt3 - Validating Ideas

Pt4 - Final Decision

Pt 5 - Implementation

A Typical Product Management Problem

2009-06-11T04:56:00.001-07:00

I was at a course a few years ago, and just found the slide deck whilst clearing out my desktop. It made me giggle :)

A Typical Product Management Problem

View more OpenOffice presentations from PuristProductManagement.

Introduction: Creating A Culture of Innovation

2009-06-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

Creating a culture of innovation is a long term process, which requires dedication as well as commitment from the wider organisation. However, as a product manager, if you are able to create a culture of innovation within your organisation, the benefits can be huge. In this series of posts, I'll be talking through a process which I've used in multiple organisations to great effect.

The Process

The process itself involves capturing, reviewing, validating, deciding and implementing product ideas. It is also a cyclical process which has outputs at every stage. The aim of the process is to create perpetual innovative ideas from the organisation by giving continuous feedback on all innovative ideas, and rewarding ideas that go to build phase. However, it is critical to note - Most of the process is about creating hypotheses, not backlog items. In the end, however innovative an idea, it always needs to be validated by customers. Each step in the process has its own processes associated with it, so in future posts I'll focus on each of the 5 steps.

The Innovation Group

The innovation group has to be a collection of leaders from various functional areas within the organisation. They are the structure that decides on which ideas to push forward to the next stage of the process, and which ones are discarded. They also play another vital role: To be the spokes person for their functional area, and to drive the culture of innovation through their teams and departments.

Step 1 - Capture

The instincts of an organisation get stronger with time. A key aim in creating a culture of innovation is capturing the "coffee break" ideas in a formal way. This is done by assigning a functional leader who represents the idea in the innovation group, and creating multiple communication channels for ideas to be fed into the group. Ideas are also captured through product interviews, competitive analysis and win/loss analyses.

Step 2 - Review

Once ideas are captured, they are reviewed by the innovation group. The first review is an instinctive review, then the idea is elaborated, then the idea is given a complete presentation. At each of these stages an idea can be rejected.

Step 3 - Validate Ideas

If an idea passes phase 2, the it moves into validation phase. This is firstly a validation based on precedent, then validation based on customer interaction. At this stage an idea is delivered to a customer and their opinions are collated.

Step 4 - Final Decision

If the idea passes the validation stage then it's time to make a decision on whether the idea should be delivered. This decision is based around how complex the solution is, whether the innovation team believes in the data collected from customers, and whether the idea will offer relatively more benefit than ideas that are on the current road map.

Step 5 - Implementation

Finally, ideas that pass step 4 move into implementation. The key during implementation is that during the process the metrics that the product idea will be driving are defined. So those metrics are measured, the product is developed, the new performance is measured and the results are passed back to the innovation group.

The Feedback Loop

From experience less than 4% of ideas that are fed into an innovation group reach stage 5. Therefore it is critical that there is a robust feedback and communication loop. Whenever a product idea is rejected, the originator of the idea has to be informed with the reasons why that idea was rejected. Ideas that go through the whole process are communicated and 'shouted about' throughout the organisation, and the originator of the idea is rewarded.

As I mentioned, during future posts, I'll be elaborating on each step and what is involved in creating a robust process for creating a culture of innovation.

Quick Links:

Introduction - Creating A Culture of Innovation

Pt1 - Capturing Ideas

Pt2 - Review and Eliminate Ideas

Pt3 - Validating Ideas

Pt4 - Final Decision

Pt 5 - Implementation

Guerilla Competitive Analysis

2009-06-09T09:15:00.001-07:00

Recently I was asked about some competitive analysis tools that I use and which tools are most important when elaborating on product enhancements. My favoured method of competitive analysis is to pose as a buyer of a competitor's tools. Typically what I'd do is chose a competitor who's product is currently most like where I want my product to be (not necessarily the market leader) and then get in contact with them as a potential client.

Getting around the logistics

1 - Most sales people will immediately offer to come and visit your premises to discuss the product further. This is the best way but is only really practical if you have a department that could feasibly use the product they are offering.

2 - If you prefer you can offer to visit them at their premises. This is really useful, because there are additional resources the sales person can call upon as and when questions arise.

3 - Alternatively you can request a remote demonstration which most companies are now able to do with Webex or something similar

What are the benefits

1 - The key benefit is that your competitor has already gone through the elaboration phase of their product so you can see what your product is going to look like

2 - It also enables to you identify gaps in the product that is being demonstrated which allows you to find a niche where your product can excel

3 - You also get the opportunity to ask what is on their product road map, so not only what your product has to compete with now, but what it has to compete with in the future

A few risks to be aware of

1 - Don't copy bad products - You have to be aware that although the sales person will sell the product very effectively, it may not in itself meet the customer needs

2 - There's no substitute for customer interaction - This method can only help to guide you as to what your competitor is doing. You still have to validate your product road map with your customers

3 - Don't do it too often - If you do this with every competitor, then soon enough they'll start to catch on. Don't be fooled into believing competitors don't talk, they do!

A final word about ethics: There has to be a line of judgement which some product managers will not cross. Personally I have no problem using this method of competitive analysis, because I feel it is in the best interests of the product, and ultimately in the best interests of the customer. You do however have to be aware of any Copyright infringements that you may breach in building your ultimate product.

Reality TV Shows and Product Management

2009-06-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

I read this great post on "American Idol and New Product Development" at the OnProductmanagement blog (well worth a read for any budding PM's). He makes some valid points around the potential success or otherwise of product launches and how in essence an American Idol winner is a product who's success or failure rate is the same as any product.

As I thought about this concept further, another important analogy came out - Not just from American Idol, but all Reality TV shows and Product Management. Achieving the final product is a process of investigation, confirmation, validate, investigation, confirmation etc etc. As it is with Talent shows. Lets take American Idol as the example and look at all of the 'potential products' that come to audition:

No Hoper's
The show always starts with absolute no hoper's, people who just can't sing, can't dance, have no charisma, and really have no chance of being a successful product. When we think about elaboration phases of product development, we all come across these products. Depending on how well tuned your organisational instinct is, then these are usually dismissed with a collective "NO"

1 voters
At some point before the adverts you get the 1 voters. 2 of the judges hated the act, but one loved him. Now this happens daily to a product manager, and his worth within is role is partly defined by how quickly these products are removed from the collective consciousness of the organisation. The product that is pushed by a single voice, is often the most dangerous, particularly if that voice is senior. However, more often than not, these products don't make the backlog, and even if they do, its a stretch item.

2 voters
In American Idol, it's when you get 2 judges voting to move the product onto the next round and 1 disagreeing that the story becomes interesting. These products are asked to prove themselves. Within product management we go about proving these products by elaborating, doing a proof of concept and discussing with potential users of the product. 2 voters have about as much chance of success as a product as 1 voters, but they are much more time consuming. Product managers have to devise ways to quickly validate or invalidate product ideas to ensure they stay firmly grounded in the strategic aspect of the role.

Unanimous votes
So, after a long day of judging, we get to the end of the show and everyone is tired. An over weight, scruff man walks out, and there is a collective sigh of "oh no". Then he sings and it's as though angels have starting whistling from the rooftops. Shock and awe! A product that has a real chance of succeeding has been found, and the program ends with a crescendo. Now, here's where the Purist Product Manager earns his buck. He has to take this raw, unelaborated product and do numerous things:

1 - He has to calm the company down. He has to explain that all product ideas start like this, all product ideas feel like they will make millions in seconds, but experience has shown us that in fact most do not.
2 - He has to prove that this is the real deal. This product will sell, it will meet a customer need, it will solve a customer problem, it will deliver on its expected revenue targets
3 - He has to engage he target audience, get them excited about the product, get their input, get them to play with the prototypes

After all this is done, as ONPM correctly mentions, the likelihood is that the product will not meet all expectations. It is the job of Product Management to mitigate product risk, by being realistic about a product's potential and ensuring that the end user is put at the heart of the product development at every stage. Now if you're a product manager and you're reading this thinking, "but everyone will hate me if I keep saying no to their ideas" then you should get one thing firmly in your mind - You're not their to be liked. Product Managers are not "Yes" people, they are pragmatic in their approach to delivering products that meet market needs.

