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There are many books for Product Managers
And many book lists too.
Here’s my list. What I hope makes it different:
• Books with very high signal-to-noise ratio
• Books that'll 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 enhance PM skills
• Books that are unlikely to be in typicallists for PMs
And many book lists too.
Here’s my list. What I hope makes it different:
• Books with very high signal-to-noise ratio
• Books that'll 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 enhance PM skills
• Books that are unlikely to be in typical
lists for PMs
July 2020 Product Management book recommendations:
1. Super Thinking
2. The War of Art
3. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
4. Alchemy
5. The Cartoon Guide to Statistics
6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
1. Super Thinking
2. The War of Art
3. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
4. Alchemy
5. The Cartoon Guide to Statistics
6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Why?
1. Mental models for better decisions
2. PM is a creative job, need to break creative blocks
3. For improving design intuition
4. Role of psychology in building & mktg products
5. Refresher of stats concepts PMs need
6. IMO the most important book for PMs (read 2 or 3 times)
1. Mental models for better decisions
2. PM is a creative job, need to break creative blocks
3. For improving design intuition
4. Role of psychology in building & mktg products
5. Refresher of stats concepts PMs need
6. IMO the most important book for PMs (read 2 or 3 times)
Will update this thread 1-2 times every month with more book recommendations.
More July 2020 book recommendations for product people:
1. Understanding Michael Porter
2. Practical Empathy
3. The Charisma Myth
4. 7 Powers
5. Getting Things Done
6. The Art of Thinking Clearly
1. Understanding Michael Porter
2. Practical Empathy
3. The Charisma Myth
4. 7 Powers
5. Getting Things Done
6. The Art of Thinking Clearly
Why?
1. The definitive, accessible guide to strategy
2. Empathy is essential for strong Product Sense
3. For effective & authentic communication
4. To understand & leverage 7 strategic powers
5. Useful for improving self-execution
6. To understand our own biases & think clearly
1. The definitive, accessible guide to strategy
2. Empathy is essential for strong Product Sense
3. For effective & authentic communication
4. To understand & leverage 7 strategic powers
5. Useful for improving self-execution
6. To understand our own biases & think clearly
As a reminder, these recos are for Product Managers AND other folks who spend most of their time thinking about what products to build, how to build them & how to get adoption.
Here's what (I hope) makes these recos different: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1279476174247231488
Here's what (I hope) makes these recos different: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1279476174247231488
Regarding "𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 enhancing PM skills", here's a reference product management skills map.
The book recos I'll post in this thread should help directly enhance the skills listed in the leaf nodes here, one-by-one.
The book recos I'll post in this thread should help directly enhance the skills listed in the leaf nodes here, one-by-one.
If you're curious where the
skills map came from, you can check out this short thread on Product Management skills, from entry level PM to CPO. https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1264621650663727104
skills map came from, you can check out this short thread on Product Management skills, from entry level PM to CPO. https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1264621650663727104
That's all for today.
Next set of recos will be posted in August 
Happy reading!
Next set of
recos will be posted in August Happy reading!
Aug 2020 book recommendations for product people:
1. Are Your Lights On?
2. Peopleware
3. The Systems Bible
4. Games People Play
This month’s books are a nod to the Lindy Effect: these books are fairly old & we might reasonably expect them to stay relevant for a while longer
1. Are Your Lights On?
2. Peopleware
3. The Systems Bible
4. Games People Play
This month’s books are a nod to the Lindy Effect: these books are fairly old & we might reasonably expect them to stay relevant for a while longer
A couple of reference links.
The Lindy effect:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect
How to choose your next book by @farnamstreet: https://fs.blog/2013/08/choose-your-next-book/
The Lindy effect:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect
How to choose your next book by @farnamstreet: https://fs.blog/2013/08/choose-your-next-book/
Why?
1. Excellent principles for problem solving. Covers creative execution, a key part of High Agency
2. Insightful look at the human aspects of software dev. Part I is gold
3. Grok systems, errors & problem solving
4. Analyze interpersonal transactions, incl those at work
1. Excellent principles for problem solving. Covers creative execution, a key part of High Agency
2. Insightful look at the human aspects of software dev. Part I is gold
3. Grok systems, errors & problem solving
4. Analyze interpersonal transactions, incl those at work
October 2020 book recommendations for product people:
1. https://smile.amazon.com/Adrenaline-Junkies-Template-Zombies-Understanding-ebook/dp/B00DY3KQHM/
2. https://smile.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Lenses-Third/dp/1138632058/
3. https://smile.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/1591843472/
4. https://smile.amazon.com/Good-Strategy-Bad-Difference-Matters/dp/0307886239/
1. https://smile.amazon.com/Adrenaline-Junkies-Template-Zombies-Understanding-ebook/dp/B00DY3KQHM/
2. https://smile.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Lenses-Third/dp/1138632058/
3. https://smile.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/1591843472/
4. https://smile.amazon.com/Good-Strategy-Bad-Difference-Matters/dp/0307886239/
Why?
1. Collaboration patterns & anti-patterns, useful & relevant for every function & every level
2. An analysis of games, which are often the best-designed products one can find
3. Lots of useful lessons on empowerment & leadership
4. Practical guide for developing strategy
1. Collaboration patterns & anti-patterns, useful & relevant for every function & every level
2. An analysis of games, which are often the best-designed products one can find
3. Lots of useful lessons on empowerment & leadership
4. Practical guide for developing strategy
Should've said this much sooner, but better late than never.
Books aren't the only way to learn product stuff. If reading isn't your preferred learning style, don't force it. Spend the bulk of your time learning in your preferred style. More on this here: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1294480873643839488
Books aren't the only way to learn product stuff. If reading isn't your preferred learning style, don't force it. Spend the bulk of your time learning in your preferred style. More on this here: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1294480873643839488
