This document outlines the agenda for a talk on how to influence as a product manager. The agenda includes: 1. Discussing why influence is important for product managers in getting things done through external partners, leadership, teams and other groups. 2. Covering how to prepare to be persuasive by seeking understanding of different perspectives, identifying optimal conflict resolution styles, and creating and claiming value in negotiations. 3. Explaining tactics to use influence such as appealing to cognitive biases, understanding how decisions are made, and employing principles of persuasion like authority, reciprocity, and consensus building.

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7. Eric Sung
TONIGHT’S SPEAKER

8. Agenda
1 Why is influence important?
2 How to prepare
3 What tactics to use
4 Takeaways

9. Why is
influence
important?

10. PM
External
partners
Leadership
Your team
XFN team Other PMs

11. PM
External
partners
Leadership
Your team
XFN team Other PMs
PMs get things done
through influence

12. How I learned...

13. How to Prepare
to be Persuasive

14. Quick Exercise
1. Rules: No talking!
2. Task: Thumb wrestle with the person next to you!
3. Scoring: One point for each time you pin the other person’s thumb
4. Goal: Try to get AS MANY POINTS AS YOU CAN FOR YOURSELF in 30
seconds

15. Seeking Understanding
Seller
Reservation Value
Buyer
Reservation Value
ZOPA

16. Seeking Understanding
Seller
Reservation Value:
<$60
Buyer
Reservation Value:
>$100
ZOPA
$0 $60 $100 $150

17. Seeking Understanding
Seller
Reservation Value:
<$60
Buyer
Reservation Value:
>$100
ZOPA
$0 $60 $100 $150
Understand you and your counterparts’
goals and walk-away points

18. Creating and Claiming Value
Pareto Efficient
Frontier
Value to you
Valuetocounterpart

19. Creating and Claiming Value
A
Pareto Efficient
Frontier
Value to you
Valuetocounterpart

20. Creating and Claiming Value
B
C
A
Pareto Efficient
Frontier
Value to you
Valuetocounterpart
Claiming
value

21. Creating and Claiming Value
D
B
C
A
Pareto Efficient
Frontier
Value to you
Valuetocounterpart
Claiming
value

22. Creating and Claiming Value
D
B
C
A
Pareto Efficient
Frontier
Value to you
Valuetocounterpart
Claiming
value
E

23. Creating and Claiming Value
D
B E
C
A
Pareto Efficient
Frontier
Value to you
Valuetocounterpart
Claiming
value

24. Creating and Claiming Value
Value can be created,
not just claimed
D
B E
C
A
Pareto Efficient
Frontier
Value to you
Valuetocounterpart
Claiming
value

25. Conflict can be an Opportunity
Personality
Goals
Scarce
resources
Styles Values
Sources of
Conflict

26. Conflict can be an Opportunity
Embrace conflict as
an opportunity
Personality
Goals
Scarce
resources
Styles Values
Sources of
Conflict

27. Five Conflict Styles
Competing Collaborating
AccommodatingAvoiding
COOPERATIVE
ASSERTIVE
HighLow
Low
High
Compromising

28. Accommodating
Competing Collaborating
AccommodatingAvoiding
COOPERATIVE
ASSERTIVE
HighLow
Low
High
Compromising
Orientation Approach Appropriate Situations
I Lose /
You Win
Relationship-first ● Preserve long-term
relationship (e.g. external)
● Asymmetrical expertise

29. Avoiding
Competing Collaborating
AccommodatingAvoiding
COOPERATIVE
ASSERTIVE
HighLow
Low
High
Compromising
Orientation Approach Appropriate Situations
I Lose /
You Lose
Non-confrontational ● Trivial issue (e.g. execs)
● No chance of winning
● De-escalation

30. Compromising
Competing Collaborating
AccommodatingAvoiding
COOPERATIVE
ASSERTIVE
HighLow
Low
High
Compromising
Orientation Approach Appropriate Situations
Win Some /
Lose Some
Middle-ground ● Deal is required (e.g. EvD)
● Opposing important goals
● Temporary solution