In House Usability Team: Priceless

2009-06-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

Having spent much of my Product Management career desperately trying to convince superiors the value of usability budgets, to move to a company that has an in house usability team has been somewhat of a welcome shock!

In the Purist Product Management world, we’re building products that solve consumer problems (ala Pragmatic). So the ideal situation is that from inception to launch and beyond the customer is sat with the team developing the solutions. This is clearly impractical. Typically, the Purist Product Manager will spend time with his customers using current tools, and then define the customer problem, and product from this information (as well as competitive analysis, win/loss analysis and so on).

The gap normally occurs when the product is being build and is launched: We need to be able to validate that the product does in fact meet the customer needs both during the build and launch phases. Here’s where usability comes into play. Now, there are hundreds of methodologies and tools that can be used to get a usability review, but from personal experience, there is none more effective than the Focus Group – Typically it’s also the most expensive. So again, the focus group becomes relatively impractical during the build phase of a product, because of the costs involved. In my new company there is an in house usability team. Their job is to fight the customers corner (a battle which should be pretty easy if Purist Product Managers are running the product) during the build phase and organise the Focus Groups prior to launch. A job, which they do extremely well.

3 Reasons usability plans are important
1 – If you’re product is not being continuously evaluated and commented upon by your customers, then the risk of failure is high
2 – The granular level of detail that is required to analyse sales funnels and features that impact usability is so intense, that the typical product manager wouldn’t be able to do it alone
3 – Nobody likes to be told that their product doesn’t solve a market problem, but then again, is it not better to be told by users before the product is launched?

3 things Purist Product Managers should be aware of with usability
1 – Be prepared to be told you’re wrong. The only reason you do usability is to know how to make your product better
2 – Don’t dismiss the results as irrelevant: Otherwise why do usability in the first place? The customer is always right
3 – Build into your release and sprint budgets time to re-work your product based on usability feedback. This is particularly important when running a project with a fixed budget.

Re-working product inception presentations: £250
Re-defining release plans: £500
Re-building functionality: £9,500
Scrapping a product because it doesn’t meet the customers need: £36,000
In house usability team: PRICELESS

What Product Managers Can Learn From MP's Expenses

2009-06-07T00:51:00.000-07:00

So aside from the obvious: Be transparent in what you spend, there is another important lesson for product managers in the MP's expenses story. The lesson is actually not in the story but how the story was released. The Telegraph, who released the story, managed to dominate the headlines of every newspaper in the land for nearly 3 weeks - a feat which is extremely rare. If we consider the MP's expenses story as a product, then we can see how they managed to do this. They were able to:

1 - Beat their competitors by releasing earlier and better: MP's had already agreed to release their expenses information under the freedom of information act. However, part of this release was not going to include their address information. The Telegraph, by means only known to them, got hold of the complete report, including address information, and began let the world know that they had this information. There were at least 3 days in the public consciousness where we knew this information would come out, and our collective 'id' couldn't wait to see every sordid detail.

2 - Incrementally release the product: However, we didn't see every sordid detail at once. The Telegraph masterfully released their product incrementally. Each increment was more surprising than the last; their product got better and better each day. Just as we all thought the saga was coming to an end, they released even more of their product. By taking this approach they were able to dominate front pages for nearly a month.

3 - Manage the product's death by releasing a new product in it's stead: Ultimately, they'd exhausted the product and all of the information was in the public domain. However, with absolute calculation, they had been able to create a new product. By timing their releases with local and European elections and a cabinet re-shuffle, they'd managed to create a product which not only they controlled, but the entire British nation contributed to. And the product name? National Election Now!

Purist Product Managers can learn from this and other outstanding product launches (iPod is the perfect example). If the aim is to dominate a market for a period of time, then there are some key steps which need to be taken:

Create an atmosphere of excitement before the product launch

Launch a product that can beat, but not annihilate your competitors

Incrementally release IMPROVEMENTS to your products (if you're not making improvements, then all your efforts have gone to waste)

Make sure you have a plan to replace your product with something bigger and better

Short On Funds High On Requirements

2009-06-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

I recently did some consultancy for a small business who, with a relatively tiny budget, wanted to create a consumer focused website for their own consulting firm. In this situation, the Purist Product Manager has to think innovativly. The key was to be able to create a brand identity that both represented the organisational culture, as well as communicated the companies core compitencies. To achieve this goal I used 99designs.com. It's old hat now, but the majority of companies using 99designs are startups or SME's. I argue that being short on funds but high on user centric design requirements is a problem not only facing SME's but facing all companies. The internal costs for creating mock-ups can be huge, and the external market is competitive but nontheless not nearly as cost effective as 99designs can be.

When to use 99desgins:

1 - If you have ambiguous requirements and not really sure what kind of designs you need

2 - If you have limited funds but need lots of options to choose from

3 - If you have small or medium size projects (if you're looking for email templates, website design and corporate identity, then you're best off seeking a firm to partner with)

When not to use 99designs:

1 - If you want to keep the design and CSS creation within the same firm

2 - If you plan to make multiple changes in a short space of time

3 - If you require flexible branding that can be used in multple location or for multiple companies

Overall I'd recommend 99designs for any small projects and for any size of organisation. In fact, I do recommend it in my current company.

It’s All About Communication

2009-06-05T09:06:00.001-07:00

It all started quite innocently; a former colleague of mine started a debate within a group of friends with the statement “Product Management is all about judgement, nothing else is important”. Red rags and bulls! For me, there are a range of skills that the purist product manager has to have; some can be learned some are natural abilities. I agreed that judgement is an important part of the product manager’s toolkit, but there is one skill that far outweighs any other when it comes to the perfect purist product manager: Communication.

Product managers are sales managers, purchasing managers, lobbyists, politicians and diplomats. The ability to communicate a vision, or a course of action, and to be able to gain consensus across a range of stakeholders is critical in being successful in product management. What’s more the ability to say, “That product idea WON’T work” to even the most senior of people, whilst maintaining a solid working relationship is a true sign of a purist product manager. A typical product manager should be spending 60% of his day communicating both internally and externally. If he’s sending 100 emails a day* he’s not a product manager, if he’s reading through DBA scripts he’s not a product manager, if he’s giving advice on schema’s he’s not a product manager, if he’s writing a 400 line project plan, guess what – he’s not a product manager!! Product managers COMMUNICATE! (*Emails is not a valid form of communication – but a necessary evil)

To an extent this skill can be learned. It’s possible to make good communicators from poor communicators – But great communicators are very tough to breed.
Judgement for product managers – Important
Communication skills for product managers – The most important!!
Ghandi + Alan Sugar + Barak Obama = PERFECT PURIST PRODUCT MANAGER

Review: Searchme.com The Future Of Search

2008-08-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

Having recently read an article about new search engine called searchme.com I was intrigued. i spent the next 3 hours playing with one of the most usable search tools I've seen. I'm completely hooked. Here are some of the key highlights:

- The ipod style preview slider, which is just so usable and intuitive
- The intelligent categorisation that give you direct links to some key categories
- The slide up preview text for each search result
- The video search has auto play!
- And my favourite function. Stacking (video below)

Some of the things that need improvement are:

- The search box could do with predictive text
- The search box sometimes stalls mid type
- The preview results need to have a zoom function
- Clicking a result opens a new browser tab

I love this search tool. I hope so much that some of the new improvements are implemented so that this can be a mainstream tool. However watch out for viewzi.com which is currently in Beta. I'll review this search engine soon.

