Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products

Description

What is it about the top tech product companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Netflix and Tesla that enables their record of consistent innovation?   Most people think it’s because these companies are somehow able to find and attract a level of talent that makes this innovation possible. But the real advantage these companies have is not so much who they hire, but rather how they enable their people to work together to solve hard problems and create extraordinary products.  As legendary Silicon Valley coach--and coach to the founders of several of today’s leading tech companies--Bill Campbell said, “Leadership is about recognizing that there's a greatness in everyone, and your job is to create an environment where that greatness can emerge.”  The goal of EMPOWERED is to provide you, as a leader of product management, product design, or engineering, with everything you’ll need to create just such an environment.  As partners at The Silicon Valley Product Group, Marty Cagan and Chris Jones have long worked to reveal the best practices of the most consistently innovative companies in the world. A natural companion to the bestseller INSPIRED, EMPOWERED tackles head-on the reason why most companies fail to truly leverage the potential of their people to innovate: product leadership.  The book covers: what it means to be an empowered product team, and how this is different from the “feature teams” used by most companies to build technology productsrecruiting and coaching the members of product teams, first to competence, and then to reach their potentialcreating an inspiring product vision along with an insights-driven product strategytranslating that strategy into action by empowering teams with specific objectives—problems to solve—rather than features to buildredefining the relationship of the product teams to the rest of the companydetailing the changes necessary to effectively and successfully transform your organization to truly empowered product teams EMPOWERED puts decades of lessons learned from the best leaders of the top technology companies in your hand as a guide. It shows you how to become the leader your team and company needs to not only survive but thrive. Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Part I Lessons from Top Tech Companies Chapter 1 Behind Every Great Company The Role of Technology Strong Product Leadership Empowered Product Teams Chapter 2 The Role of Technology Chapter 3 Strong Product Leadership The Role of Leadership—Inspiration The Role of Management—Execution Chapter 4 Empowered Product Teams Chapter 5 Leadership in Action Chapter 6 A Guide to EMPOWERED Who This Book Is For How This Book Is Organized Part II Coaching Chapter 7 The Coaching Mindset Developing People Is Job #1 Empowering People Produces the Best Results Beware Your Own Insecurities Cultivate Diverse Points of View Seek Out Teaching Moments Continually Earn the Trust of Your Team Have the Courage to Correct Mistakes Chapter 8 The Assessment People, Process, and Product The Gap Analysis The Coaching Plan Chapter 9 The Coaching Plan Product Knowledge Process Skills and Techniques People Skills and Responsibilities Chapter 10 The One‐on‐One Keys to Effective One‐on‐Ones Anti‐Patterns Summary Chapter 11 The Written Narrative Chapter 12 Strategic Context Company Mission Company Scorecard Company Objectives Product Vision and Principles Team Topology Product Strategy Chapter 13 Sense of Ownership Chapter 14 Managing Time Chapter 15 Thinking Chapter 16 Team Collaboration Chapter 17 Stakeholder Collaboration Chapter 18 Imposter Syndrome Chapter 19 Customer‐Centricity Chapter 20 Integrity Dependability The Company's Best Interests Accountability Chapter 21 Decisions Right‐Size Decision Analysis Collaboration‐Based Decision Making Resolving Disagreements Transparency Disagree and Commit Chapter 22 Effective Meetings Communication Decisions Problem Solving Organizing Effective Meetings Chapter 23 Ethics Chapter 24 Happiness Meaningful Work Personal Relationship Personal Recognition Work Habits Modeling Good Behaviors Career Planning Chapter 25 Leader Profile: Lisa Kavanaugh Path to Leadership Leadership in Action Part III Staffing Chapter 26 Competence and Character Competence Character Chapter 27 Recruiting Chapter 28 Interviewing Chapter 29 Hiring Chapter 30 Remote Employees Artifacts Trust Time Chapter 31 Onboarding Chapter 32 New Employee Bootcamp Chapter 33 Performance Reviews Chapter 34 Terminating Chapter 35 Promoting Chapter 36 Leader Profile: April Underwood Path to Leadership Leadership in Action Part IV Product Vision and Principles Chapter 37 Creating a Compelling Vision Customer‐Centric North Star Scope and Timeframe Leveraging Industry Trends Chapter 38 Sharing the Product Vision Communicating the Product Vision Validating the Product Vision Product Vision as a Recruiting Tool Product Vision as an Evangelism Tool Chapter 39 Product Principles and Ethics Chapter 40 Leader Profile: Audrey Crane Path to Leadership Leadership in Action Part V Team Topology Chapter 41 Optimizing for Empowerment Ownership Autonomy Alignment Chapter 42 Team Types Platform Teams Experience Teams Chapter 43 Empowering Platform Teams Shared Team Objectives Platform‐as‐a‐Product Objectives Chapter 44 Empowering Experience Teams Media Product E‐Commerce Product Enterprise Product Marketplace Product Customer‐Enabling Product Chapter 45 Topology and Proximity Optimizing for the Product Team Chapter 46 Topology Evolution Evolving a Topology Topology Warning Signs Chapter 47 Leader Profile: Debby Meredith Path to Leadership Leadership in Action Part VI Product Strategy Chapter 48 Focus Chapter 49 Insights Quantitative Insights Qualitative Insights Technology Insights Industry Insights Shared Learnings Chapter 50 Actions Chapter 51 Management Chapter 52 Leader Profile: Shan‐Lyn Ma Path to Leadership Leadership in Action Part VII Team Objectives Feature Teams vs. Product Teams Manager's Objectives vs. Product Team Objectives The Role of Leadership Chapter 53 Empowerment Assigning Problems to Solve, Rather Than Features to Build Sharing Strategic Context Chapter 54 Assignment Assigning Objectives to Product Teams Determining Key Results Alignment Keep‐the‐Lights‐On Work Chapter 55 Ambition Chapter 56 Commitments High‐Integrity Commitments Deliverables Tracking High‐Integrity Commitments Chapter 57 Collaboration Shared Team Objectives Common Objectives Chapter 58 Management Keep‐the‐Lights‐On Work Weekly Tracking Staying on Track Helping Our Colleagues Chapter 59 Accountability Chapter 60 Objectives in Perspective Chapter 61 Leader Profile: Christina Wodtke Path to Leadership Leadership in Action Part VIII Case Study Chapter 62 Company Backgrounder Chapter 63 Company Objectives Chapter 64 Product Vision and Principles Chapter 65 Team Topology Team Topology Overview Chapter 66 Product Strategy Focus Insights Action Management Chapter 67 Product Team Objectives Company Dashboard Chapter 68 Business Results Chapter 69 Key Takeaways Chapter 70 Leader Profile: Judy Gibbons Path to Leadership Leadership in Action Part IX Business Collaboration Chapter 71 The Role of Product Leaders Business Results Product Strategy Product Teams Chapter 72 Stakeholder Management vs. Collaboration Chapter 73 Shared Insights and Learning Chapter 74 Keeping the Lights On Chapter 75 Evangelism Chapter 76 Leader Profile: Avid Larizadeh Duggan Path to Leadership Leadership in Action Part X Inspired, Empowered, and Transformed Chapter 77 Meaningful Transformation Chapter 78 Transformation in Action Chapter 79 Transformed Chapter 80 The Most Important Thing Chapter 81 The Destination Final Thoughts Acknowledgments About the Authors Learning More Index EULA