John Cutler is a product evangelist for Amplitude, and a leading voice in the product management community. As a systems overthinker and "on second thoughts" leader, he's an anomaly in this world of quick-fire bubblegum takes. John's hypothesis is simple - product management is messy and he loves nothing more than thinking about it and drawing lots of complicated diagrams to explain it.
Here are some of John's weighty thoughts:
There's a lot of variety in product content out there and that's goodJohn can get pretty in-depth, but there's plenty of room for targeted, optimised, "just do this" takes out there. As long as they're reducing the gatekeeping around product management not increasing it.
Working in the "ideal" product way isn't the be-all and end-allThere are lots of great teams out there not working as per the books. There are also great Big Tech-style practitioners who can only thrive in certain environments and would flounder anywhere else.
We should all be thinking in systemsSystems thinking is important for product managers trying to make sense of their product or organisation. Nothing is linear, everything is composed of self-reinforcing loops. Think you're a change agent? You're part of the system too!
Product people need to be able to translate their thinkingSystems thinking or otherwise, product people can have complicated messages that could sound esoteric or theoretical to non-product folks. It's important to find a way to land your message with your target audience.
He coined the term "Feature Factory" as a joke and his thinking has evolvedSometimes you're going to have to build a feature & it might even be the best move! Work with your CEO, not against them, when they ask for a feature & make sure you know what game you're playing.
Surviving a feature factory is possible with this 5-step planJohn has an actionable 5-step plan (containing 6 steps) which enables you to work out what you want, what your colleagues want, demonstrate the value of product practices and, if all else fails, when to leave.
Contact JohnYou can hit John up on Twitter, or sign up to his mailing list The Beautiful Mess.
Building Data Driven Products & Dodging Unsolicited Advice (with Emily Reid, Product Manager @ FCT)
Driving Digital Transformation & Products for Product Managers (with Moshe Mikanovsky, Senior PM @ Procom)
Aligning your Positioning & the Myth of Product Market Fit (with April Dunford, Positioning Consultant & Author "Obviously Awesome")
Design Thinking & Finding the Time for Design Sprints (with Yoav Farbey, Senior Product Manager @ PARK NOW)
Building Your Product Muscles & Developing Strong Product Teams (with Petra Wille, Product Coach and Author "Strong Product People")
Practical Product Management & Demonstrating Product Thinking (with Büşra Coşkuner, Product Consultant & Coach)
The Need for Diverse Perspectives in Product Development (with Candice Poon, Program Manager @ Microsoft)
Effective Hiring for Product Managers & Building Diverse Teams (with Kate Leto, Product Consultant & Author "Hiring Product Managers")
From Management Consultant to Product Manager (with Deepti Tadala, Technical Product Manager @ Synacor)
Building a Culture of Continuous Discovery (with Cindy Alvarez, Author "Lean Customer Development" & Director Customer Research @ GitHub)
Lifelong Learning for Product Managers (with Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, Founder & CEO @ Product School)
Product Management Lessons from a PM Turned Teacher Turned PM (with Melanie McKay, Head of Consumer Product @ Rightmove)
Data-driven Product Delivery & Story Points on Everything (with James Rooney, Delivery Manager @ Discovery Inc.)
How to Build an Effective Product Organisation (with Marty Cagan, author of Inspired & Empowered)
Scaling your Product Team with Product Operations (with Christine Itwaru, Senior Director of Product Operations @ Pendo)
How to Crack your Product Management Career (with Jackie Bavaro, co-author of Cracking the PM Interview & Cracking the PM Career)
Redefining Product-Led Growth (with Heather James, Founder @ Product-Led Alliance)
Product Management in Lockdown & the Perils of Hustle Culture (with Jack Stevens, Senior PM @ Publicis Sapient)
Product Marketing & the Importance of Pirate Metrics (with Abby Hehemann, Senior Product Marketing Manager @ GetResponse)
Empathy, Mentorship and the Importance of Diversity & Inclusion (with Ana Kresina, PM @ Redbubble)
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