Quick Review - Toodledo Online Task Manager

2008-08-26T00:18:00.000-07:00

Toodledo is "An easy to use, web-based to-do list. Get organized, stay motivated, and be more productive". Now typically I don't like online tools that are already fully satisfied by a microsoft application, or something on my iphone. As a product manager myself, I'm always asking: So What? What does this product offer me that makes it completely essential for my daily life? Toodledo answers this question quickly. It enables consolidation of my tasks from a range of sources, therefore becoming my to-do HUB. I really enjoyed using the scheduling tools, as its completely user intuitive. What bothers me, is that being UK based I can't make use of the speech-text services offered by Jott which are incorparated within this tool.

If you've got too much to do, not enough time, always forgetting things, and need complete accessibility to your diary, then I'd definately recommend Toodledo.

Jott.com - Solving Problems That Don't Exist?

2008-08-24T05:28:00.000-07:00

The product managers largest pitfall is building technology that doesn't meet a market need. At my first glance at Jott.com this is how I felt. What market problem are you solving here? Slowly however having researched more, and spoken to regular users, I found that it's not only solving a market problem, its solving problems that consumers weren't initially aware of. The best features that Jott.com offers are listening to your feeds through your mobile, or writing SMS or Emails whilst on the move through speaking through your mobile.

Can't waitfor Jott to come to the UK, where this will be a huge success!!

PlanHQ - Lowering Business Strategy Entry Barriers

2008-08-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

PlanHQ is a business planning software that allows its users to input some simple goals and allow teams to interact and track against these goals, also showing how the goals link to the organisations overall strategy. What makes this tool interesting is that the whole basis of a business plan, and the methodologies of tracking, measuring, actioning and delivering are consolidated into a single place. This forces the users to follow these basic business necessities without the need to do a Finance degree. As the user interacts with the tool, it evolves. This a typical web 2.0 trait, and O'Reilly discuss this further in this video.

URL Shortening Revenue Models - Pop-up Adds

2008-08-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

(ALL COMMENTS WELCOME)
This article explores the different revenue models that TinyUrl, Adjix and Linkbee. All 3 of them have ad sharing revenue models, but the key question is whether to pop-up ads or not.

TinyURL creator Kevin Gilbertson is on the record stating that he could make a million dollars a month, "if he chose to attach a pop-up advertisement on each URL," according to his hometown paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "But he won't, on principle,"

For me, principle is overstated. The reality of the situation is when an organisation takes the 'moral high ground' and doesn't use pop up ads and loses potentially millions in revenues because of this - The organisation has lost. The only question as to whether to take this move or not should be are the barriers to entry high enough in this market to prevent users shifting source quickly. If there is a threat of reduced users as a result of this move, then a simple ROI analysis should show whether to take this decision or not. When Gilbertson says he won't do this on 'principle', I think he probably means he won't do it, 'because of the risk of losing customers'.

Ma.gnolia Is No Longer Niche

2008-08-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

(ALL COMMENTS WELCOME)
Not long ago the web was awash with bookmarking sites. Ma.gnolia is one such site, and in comparison to delicious its tiny by volume, however in a brave bid to enter the B2B arena Ma.gnolia plans to open up its source code to let anyone add its bookmarking functionality to their site or private organization. Functionality wise there's not much to distinguish between all the players in this market, but the sheer audacity of Ma.gnolia makes them my new favourite. I'm a member now so share your sites with me, and make sure you rate them for a richer user experiance.

Picnik Make Photo Editing Easy

2008-08-23T02:03:00.000-07:00

(ALL COMMENTS WELCOME)
With Picnik's new layering functionality, photo editing online has become even easier. Whilst there are numerous photo editing and sharing sites available, what I love about this one is the focus on consolidation of your photo's where ever they sit. Pulling your portfolio of photos from facebook, flickr myspace and like makes Picnik one of the best options in the market. One of the key floors has been the limited upload functionality, but with this latest release this has been fixed, with upload ability being doubled.

What If Twitter Did 12 Second Video's?

2008-08-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

(ALL COMMENTS WELCOME)
Well with 12seconds.tv that's what users get. What continues to impress me is the almost limitless opportunities that web 2.0 methodologies offer consumers and business. This is another great example. Basically a user can post 12 second video's that are snapshots of what the member is doing at that period of time. One thing that I'm yet to be clear on is whether none US users have overcome the video barrier, and are still stuck behind the relative anonymity of text and pictures, well only time will tell, but I'll certainly be keeping a close eye on this site.

Iterasi, Business Uses Beyond The Obvious?

2008-08-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

The new features on Iterasi include scheduled site snap which will take a snap of a given site on a scheduled basis as defined by the user. Typically I expect the product manager to have interviewed blog readers and come up with this development to meet their needs. However, thinking slightly laterally, what about the ability for companies working in saturated online markets to take a snap shop of each of their competitors offers pages on a scheduled basis. Working in such a market currently, I think I'll give this a go and see if it meets the business requirement.

Zoho A No No?

2008-08-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Zoho released a new App called Zoho Share which allows users to share documents in more formats. Although I think that the functionality could be of great benefit, i just think that this market is quickly becoming saturated - There's just not the volume to satisfy all the demand, unless some brave organisation takes the giant leap to entirely online organisations. But I wouldn't hold my breath. in the pudding though.

What The Twitter?!

2008-08-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

Ashamedly I must admit to having never heard of Twitter.com. Having read a recent article I was intrigued and took the time to really understand the site and the business model. What I found surprised me. Web 2.0 strategy taken to the most extreme level. Absolutely connection with multiple users, a blog with unlimited updates but a limited blog size limit. I'm intrigued further as to the attraction, but I was a late comer to facebook too, so I'll give it a go and report back soon. In the meantime if you want to know more about Twitter, take a look at this video.

Information Osmosis III - Toxic Managers

2008-08-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

(ALL COMMENTS WELCOME)

We've all had them, some people will be unlucky enough to be working for one now, but how is it that Toxic Managers are able to remain in their jobs for so long? What's more how can they progress so rapidly within organisations? In a previous post, we discussed some core reasons, and now I'll go into detail on each of those points, as well as offer some advise to current employees of toxic managers. Of course, at the heart of the toxic manager, employee and organisational relationship is the management of information.

Toxic Managers Manage Their Bosses

A core trait of any toxic manager is the ability to manage their own superiors. Toxic managers are rarely found in junior positions. Therefore their bosses are generally directors, vice presidents or board members. As a result the handling their bosses becomes slightly more clear cut. Rarely does a board member want to hear all the details of who, where, why, what and how - More often they like 'the headlines'. Where are we with this project, and if things aren't going so well, what is being done to rectify the situation. With this level of interaction, the toxic manager is ideally placed to miscommunicate to their bosses. They can offer only limited information when required and as long as the end result remains within their bosses expectations they will get away with it. By managing their superiors in this way, they are able to retain a high perceived value of themselves within their organisation. When things are going wrong, the organisation and their bosses don't know about it, and when they are going well, be assured that the toxic manager will make sure the world knows about it.

Toxic Managers Manage Information Successfully

Toxic managers make themselves the centre of attention within their teams. They will ensure that information that is passed to their teams is only the information that they want to give them. What's more Toxic managers make sure that their teams perception of the wider organisation is completely aligned with their own view of the organisation. By doing this, they are able to manage the information that their teams give to other members of the organisation. This also creates a climate of 'Them and Us'. A toxic manager can often be view by passive employees as the best thing to happen to an organisation. It's only when a passive employee becomes active, and questions their manager that they see them in their true light.

