Writing on product work that we keep coming back to, gathered from across the internet.
Every title opens the original on the publisher’s own site. We point at this writing and credit the people who wrote it. We do not host it.
Names three kinds of work that feel productive without being valuable, then points at where the leverage actually sits. Written for senior engineers, and it reads just as well for a product manager holding more requests than hours.
Larson names five things that compound across decades, covering pace, relationships, visibility, financial security and learning both deep and broad. A useful corrective if the only career model on offer where you work is a four year vesting schedule.
Majors argues that moving between building and managing every few years produces stronger technical leaders than choosing a lane and staying in it. Her point that management is a lateral move rather than a promotion is worth sitting with before you accept one.
Written at Netscape in 1996 and still the most-quoted description of the job. Sets out the difference between owning the product and reacting to whoever asked last.
The origin of the three overlapping circles of business, technology and user experience. Eriksson is clear that the role lives in the intersection rather than owning any one circle, which is the nuance job descriptions tend to drop.
Separates the Scrum accountability from the product management job, which is the distinction most job descriptions blur.
A short run of sketches showing how the same problem looks to someone starting out and to someone who has done the work for a decade. Zhuo uses it to make a point about scope and judgement that carries well beyond design.
Fournier lists what actually decides whether a senior engineer is effective, from writing a design document to running a meeting that ends in a decision. Good raw material for a levelling framework or a growth conversation that keeps stalling.