31. Competing
Competing Collaborating
AccommodatingAvoiding
COOPERATIVE
ASSERTIVE
HighLow
Low
High
Compromising
Orientation Approach Appropriate Situations
I Win /
You Lose
Authoritarian ● Emergencies (e.g. outage)
● Authority
● Asymmetrical expertise

32. Collaborating
Competing Collaborating
AccommodatingAvoiding
COOPERATIVE
ASSERTIVE
HighLow
Low
High
Compromising
Orientation Approach Appropriate Situations
I Win /
You Win
Optimum result ● Complex scenarios
● Ample time
● Mutual trust (e.g. XFN)

33. 1 Understand both sides
2 Have mindset of creating value
3 Achieve an efficient outcome
4 Identify optimal style
Recap on How to Prepare to be Persuasive

34. What Tactics to
Use to be Influential

35. How our Brains Make Decisions
System I
Handles simple / involuntary
inputs, certain
System II
Handles higher order
reasoning, skeptical
Cognitive Processes

36. How our Brains Make Decisions
Cognitive Processes
Anchoring
Cognitive Biases
Availability
Representation
Coherence
Framing
System I
Handles simple / involuntary
inputs, certain
System II
Handles higher order
reasoning, skeptical

37. How our Brains Make Decisions
Cognitive Processes
Anchoring
Cognitive Biases
Availability
Representation
Coherence
Framing
Talk to System I
System I
Handles simple / involuntary
inputs, certain
System II
Handles higher order
reasoning, skeptical

38. Six Principles of Persuasion
Use tactics that appeal
to our biases

39. Authority
People follow the lead of credible,
knowledgeable experts

40. Authority
People follow the lead of credible,
knowledgeable experts
Establish credibility and
expertise

41. Authority
● You’re the PM of Visual Search
at Amazon
● VP of Product wants you to build
QR code experience
● You disagree
● She has formal authority
What can you do?

42. Reciprocity
People are obliged to give back
to others if they have received first

43. Reciprocity
People are obliged to give back
to others if they have received first
Be enthusiastic about
helping others

44. Reciprocity
● You’re the PM of Shopping at
Instagram
● You will need marketing support
in three months
● Marketing needs opportunity
sizing analysis across surfaces
What can you do?

45. Scarcity
People want more of those things
they can have less of

46. Scarcity
People want more of those things
they can have less of
Deliver FOMO

47. Scarcity
● You’re Head of Product at a YC
startup
● You’ve raised $1M out of $1.5M
for your seed round
● Having trouble closing the rest
of the round
What can you do?

48. Consistency
People like to be consistent with
what they’ve said or done before

49. Consistency
People like to be consistent with
what they’ve said or done before
Identify past behavior that
aligns with your request

50. Consistency
● You’re a Reddit PM for a new product
● You can’t ship until ad quality improves
● Your feature is very new
● An Ads PM is working on ads quality
for another emerging product
What can you do?

51. Liking
People prefer to say yes to
people they like

52. Liking
People prefer to say yes to
people they like
Emphasize similarities,
be quick to praise,
cooperate toward mutual
goals
Re-org

53. Liking
● You’re a PM of Search at
LinkedIn
● You think a re-org is coming
● You have a new hire on your team
who you think is really good
● You’re afraid you might lose her
What can you do?

54. Consensus
People look to others to
determine their own beliefs

55. Consensus
People look to others to
determine their own beliefs
Understand sentiment and
use others as champions
of your cause

56. Consensus
● You’re a PM of Comments at
YouTube
● You have a new EM who wants to
implement JIRA
● You disagree and think the team
will too
What can you do?

57. 1 Talk to System I
2 Know principles of persuasion
3 Adapt to audience & situation
Recap on What Tactics to Use to be Influential

58. 1 Progress (create and claim value)
2 Prepare (seek understanding, identify optimal style)
3 Practice (principles of persuasion)
What should you do next?

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