Toxic Managers Are Exceptional Sales People

A great skill of almost all Toxic Managers is to be able to convince and persuade people to their way of thinking. This begins introspectively within their teams, by ensuring that their view of the world is completely aligned with their own. This behaviour becomes most apparent in 2 scenarios: Firstly when something goes really well. In this case the toxic manager is able to sell this success beyond their team to the entire organisation as their own. Secondly, when things go terribly wrong. In this case the toxic manager is frantically searching for a scapegoat. When he finds one, he is able to sell the fact that failure is down to them and them alone very successfully. He is also able to convince his own team of this fact, thus making the information that they impart to other people within the organisation completely managed.

Toxic Managers Take Credit For Others Work

Toxic Managers take credit for their subordinates work. They will congratulate their subordinates for a job well done, then ensure that the success is completely attributed to themselves, or their management style to the senior organisation. This offers a great insight to senior executives, as this behaviour manifests itself into something tangible and measureable: How often is an employee promoted. The ratio of promotions to subordinates is an indicator to how success or unsuccessful a manager is.

Toxic Managers Create A Climate Of Fear

Never cross the Toxic Manager. They will ensure a climate of fear within their teams, and this limits the teams ability to complain about their manager. The 'fear' is not simply perceived, Toxic Managers cultivate outstanding relationships with HR to make sure that when push comes to shove they can instigate HR proceedings against employees that complain.

How to manager Toxic Managers

The first aspect to managing a toxic manager is to recognise that you have one. Once you've gotten to this point, your aim is simple and clear - You must leave this environment. This can be difficult as the Toxic manager has cultivated relationships with all the people who can help you leave your own role, and they themselves are unlikely to be willing to allow you to leave for fear of not having the necessary control over the information that you impart onto others within the organisation. To be able to manager this, you have to understand the toxic manager. They often suffer from narcissism in its most extreme form. To help smooth the road between leaving your current role and getting to your new role, you must pander to their every need. Set time aside simply to cater to their desires. Understand what motivates them, and use misinformation to ensure that they are consistently happy with the work that you are doing. When you've finally gotten to a point where you are ready to express your desire to leave, keep it completely personal. The reason for your leaving has to be something that cannot be overcome but has absolutely nothing to do with them, their style of management and if possible the organisation in which you work - and its up to you to fully define that reason. Finally the most important piece of advice for those working under a toxic manager - Keep Everything. Every threatening email, every scrap of evidence that could be used in your defence if things move towards the HR route.

Product Management Panic At Toshiba

2008-08-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

(ALL COMMENTS WELCOME)

If a product fails there is always in inquest. Toshiba recently failed in the war of HD DVD and Blu-Ray. The fall out has been relatively significant, and undoubtedly Toshiba's strategy of piggybackingoff Xbox and relying almost solely on this revenue stream backfired. However, the worst possible reaction from a product team is a knee jerk reaction. Toshiba today announces the release of its XDE technology. Apparently making edges sharper. Early views show that actually whilst there is marginal improvement, at times it can make sharpness worse. Mistakes happen in organisations, and when a product fails, its key to learn from those mistakes, but never ever to make them again! I predict a costly flop here for Toshiba, and then a marketing and product development restructure will follow soon afterwards.

I Hate FireFox

2008-08-19T03:59:00.000-07:00

(ALL COMMENTS WELCOME)

The BBC reports today on a PC attack that hijacks the clipboard where copied text is stored. Apparently this only effects FireFox users. Almost every technologist I work with uses FireFox, as well as a number of business people: "Its so much better than IE, so much more usable" is the remark I often here. After years of being told this I made the big switch - and hated it! So as sad as it is that these problems are happening to FF users, I can't help but have a little smile on my face.

Freedom = Happiness?

2008-08-19T03:25:00.000-07:00

(ALL COMMENTS WELCOME)

In this article in today's FT, a survey of multiple countries shows that 'freedom' actually equates to happiness rather than money. Thinking laterally, how does this translate into business and technology? In an organisation that had no Product Management Role there was an extreme amount of 'freedom' which allowed the business to fully dictate how developments were prioritized. What this meant was that each business owner had his own agenda: To make sure his development was prioritized ahead of everyone elses - regardless of the overall business impact. So at an individual level, the business owner was 'happier' than life with a product manager. However, organisationally, the business was not maximising the technical resource available to them. As soon as a product management role was introduced, there was significant resistance, as the developments that were found to have little overall organisational benefit were sidelined, in favour of larger, cash generating projects. The overall result is that the organisation is getting more from their resources. Sometimes freedom and happiness have negative correlation.

Compliance Forcing Tech Budget Increases

2008-08-18T03:59:00.000-07:00

A recent survey by temenos shows that tech budgets in the coming years are likely to rise. One key drive is compliance, such as Sarbanes Oxley, PCI, and Data Protection. These terms strike fear into the hearts of many product managers and technologists, as they detract from the ultimate aims of enhancing the business and innovating against the product. However it seems that compliance may be the saving grace that will see technology ride the Credit Crunch wave all the way to safety.

Toxic Managers: Why Companies Keep Them

2008-08-17T00:39:00.000-07:00

What never ceases to amaze me in business these days, is how acceptable failure is. This is never more apparent than in the toxic manager. Everyone's had a toxic manager in their past, and some of you will be unlucky enough to be working for one now. What's probably running through your mind every day is: How on earth can my company employs someone like this? There are common traits in toxic managers that enable us to answer this question. The fully answer is too long for a simple post - but I will add it to the essay section soon:

1 - Toxic Managers can handle their managers very effectively
2 - They manage information within their team very successfully
3 - They are often exceptional sales people
4 - They take credit for their subordinates work
5 - They create a climate of fear that prevents their subordinates complaining

Some great strategies for coping with toxic managers can be found in "Coping with Toxic Managers, Subordinates ... and Other Difficult People: Using Emotional Intelligence to Survive and Prosper (Financial Times Prentice Hall Books) (Paperback)
by Roy H. Lubit (Author)"

Prototypes Of Mars Rovers

2008-08-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me how crazy prototypes look. Already we're starting to see the commercial benefits of the 'Mars Missions' just as the Moon Missions brought us microwaves and alike. Sometimes, technology just rocks!

Facebook Vs Business Privacy

2008-08-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

When does the line between social networking and business networking get crossed? I feel that too often business colleagues add you to their Facebook contacts, and quickly you realise that you just know too much about them. The lack of control over the displayable content makes it a genuine business decision for senior managers. Do I allow my subordinates to view my Facebook profile, and limit the content available or do I draw a clear line between business and social networking. Reuters have this great video discussing just that, with an interview with Linkedin CEO on how they can fill this need.

lastminute.com Launches Moblie Search

2008-08-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

lastminute .com today announced trial mobile restaurant booking technology. As a consumer using this function, you can search restaurants close to where you are, make a booking and even see how to get there. This is just one of a number of developments in the pipeline from the ever innovative lastminute.com team. Having see this service working, I can confirm - It's awesome.

The best developments meet a genuine consumer need, even if the consumer isn't fully aware that the need exists. With this, lastminute.com have once again set themselves apart as the best online consumer travel and leisure site in the world.

Are Developers The New Mechanics?

