…your bookmarks. Del.icio.us is offline and my whole morning routine is off. Okay, so instead of tagging these two links I’ll post them to my blog instead.
First, for those new product managers out there, as well as those that have been the copy machine once too often, check out the free ebook from Pragmatic Marketing, The Strategic Role of Product Management. There’s nothing new here; in fact, it’s all stuff you’ve seen before, on Steve’s blog or in other Pragmatic publications. But it distills a bunch of lessons on why product management matters to a single document that makes a compelling story.
Okay, but once you get management buyin of the strategic importance of product management, how do you avoid getting bogged down in minutiae? How can you stay strategic? One answer comes courtesy of the Good Product Manager: Delegate tactical responsibilities. The methods to do so are simple even if you don’t have direct reports: transfer knowledge, teach to fish, and examine priorities constantly to ensure that the “urgent task” really needs doing.