Campo Experimental Laguna del Instituto nacional de Investigaciones Forestales Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP)

As product people, we’re essentially in the idea business. It’s our job to come up with great ideas and then make them a reality. While this takes skill and practice, the main ingredient is something that I don’t know how to teach. We depend on smart people for the smart ideas. Sometimes these ideas come from within ourselves, but if we depend only on ourselves for the smart ideas, we’re severely limiting our potential universe of smart ideas.

Probably the single most important lesson I’ve learned in the product business is to start by seeking out the smartest people in the company. I’ve found that every organization has at least a few very smart people, and these people may hold the key to unlocking your company’s potential—if you can find them. They’re not always where you’d guess, and sometimes they’re being hidden from you. I never cease to be amazed at how petty office politics, ego, xenophobia and insecurity can get in the way of something so potentially beneficial for a company.

When you do find these people, you can use them any number of ways. I like to consider these people “deputy product managers” and sometimes I even give them public recognition as such. Often I’ll recruit these people to come join the product team.

To illustrate the many different corners of your company that may be hiding these people, here are some favorite examples from my own career. Every one of these examples is based on a real person, but I have changed their names.

Sam: It took me longer to find Sam than it should have because his manager was actively bad-

mouthing him. However, it quickly became clear that it was the manager who was clueless, because what was really going on was that the manager was insecure and intimidated by Sam’s mind. So not only had Sam not been recognized and utilized, he had actually been demoted! Today, that manager is history and Sam is one of the best product leaders I know.

Chris: I met Chris when I was out assisting a customer visit with HP, and our salespeople were

making little sense when briefing us on the local considerations. Finally, an SE (systems engineer— they provide technical assistance to the sales staff) stepped in and did an outstanding job articulating what the situation was. I could see the respect that the customer had for the SE, and afterwards I invited him to grab a beer. It was soon very clear to me that I was sitting with an extremely talented guy. I asked him why he was hiding in the Midwest as an SE, and he explained he had family in the area, he had never thought of living elsewhere, and that he had taken the best job he could find. I immediately began to use Chris as a sounding board and source of product ideas and, while it took a while, I finally got him to relocate. Today he’s a general manager at a Fortune 500 company. While engineers often have great insight into the available technologies, people from the field often have

great insight into customer needs, which for Chris, combined to give him extraordinary insight into user problems plus the possible solutions.

Alex: As is so often the case, I found Alex deep in the ranks of an engineering team. He was shy and

introverted, and not especially ambitious. But the guy was incredibly smart. He not only knew technologies extremely well, but he had a natural product sense, understood the broader technology trends, and he was a constant champion of the user experience. He’s a great engineer, and people assumed that that represented his full potential. However, Alex had an equally talented product mind, and he was one of those rare people who are great at just about everything. He never made the move to product, but he did become one of the thought leaders in the company and was consulted on virtually every major product decision. And the company and the products we built were much better for it.

Matt: I wish it was not the case, but there are many forms of discrimination in business, even in high

tech. But one form of discrimination that I had thought would have been long gone by now is discrimination due to youth. Matt is probably the most brilliant person I’ve ever worked with. He graduated college while still in his teens, and he never slowed down. But when I met Matt, he was dramatically underutilized because his manager couldn’t imagine giving someone so young that much responsibility. Big mistake. Matt jumped ship and went on to co-found a startup that has improved the lives of millions.

Mira: This talented individual had it twice as tough—she was female and Indian. In this loud, heavily

male, technology-driven industry, women are easily overlooked. And culturally, Indians are often quiet and reluctant to challenge authority—that of their managers or their colleagues. But Mira was easily the smartest “guy” in the room, and it didn’t take long to draw her out of her shell and for her to establish herself as the product leader she was meant to be. I’ve seen this with Chinese nationals as well. Don’t let cultural norms or an accent through you off—these may be the product minds you’re searching for.

I’ve learned that sometimes the greatest product minds are right there in front of you. You may be at a company that’s enjoyed some success, and the product mind that got you there is now CEO or chairman of the board, and seemingly unreachable to today’s product team. If the founder is good, he’s probably trying not to step in and micro-manage things himself, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not willing to help. If you’re lucky enough to have great product people as founders, you should initiate a channel with them and invite their feedback and suggestions on your product plans. They’re often all too happy to do so, and you should absolutely find a way to utilize that resource if it is available to you.

The bottom line is that these minds can be hidden anywhere—engineering, sales, customer service, professional services, the exec team, or your board of directors. It’s your job to find them. Now— how do you do that?

Ask! Ask at all levels of the company who people think the really great minds are, and you may be surprised by their answers.

MBWA. From the HP Way—Management By Wandering Around. Managers need to get out of their office or cubes and spend time with the people from across the company, not in meetings,

but informally. It’s easy and it works.

Listen (really listen) to the dialog in meetings and conversations.

Keep your door open—make sure everyone knows that they are welcome to drop in with product suggestions.

Share. If you are willing to share with others the issues that you’re struggling with, you’ll find that word will get around and people may stop by with suggestions.

Hang Out. All too often the product people hang out with other product managers, and execs with other execs. But if you make an effort to spend time with people at all levels of your company, you’ll get a much better idea of what’s going on in general, and who the hidden gems are in particular.

Finally, the main reason why I think most product managers are not focused on the above is ego. They think that they are the ones that must always come up with the big ideas, and that if someone else did, what would their purpose be? While sometimes I come up with an idea I like, more often than not I get my inspiration or the core idea itself from others. You still need to be able to recognize that great idea, and make that idea a reality. Just remember that the only thing that really matters for your company is shipping great products. Anything that helps you do that is all good.

Chapter 10:

MANAGING UP