2008-08-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

In the UK the current shortage of IT graduates is beginning to bite. Levels have fallen 20% since 2001 and continue to decline. The reasons cited are often around the 'attractiveness' of IT roles, however I fail to accept that argument - One look on a job posting site will show the salaries that are currently available for IT professionals, and if this truly is a hedonistic society obsessed with bling then surely being in IT should be the perfect stepping stone. However, I feel that the true reason behind the lack of IT skills being generated within the UK, is the collective view of the IT industry in general. IT, from an organisational perspective is seen as a service, an enabler and very little more. With this mindset, even the highest levels of CTO or CIO potentially yield comparatively little power from an organisational perspective. Organisations are just waiting for the boom in IT professionals in Poland, Argentina, India and China so that they can outsource - The problem is, they are seeing slow downs too. My solution to this problem is relatively simple - Hug a techie. Business people need to integrate their technology teams within the business, they should be one, with the same or greater levels of training and development available to them, outside of the IT skills. Enabling IT professions with business skills makes for a significantly more attractive career proposition.

Electric Cars Just Aren't Sexy

2008-08-15T02:00:00.000-07:00

I read this post recently questioning why electric car's are so successful in India but not in the US or Europe. I think there are several reasons:

- Having driven in Indian Cities myself, the pace is slow to say the least. This lends itself to small economical cars that can squeeze down narrow lanes and between cars.

- Europeans like size. In europe we measure everything, torque, CFC, MPG, Top speed. Electric cars currently can't compete with their fuel guzzling counterparts.

- Most importantly, electric cars, currently just aren't sexy enough.

Gmarket, Ebay And The Ubiquity Conundrum

2008-08-15T00:28:00.000-07:00

Ebay has launched its bid to buy a 37% share of the Korean auctioning site Gmarket from Interpark. As the major players in the online market space broaden their international reach, there are significant market differences that need to be taken into consideration. Certainly the similarities between consumer online behaviours in the USA and Europe outweigh their differences, but the further east companies look, the further they will have to shift their core value proposition to meet the markets needs. Integration of Asian online companies is notoriously difficult. Take for example buying an airline ticket. In China it is expected that you buy your ticket online and the ticket is delivered to your door, once delivered you pay the delivery person in cash for the ticket. Such a 'high touch' value proposition wouldn't stand the cost benefit analysis of European organisations. Therefore deals such as Ebay and Gmarket have a hidden element which needs to be taken into consideration: Integrate and shift the buyers core value proposition, or segment and miss out on the economies of scale.

Northerners: Move South To Be Happy

2008-08-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

The north, south divide in the UK is alive and well. 2 Pieces of news yesterday proved that fact. Firstly a government think tank urged northerners to move to the south to be able to benefit from the prosperity southerners enjoy, and secondly A-level results showed that students in the south east are 50% more likely to get A grades that those in the north east. In the early days of new labour, the buzz word was 'decentralisation', a focus on empowering Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool to ensure that their inhabitants enjoyed the same prosperity as their southern counterparts. Is this news a declaration that their efforts have failed?

BA and AA Alliance

2008-08-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

In the 80's and 90's Virgin Atlantic and British Airways locked horns in a demographic war. Virgin's youthful 'yuppie' vibe Vs BA's dependable reliable persona. As time went on they each segmented a market share and friction, whilst still apparent, wained from its original intensity. Now, 2 decades on, we the consumer, are on the verge of demographic warfare once again. Today BA announced intentions for a joint deal with American Airlines for transatlantic travel which could effectively monopolise the routes between them. They have filed for exemption from competitive legislation in both Europe and America citing: "It will improve customer choice by enabling the oneworld global alliance, of which American, BA and Iberia are key members, to compete more effectively around the world with other global alliances."

Richard Branson recently argued quite the opposite stating: "What is before the regulators today is the future of a competitive international aviation industry. I firmly believe that allowing American and BA to proceed with their plans will irrevocably damage an industry that is already on its knees. "This alliance will mean less, not more competition. It will mean increased domination by BA and its oneworld alliance partners at Heathrow. An AA/BA alliance would be blatantly anti-consumer and anti-competitive. This will be doubly true when taken with the proposed Star Alliance immunity application for UK-US services."

And so the battle commences, Virgin's Richard Branson standing his ground and by proxy the ground of all transatlantic travellers around the world. If this alliance is allowed to form unchallenged, speculators will rightly question whether foul play is at work. And so they should!

The Ad's Are Watching You

2008-08-14T03:23:00.000-07:00

There is such a furore is around advertisers tracking users behaviours - and yet our governments have been doing this for years. This blog by John Grapper really makes me wonder whether sensationalistic journalism itself is to blame for fear culture. I fall very heavily on the side of corporations such as Phorm on this one. The realities of the modern era and of Web 2.0 are this:
- Users are increasingly desensitised to posting personal information online
- Low entry barriers have given a voices to masses (myself included)
- Tracking and monitoring behaviour is not new!

So why should we worry about tracking. Well the common arguments are that advertisers, insurance companies and alike can glean enough usable data about you to target messaging to you deliberately. Demographic segmentation is in itself the study of achieving this targeted messaging. As a user, I'd be happy if I was only being offered products and services relevant to me, rather than wading through masses of mails everyday. Furthermore, we as a society have to accept that if we require an Internet that is intuitive to our needs, organisations that are sensitive to our desires and experiences that are relevant to us we need to expose certain aspects of our privacy to all for such targeting.

Memory Mapping

2008-08-14T02:04:00.000-07:00

The focus of this article is the battle against Alzheimer's and scientists understanding how the general deterioration of memory occurs with sufferers. Indubitable a worthy cause, and yet it seems almost inevitable that an interested group of neuro psychologists will be able to 'piggy back' off this research to truly understand how memory is created. The link between memory and intelligence (as it is measured today) is clear and defined. Soon, memory courses could be available to all with a scientific basis behind their methodologies. Thus making exam's obsolete, as all students can memorize everything, and forcing the business and educational world to assign a real measure to intelligence. Something that actually relates to innovation and human spirit, rather than the ability to recite.

Economies of Scale Do Still Exist!

2008-08-14T01:55:00.000-07:00

Ofcom's report today shows that for the second year running we're using TVs mobile and the Internet more and paying less for them. Some cheery news that the 'Credit Crunch' hasn't gotten its hands on yet. Interestingly our increased used of communication devices, within the normal trends of economics, should instigate reduced costs with basic economies of scale. That, of course, is not the way of the world, and although the Great Arun Sarin has left Vodafone now, don't expect there to be a let up in ingenuity when it comes to squeezing the extra pennies from customers. Consolidate communications networks as offered by most players in the industry now such as BT or Virgin Media, is only customer oriented to this extent during the customer acquisition stage, this time next year I'm confident Ofcom's report will be telling a different story.

Recession By Any Other Names Smells Just as Foul?

2008-08-13T04:26:00.000-07:00

You've got to love the term 'Credit Crunch'. The beauty of this term is that it is so ubiquitous. It relates to traders, multinationals, small businesses and even individuals. What the credit crunch is, is a recession. It's no more, no less. So analysts will say, "technically its not, because to be in recession you have to have blah blah blah". Lets face it, credit crunch is a euphemism for recession. It doesn't bother me so much, actually it really interests me. The term itself opens so many doors to marketers, much more than 'recession' ever could. In this article refering to ICH's slowing revenues, Andrew Cosslett (Chief Executive) referred to it as a "Credit Squeeze". I like that term, not quite a crunch, but the precursor to one, as if ICH is being squeezed, but if its not careful will soon be crunched. More impressively, last night I drove past a Morrison's Supermarket, and saw a giant set of adverts for lower prices. The headlines: "PRICE CRUNCH".

Death of The Office?

