There has been fantastic Product Management content published in the last 2 years. Marty Cagan released the follow-up book to Inspired, called Empowered and Melissa Perri released her first book The Build Trap. 2021 has been no exception.
Here are 3 amazing Product Management books that have been published this year to level up your product proficiency.
1) Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres
For those who don’t know, Teresa Torres has long been a thought leader in the product space. Specializing in product discovery, Torres created the amazing tool the Opportunity Solution Tree and has been evangelizing product discovery best practices.
Her book Continuous Discovery Habits is a how-to guide for structured and sustainable product discovery. This book will give you practical tools and frameworks for discovering what your customers want and uncover value for your business.
If you’re looking to level up your customer research, data insights or product design skills this is the book for you!
2) Radical Product Thinking by Radhika Dutt
Radhika Dutt, a proud board member of APP brings a fresh perspective to product development in her latest book. Radical Product Thinking explores the limitations of solely iterating and why a clear vision and strategy is core to creating effective and long-lived products.
Wittingly Dutt explores common “product diseases” that kill innovation and how to avoid them.
Radical Product Thinking will guide you through the five core elements (vision, strategy, prioritization, execution and measurement, and culture) that are core to translating vision into reality.
If you are looking to level up your product strategy, prioritization, product development, and evangelism skills then this book is for you. Be prepared to throw the rule book out and learn how to be a visionary to create revolutionary products.
3) Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement by Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman needs no introduction. Arguably the founder of behavioral economics, the science that we base much of our product design decisions on today has released his latest installment to teach us about human behavior.
In his latest book, Noise, Kahneman explores the flaws in human judgment and how we make decisions. Wherever decisions are being made, there is noise. Kahneman explores how most individuals and organizations are unaware of the effects of noise. As a result, their judgment is clouded and decisions are not sound. Practically Kahneman gives several remedies to reduce noise, reduce bias and make far better decisions.
Packed with original ideas and backed by extensive research, this book is ideal for anyone looking to increase their decisiveness, strategic thinking, and roadmapping.
4) Leading Product Management by Steven Haines
Steven Haines has been writing about Product Management for the last 15 years, author of the Product Manager's Desk Reference 3rd edition, The Business Acumen Handbook, and The Product Manager's Survival Guide (2nd edition). His latest installment is Leading Product Management: How to Create a High-Performance Product Management Organization. Thi book is squarely aimed at Product Leaders and guiding them towards product management excellence by organizing more effectively around the structure and purpose of product management.
This book helps readers establish organizational strategies for product management using a comprehensive suite of diagnostic tools. It allows for the creation of a product management manifesto to set forth the vision and purpose of product management in any company. Then, it focuses on talent management so that leaders can effectively recruit, select, coach, and progress product managers in their careers. In this book, you will learn how to manage product portfolios, create product manager job descriptions, establish cross-functional product teams, and set-up the right governance to be a high-performing product organization. Further, Haines exposes his proprietary product management organizational diagnostic framework so that any executive team can create a new product management organization, or recalibrate their current organization.
