25 Rules for Product Managers based on years of building products and learning from the masters like Marty Cagan, Jana Eggers, Seth Godin, Jeff Patton, Steve Blank, Eric Ries, Mark Hurst, Phil Terry, Steve Johnson, and my peers and colleagues along the way. Influenced and inspired by Pragmatic Marketing, Customer Driven Development, Minimum Viable Product, Lean Startup, and the School of Hard Knocks.

1. 25
RULES FOR
PRODUCT
MANAGERS
Steve MacLaughlin
Director, Idea Lab
Blackbaud, Inc.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
www.blackbaud.com"
www.npengage.com
@smaclaughlin

2. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #01
The answers to most questions can only
be found outside of the building.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

3. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #02
When in doubt, see Rule #1.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

4. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #03
Know your priorities and make
them clear to others.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

5. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #04
Strategy always comes before
technology. Just like in the dictionary.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

6. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #05
Clarity and brevity equals mastery.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

7. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #06
Success = Deliverables - Expectations.
Don't ever go negative.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

8. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #07
If you're irreplaceable,
then you can't get promoted.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

9. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #08
Aim for the Moon, but first focus on
getting off the launch pad.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

10. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #09
If you have to explain it,
then you are losing.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

11. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #10
You don't have to understand all the
details, but you do have to understand
the importance of the details.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

12. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #11
Don’t build a product to solve a
problem people don't value
enough to pay to fix.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

13. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #12
The roadmap is a path to the
product vision not a long list
of features or promises.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

14. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #13
You have two ears and
one mouth for a reason.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

15. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #14
Customer development is inextricably
linked to product development.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

16. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #15
Don't deal in absolutes. Statements with
“always”, “all”, “none”, “any”, and
“every” in them are fraught with peril.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

17. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #16
A list of decisions should include
things you decided not to do.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

18. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #17
The more free something is
the more it ends up costing you.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

19. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #18
All project dates are arbitrary.
Know what you want before
you mandate when you need it.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

20. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #19
If you have to ask permission to innovate,
then you're not innovating.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

21. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #20
Marketing and communication are
not the same thing.
Don’t mistake one for the other.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

22. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #21
No one ever changed the world by
creating a great feature matrix.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

23. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #22
If you don't have an outside perspective,
then you don't really have a perspective.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

24. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #23
Given the choice, it's better to
play banker than gambler.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

25. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #24
Every product must pass the
valuable, usable, and feasible test.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

26. 25 Rules for Product Managers
Rule #25
Don't make a decision based solely on
one person's wants. We're all day-to-day.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.

27. Thank You
Steve MacLaughlin
Director, Idea Lab
Blackbaud, Inc.
© 2014 Steven R. MacLaughlin. All rights reserved.
www.blackbaud.com"
www.npengage.com
@smaclaughlin