2008-08-13T04:03:00.000-07:00

Increasingly cost and organizational requirements have benefited from technological advancements. The desktop and laptop are comparable in price, and the availability of wireless networks in almost every office makes an employee, at the very least, mobile within his own building. Thinking back less than 5 years ago - I worked in a position no to dissimilar hierarchically to the one that I do now, but laptops were only for the directors. Meetings were note taking frenzies, and writing those notes up took time. Working from home didn't exists. How could you work from home? Ok there was webmail, but not much more than that. Oh how times have changed. Dell just unveiled their new range of Latitude latops, designed with the 'digital nomad' in mind. Soon enough the luxury of 'working from home' will become compulsory for some employees. From an organizational perspective, its reduced cost at comparable returns, particularly for those working in 'measurable' roles, such as developers.

Information Osmosis Part II - The Power of Peter

2008-08-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

Time and time again within business we find that the successful are in fact just the arrogant. The dithering are the bit part players and the geniuses; well rarely do they get the credit they deserve. How can it be that incompetence pays so well within business? I’m sure you’ve worked in teams where a team member is extremely poor within their role, unable to complete the most basic tasks, and worse still getting credit for the collective successes of the group. How do these people get away with it so successfully and so regularly?

There are 2 key drivers at work here; Information Osmosis and human nature. For the purposes of clarity, lets personify the incompetent character mentioned above, we’ll call him Peter. Peter may be poor at his job, may be lazy, a terrible boss, but somehow he gets away with all of this, and is greatly respected by the senior management. Peter’s greatest asset is his ability to create extremely strong 1-2-1 relationships, and create trust within these relationships. This often begins by finding a common enemy with his counterpart. Typically Peter will character assassinate everyone within his team to various people at various times but all with a single purpose, to gain the trust of those senior to him. Therein lies the Power of Peter. Peter has recognised that if he can convince those more senior to him, then he can benefit from the power of Information Osmosis, which is much greater going down the organisational hierarchy. If he can convince his superiors that he is the driving force of the high performing team, then soon enough the entire organisation will believe it to be true.

How can people let this happen? Well, here comes the second driver: Human Nature. Don’t be fooled into believing that Peter is a terrible person, difficult to work with or completely withdrawn from the team, quite the contrary. Peter is regularly the life and soul of the party. Peter is the person you confide in, tell your deep secrets too. Peter’s the one who’s got the bosses ear, so you’ve got no reason to distrust him. Even when you come across Peter’s misdemeanours, you’ll forgive him there and then, because surely Peter couldn’t have done that! We are inherently trusting, forgiving and accepting of people’s weaknesses. Peter knows this and uses it against us regularly.
If you know a Peter in your team, then you will find yourself in an increasingly difficult situation. Thankfully there are some simple techniques to put Peter in his place!

When news just isn't news: Robots to arrest people by 2084

2008-08-12T05:40:00.000-07:00

So this article really tickled me. Sometimes I really wonder whether or not people think before penning these items to 'paper'. According to Professor Noel Sharkey "humanoid robots, that are able to arrest people, will have access to integrated databases of information on British citizens, including bank accounts, tax and movements, to enable them to identify who people are."

Exactly how can a professor see that far into the future? What bothers me about this 'news' is not the fact that there will be Robot policemen 66 years, it's the actual intended aim of the article. Oddly enough the article's aim is not to inform its loyal readers that this technological advancement is just round the corner - because the majority of its reads will be sleeping with the worms by the time this is actualized. Its intended for people to be outraged! How can we let technology overtake our civil liberties like this? Are the government not going to do anything!? What about all the policemen that will lose their jobs?! So, if this really constitutes news, then I too can be a news maker:

"All paper to become obsolete by 2097."

"All developers to be replaced by steroid filled armadillos by 2077."

"The Government to be disbanded and replaced by a P4 Processor by 2009!"

How Google Fuels Its Idea Factory

2008-08-12T03:02:00.000-07:00

There's a really interesting article here on how Google fuels its innovation. I recently read a blog post from allaboutproductmanagement.blogspot.com which commented on the 20% innovation rule that Google has (for those that are not aware, Google employees are afforded 20% of their time a week to innovate.) My personal view is that innovation has too much spontaneity to be defined as a percentage of time, or number of days in a week. Surely it places too much pressure on the employees - It's akin to locking them in a glass room and screaming, "Dance monkey, dance!!" For me the true path to an innovative culture is an innovative environment.

Information Osmosis Part I

2008-08-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

One of the hardest things in business and management is the management of information. Part of the battle is recognising that you’re losing to start with. Most business and management executives aren’t even aware that the information they impart on their teams, company members and subordinates filters through the organisation like wildfire. It takes turns left and right, upstream and down stream, and by the time it comes back to its source it bare little resemblance to the original truth.

“Information Osmosis” is the art (and it is art rather than science) of understanding an organisation, its culture, its people and its habits to such an intense level that you can predict and control the spread of information, thus managing the ‘mood’ of the organisation. What happens when you tell Steve a ‘secret’ and tell him to keep quiet? Who does he tell first? Does he call them, go for a cigarette, or use MSN? What is the mode of osmosis? Where is the information likely to travel from there? Why is the information important to Steve? How will he react? How will his reactions affect the people he speaks to? All these variables contribute to the spread of information. Understanding all these variables’ completely is impossible, but having a good idea of how they work, and being able to take educated guesses can help you impart delicate information into the public domain painlessly.

New airline technology ready to squeeze passengers more

2008-08-11T04:52:00.000-07:00

I've just read an article in the Economist that airlines are looking to allow passengers to make calls and send SMS messages - at a charge of course. The technology is provided by OnAir, an Airbus backed technology provider. Now cast your mind back 5 months, remember when this first hit the headlines, and we'd be taking those transatlantic flights next to Mikey McMotormouth jabbering away for the entire flight. Remember the uproar? The headlines? I do, but now here we are on the verge of exactly that, and what's different? The difference is that airlines are charging for it now. When this was originally discussed it was just a service and airlines were just water testing the market. Now that its actually going to be possible,there'll be little media around it, because everyone knows its not going to be popular. And to make matters worse, the reason for the charges..... The credit crunch. For goodness sake, why scapegoat the global economy rather than tell the truth? As an airline you want to make money, well bully for you! Your shareholders will be happy!!

IT companies buck the credit crunch

2008-08-11T04:32:00.000-07:00

This is a really good article on the relatively low impact of the credit crunch on IT companies. It makes a really clear argument, that as technology ever evolves the private sector is duty bound to evolve with it, failure to do so would risk losing an organizations best talent. Conversely, in the public sector, there has been little investment in technology (relative to the private sector) in recent years therefore they are playing catch-up and have a need to invest further. This all leads to a lovely rounded IT world where everyone keeps investing...... No. The reality is such that the current economic climate is effecting every industry. How these effects manifest themselves will vary by industry. In my view the IT industries credit crunch will have a 2 year lag. It won't directly effect employees (in numbers at least, the outsourcing trend will continue) however it will effect platforms themselves. Organizations will simplify their technologies to attain lower overheads. Those large innovative projects that had an 80% of being the 'next big thing' will be overlooked, in favour of stability. The growth of technological advancements themselves will slow. You can't hide from the credit crunch!

Chinese Advertising Market to overtake Japan's

2008-08-11T03:23:00.000-07:00

Why is it that such a relatively small nation such as Japan has such a vibrant Advertising market. It's number 2 in the world behind the USA, and China is soon to overtake it. The nature of advertising varies so wildly in each market globally that it makes me wonder what are the genetic or social variations that allow for such differences in advertising sensitivities. For example, a japanese website looks far too busy to a western consumer, with too much point of sale variations, and ad rotations that are so fast that they border on the subliminal. In the UK for example, this would be seen as dangerous to users (particularly epilepsy sufferers) but in Japan this is normal. Furthermore, there seems to be an affinity with 'teddy bear' type characters on Japanese sites, something we don't see in Europe. Its origins would make interesting reading. This leads me to conclude that there is something fundamentally different either genetically or culturally in the way online advertisers approach Asian audiences Vs. European audiences. What these differences are, and how commercial organizations can exploit them?

