A friend of mine is working with scrum.org and was asking questions about product ownership. This got me thinking. So, I threw together this quick list of things that, I think, make a great Product Owner.
Aside, while I appreciate how some may view Product Ownership and Product Management as distinct roles, for my purposes here, you could use them interchangeably.
Without further delay, in my opinion, great Product Owners ...
Care deeply about people. This means intimately knowing their joys, fears, motivations, goals, and frustrations. Great product owners tirelessly strive to understand their customers' humanity.
Map employees + partners + technology to solutions. Great product owners relentlessly synthesize a whole solution to their customers' problems. To pull this off, they are multifaceted individuals that relate well to people, have a knack for understanding difficult things, and have the patience to weave everything together. Steve Jobs is famous for applying all means possible to not only arrive at solution - but an entire customer experience.
Are business-savvy. All the customer love warm fuzzies and tech genius still won't lead to long term success if not shaped and, dare I say, constrained by a firm respect for fundamental economics. Great product owners adjust priorities based on closely followed and constantly changing market dynamics.
Know where to stop. Great product owners know what is and what is not their brand identity. They live within it. Also, as part of a team delivering a total customer experience, great product owners understand their limited role. They know what they can and should control and what should be left up to the powerful creative contributions of their team mates.
Maintain product excellence. With attention to detail and through cultivated feedback loops from existing and prospective customers, great product owners are never completely satisfied with what they have. Through constant internal engagement and by encouraging individual accountability for a great customer experience, the bar for quality is set high and is constantly reset there.
Envision and fuel innovation. Great product managers follow technology and societal trends closely. They can extrapolate from these in the context of their own business and push innovative advances in the state-of-the-art. They carry and communicate their dream while still remaining grounded in present reality.
What else? I'm sure I've missed things and would the feedback.
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