Mac Air Presentation by Steve Jobs

2008-08-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

There are a few important notes for all budding Product Managers. Firstly if you can't sell your product effectively internally, then you'll struggle externally. Steve Jobs is the king of internal presentations.

Secondly, note the early part of this presentation when he discusses the thought process for the designers of the Mac Book Air.

Technologist's want interesting work....

2008-08-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but comment on this article that took my eye on computer weekly. The survey, commissioned by computer people, says that IT professionals looking for their next role are looking for a challenging role. As I look back at all the IT professionals I've worked with, I do agree that their most common complaint is doing too much 'tactical' work and not enough strategic exciting work. Then again, if I ask the same question of business people looking for a new job, I'm pretty sure the answers would be the same. I hope this research didn't cost too much!

Getting Rid of Internally Driven Developments

2008-08-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

Most product managers at some point or other will have to fend off the scurge of the internally driven development. Internally driven developments meet no market need, solve no market problem and are generally launched and withdrawn within weeks. For new product departments this is a common occurrence that forms the majority of the product roadmap. In this post I’ll explore what an internally driven development is, how to spot them, what damage they do to an organisation and how to slowly squeeze them out of your organisations collective consciousness.

Great ideas not great sales pitches

As a product manager, think of the last meeting you went to when the sales or marketing director presented the next great idea. We’ve all been to these meetings, and everyone around the table seems to be nodding in agreement: “Yes, great idea, we should definitely do that”. As soon as you leave the meeting everyone unanimously agrees that the development will have little or no benefit to the business. So why didn’t anyone speak up? Many internally driven developments are driven down the organisation. The same idea coming from a lowly customer service executive wouldn’t see the light of day, but coming from the sales director, it leads the product list. As product manager it’s your job to stand up for your resource. If someone is doing a sales pitch for a dog project, it’s your job to tell the group. It doesn’t matter if it’s the CEO trying to get buy in for a product development, if you don’t believe in it; you have to say so – Learning how to say ‘no’ is in itself an art form that we’ll explore in a later post.

What about new product managers taking over an existing product roadmap, how can you spot an internally driven development? They do have similar common traits:

1 – Listen to your instincts. If your gut is telling you that a development is a dog, then ask some colleagues, if it quickly becomes clear that it is a dog, then drop it.
2 – Generally their ROI’s won’t stand up to much scrutiny. As product manager it’s your role to question every metric within the ROI, and make sure that there is no creative accounting.
3 – It feels like a Kirby vacuum cleaner. If a product is being sold to you from the sponsor aggressively, then this should ring alarm bells. Great products sell themselves.
4 – They don’t meet market needs. Every product development should answer a market need. The market can vary from internal markets to external markets to new markets, but all developments meet a market need. If the market need that a development meets doesn’t exist, then it’s a Dog – Drop it. A great example of the product that doesn’t meet a market need is the Samsung Internet Freezer….. How many times do you go to get the milk from the fridge, and think – “Wouldn’t it be great if I could access the internet now?” Not often I expect.
5 – Internally driven developments have very little market research associated with them. If you see a project brief that starts with “Experience tells me…….” That should immediately set the alarm bells off in your head. A product must meet a market need, or solve a market problem, and you have to be able to prove that the market problem actually exists.

Getting rid of them

In such states where internally driven priorities rule the Product Managers Road Map, then conflict is often apparent. The reason for this is because internally driven projects rely on 'Experience'. Let’s take an example:

Steve, a 15 year veteran of a car dealership, believes that selling new cars online is the only way the organisation can maintain its market share. Steve applies significant pressure to the Product Department to include this item on the product roadmap. Although this development will be multifaceted and extremely expensive, Steve's experience puts the product team in a difficult position. Steve is an excellent salesman and has convinced the majority of the organisation that this is the best way forward and that the investment is sound. The product team are pressurized into adding the item to the roadmap without any return estimation.

When the product is launched, it fails, miserably, costing more than £85,000 and returning in the first 9 months..... £0. Who would have thought that consumers would not be willing to make the second most expensive decision of their lives online without seeing the product in real life first? Well actually anyone could have told Steve that. With only the most basic of market research this would have come to light. What's more - This is a true story, the names and figures have been altered, but this is happening time and time again in organisations. So what can Product Managers do to work their way past these internally driven developments? Here are a few pointers:

1 - Ask for metrics: If you are inheriting a product plan that already includes internally driven developments, then ask for metrics from the sponsor. Make it clear that without the success criteria that it is not possible for the development to progress beyond its current place (but be tactful!!)
2 - Basic Market research is cheap!: If you genuinely have not budget for extensive market research but need to get a feel for how customers would react to a new product idea, then do it yourself. Get a question list together, some mock-ups or a working prototype if you have one and call up customers from your client base. Ask them questions, and soon you'll get a feel for how the product could develop - but don’t forget to keep pressing your superiors for that market research budget!
3 - Put it to the vote: Ok, you've got to a point where the sponsor really believes that there is value in a product, and you can't see it, in fact you think it’s a complete waste of money. Your next step is to get your stakeholders together and put the development to them, to get their reaction. A word of warning - If you take this approach be prepared to lose. The problem with 'voting' is that people change their mind, so a stakeholder in the lobby may have agreed that the development was a dog, but 10 minutes with the sponsor could change his mind. Be ready to campaign for your point of view, and only bring people together if you really are sure that the development is a dog. It’s a dangerous game to play too often, and its very easy to lose credibility in your decision making skills.

Spotting and squeezing out internally driven developments is generally a product manager’s first job. However, since most product managers start the role from another discipline, internally driven developments tend to stay on the product list for sometime after they have begun.

Overcoming "Tech Speak"

2008-08-07T06:21:00.000-07:00

I remember in my first week as a product manager going to a meeting of lead developers and application architects. The first 30 seconds seemed to go fine, then soon enough the technologists flipped into another language - The remaining 59minutes and 30 seconds meant absolutely nothing to me. It was an extravagant and complex language that seemed to be understood by everyone except for me. As developers project managers and architects nodded in agreement to a solution that seemed to have universal buy-in, the focus of the team shifted to me: "What do you think Aziz?"..... Uh-oh. The options were clear, agree with the solution without knowing what the business impact was, disagree with the solution without really knowing what I was disagreeing to, or own up with "Guys, you may as well have been speaking Chinese, none of that made sense". I chose the latter. There were a couple of 'tuts', but then one of the architects (who later became my key aid that I couldn't go to a technical meeting without) took out a pen and piece of paper, and did something that all business people understand - He drew. He drew the solution as it is, then as it was proposed. From there I asked 3 simple questions:

"Are there any negative business impacts? What are the key positive business impacts? How can all these impacts be measured?" These 3 questions got me through the next few months as I swatted up on technical jargon - But at that time it dawned on me, why do technical people speak a different language? The Architect managed to explain things in English to me, so why don't they just speak English? The answer is multifaceted and complex. In this post I don't expect to get to all the reason, I simply expect to define some of the core reasons why this occurs, and the motivations behind them. I'll also address how business and product managers alike can spot these behaviours and overcome them with simple techniques.

Because its complicated

The first reason why technologists talk a different language to the rest of us is pretty straightforward - Because they deal in a complex environment. Think of the last time you went to the doctor with an upset tummy:

Patient "Doctor, my stomach hurts"

Doctor "Clearly you have some gastrointestinal conditions that require a course of medication."

Doctors, much like technologists, talk in a different language because they deal with complexity to such an intense degree that it requires its own lexicon.

Gardeners in the garden

A Vice President in my current organisation once said to me, "The best way to create a high performing team is to keep the gardeners in the garden." Technology is an ever evolving disciple, more so than say, management. By the very nature of their expertise, technologists have to be extremely intelligent. For a technologist to remain within his field of expertise he typically has to spend a disproportionate amount of time learning new skills, languages and scripts. So where as business people can take the time to go on course like, communicating effectively, and Excel for power users, technologists often don't have that luxury as they have to keep 'gardening'. As a result of this, many technologists lack the ability to communicate concisely in a language that is ubiquitous to all listener's.

Disparity of information

Once upon a time, long long ago, most people had never heard of Google. These were great times for sales people, car salesman, estate agents and alike. During this time they were able to create a disparity of information so great that they could charge almost anything for the product or service they were selling. This is the discipline of having more information that the buyer: Simple as that. By creating this disparity of power, the seller is instantly in a position of power. Nowadays, there are few bastions of information disparity left. There are only a handful of areas in everyday life that cannot be well understood within an hour of searching and reading online. However, technology remains one of these bastions. The entry barriers to budding technologists are so great that it is almost impossible for a novice to completely understand a given area of technology quickly. Some technologists are aware of this, and use this to their advantage. That's not to say that all technologists deliberately complicate their fields to protect themselves from new entrants, but rather that some utilise the disparity of information to maximise their influence within an organisation. This is a completely fair and acceptable mode of operation - To some extent or other organisations almost incentivize this behaviour. Think from a technologist's point of view: Increased disparity of information leads to power, power leads to influence, influence leads to exposure and exposure leads to promotion. As business people, we wish we had these tools to play with, but we don't - That doesn't mean that we should envy or be suspicious of those that do.

Carving out a niche

Have you ever read "The Rules of work" (Richard Templar)? Its an excellent book, and one of the 'rules' is to create a niche for yourself. Do something that nobody else can do, and to it so well that nobody will try and emulate you. Templar's target audience is business managers, but the rule applies to technologists too. If a technologist is an expert in say, Java Script, then its his right (almost his obligation to his career) to maximise the benefits of this. One such way of doing this is to make sure his counter parts are aware of this niche that he has created, and this often manifests itself in complex language.

Techniques for overcoming 'tech-speak'

You are not the centre of the world - As a business person, be it CEO or unit manager, you are not the centre of the earth. So the first tip is to remember this and accept that you're not going to understand everything. You'll get very little benefit from reading SQL for dummies if you interact with technology as a stakeholder or service provider. More often than not all you really need to understand is the end result and what it means to your business. If you constantly ask in meetings "what does that mean?" soon enough you'll find you calendar is a little emptier and you wont be invited to the meetings anymore. Let the gardeners garden!

Ask, but not too often - If you really feel that you need to know what's being discussed (maybe your a product manager) then ask the question. Yes, I know that might dent your ego, but is it worse to dent your ego, or to make a decision on information you don't understand?

Pen, Paper, Google - My favourite trick (and something that I still do today) is to have a little box in the bottom left hand side of my note pad (dictionary corner). Whenever you hear a term that you don't understand, write it down and then after the meeting research the terms. This is an excellent way of building your knowledge base without disrupting the flow of meetings. It's also self perpetuating. In the first weeks of being a product manager I had 10-15 terms a day, now I'm lucky if I write down one a week.

Hug a techie - The best way to close the information gap is to find a technologist who you can get along with and who can describe the problems easily to you. Often these are the application architects who thed to think in pictorial form which is heavily aligned to the way business executives think.

Why business people attack technology

2008-08-07T06:20:00.000-07:00

"If they could have blamed IT (for the credit crunch), they would have," (Bob McDowall, Tower Group)

Its quite a common occurrence in many organisations today - Business is poor, forecasts are weak, and the more we try to develop our business, the more it seems to take a backwards step. When such things happen in war, Governments blame external undefinable causes, like 'insurgence'. Business is no different, when a P&L owner's back is against the wall, he's often left with little option but to hit out at the nearest plausible cause of failure.

Finding a plausible cause can be difficult. Most of our business transactions nowadays are traceable, definable and measurable. The ideal scapegoat is something that can't be 'touched', something that very few people understand, something that can be blamed plausibly with little recourse. It rarely takes long for an organisations technology to take the hit for much more than their own failings.

Now, I must be clear, I'm not arguing that technology in all organisations is flawless, nor am I arguing that all organisations blame technology for poor results, I'm simply arguing that the way organisations are structured nowadays lends to scapegoating technology much more than their flaws actual reflect in a P&L. Lets take an example:

Organisation x has a shortfall of £300k against a budget for any given month. Analysis of the market shows that the entire market is actually down for the product by 5%, which would equate to £100k. Further analysis shows that a shift in demographic trends has lead to lower demand of about £50k and that a new market entrant is carving away at market share by another £50k. The P&L owner's dilemma is a significant one. £100k needs to be accounted for, and the owners need to know about 2 things - Where's my £100k gone, and how are you going to get my £300k back next month?

Lets assume that during the past month the key technology platform supporting the product was unavailable for consumers for 6 hours in total spread across 4 separate incidents. This has an estimated impact of £20k, which is the average transactions that would have been put through during the down time. This is a common calculation within organisation, but I argue that this calculation is in itself flawed. It assumes that customers do not return at a later time to complete their purchase...... I digress, back to the example. So now the P&L owner needs to find £80k and here's where the intangibles come into play:

P&L owner "Whilst the downtime effected our sales for that period of time, in essence it impacted our core value proposition to our customers. With new entrants into the market, the failure of our technological platforms are significantly more enhanced than simply £20k, in fact, it is double that amount, as our market research data showed that competitor 'y' grew significantly this month. Furthermore, the technical outage required additional resource to fix, impacting my costs, and finally I'm yet to be convinced that the outage is not to some extent completely resolved. We believe that we are still seeing slow response times on our platforms."

In one fell swoop the P&L owner has covered his £100k and bought himself some contingency for the coming months.

The onus now is on the CTO to rebuff the claims, but more often than not, Occam's razor applies: The simplest answer to "where's my £100k gone" is technology, and this is the one most will believe. Also, technologists are often complete geniuses, but to some extent at least, are desensitised to attack, and in the worst of cases view being blamed as part and parcel of their role. Whats more there are typically very few technologists that can present, convince, persuade colleagues as business people can. So as scapegoats go - technology really does fit the bill!

The root of the problem is this: Technology is not definable. Its a complex labyrinth of codes, numbers, and terms that make no sense to business people. What's more, technologists are rarely able or willing to breakdown this communication barrier for fear of lowering the entry barrier to their own roles, and exposing their niche - or more fundamentally, because they lack the ability to take complex ideas and translate them into laymen terms. To compound the problem more - Organisations typically view technology as a service. No more, no less. A service that can be outsourced, migrated or replaced at a whim. The truth is much more complex (and costly!!), and slowly but surely organisations are coming to this realisation.

Technology is much like Al Qaeda - Its undefinable, intangible, difficult to understand, even more difficult to breakdown, has limited ability to respond to criticism and is therefore the best scapegoat any organisation could ever wish for. The fundamental problem with a scapegoat is that it detracts from the real causes of poor business performance. This is what hurts organisations more than the constant infighting and one-up-isms, and CEO's are getting to that realisation faster than many onlookers expected.

The root to solution is a simple one - Communication. Find people who can take those complex business and technical ideas and translate them into a language that will be understood by the listener. More and more the communication gap between the business and technology is being closed, and there are 2 key factors driving this change:

1 - Improved abilities of communication from technology executives
2 - The Product Manager..........