Product Managers and Marketers: Ever Feel Like You’re Being Treated Like “The Fighter”?

June 7, 2011

Source: The Fighter official movie website

Or: When Leadership Squanders its Innovative Workers

My wife and I finally watched The Fighter (2010) for the first time on DVD. It’s an exceptional movie based on the true story of Micky Ward, a professional boxer from Lowell, Mass.

Set in the early 1990′s, the film introduces Micky Ward (portrayed by Mark Wahlberg) as an aging boxer whose champion potential is slipping away as trusted family members fail to look out for his best interests.  Between his drug-addicted brother Dicky (Christian Bale) missing training sessions and his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) mismanaging his matches, Micky Ward suffers a series of stinging defeats and considers ending his boxing career.

The Fighter led me to wonder how many people are out there today with similarly high potential being similarly squandered. Does this suggestion ring true to you?

I am certain the vast majority of people (certainly not just product marketers and product managers) have felt the same gnawing cognitive dissonance during their careers that Micky Ward felt: an awareness that one’s work and skills were somehow being stifled, but knowing neither why nor what to do about it.

I believe the root cause behind the vast majority of struggling products (and, therefore, struggling businesses) is people not living up to their potential due to a non-supportive organizational environment. Like Micky Ward’s frustrations early on in The Fighter, the core issue is a pervasive inability of people, starting with the management team, to work with one another effectively and treat each other properly.

There are many types of managerial dysfunctions that contribute to a non-supportive environment that adversely impacts people, which cannot help but adversely impact products. Here are a few that might ring true to you (though I hope not!) …

Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments | Books, Innovation, Interpersonal Skills, Product Management, Product Marketing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Mike Urbonas

“Everything I Really Need to Know About Product Marketing I Learned in Elementary School”

February 2, 2011

Dr. Stuart Payne is Principal of Northwood Elementary School, a National Blue-Ribbon School and California Distinguished School in Irvine, California. I am also quite proud to call Stuart Payne my brother-in-law.

I was already impressed with the work of Stu – I mean Dr. Stuart Payne – and his staff, and yet was even more so after reading his Principal’s Message in the latest issue of Northwood Elementary’s impressive parents newsletter, which summarized the goals he and his teaching staff set for 2011:

At the beginning of this year, our dedicated staff set…three goals for ourselves: (1) Rigor, (2) Differentiation, and (3) Progress Monitoring.

These succinct goals no doubt rang true for Northwood Elementary parents.   In fact, they rang quite true for me in my world of product marketing.  Let’s look at each one more closely:

Photo by courosa (Flickr CC)

Rigor.  Stuart Payne writes: “Through rigor, we endeavor to make sure that every child is challenged in a developmentally appropriate manner.”  This vital educational goal can be easily adapted to product marketing/product management terms: We must challenge ourselves to really understand our products and our markets, and convey our value in a compelling manner that our target markets will understand and be motivated to learn more.  I am reminded of a blog post by Dave Kellogg (MarkLogic CEO for six years) on applying (rigorous) critical thinking for effective product positioning (I elaborate on Dave Kellogg’s fine post here, BTW).

One sidenote: Stuart Payne also wrote: “(R)esearch indicates…that when the work is too difficult, (students) become frustrated.”  This reminded me of a classic blog post by Kathy Sierra: Do your customers feel a similar sense of frustration trying to understand and/or use our products?  Why?  How can this be corrected (and fast)?

Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments | Books, Marketing, Positioning, Product Marketing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Mike Urbonas

Become a Crow / Fierce Competitor in Business: A Users Guide

January 16, 2011

Venture capitalist and entrepreneur Mark Suster recently shared an awesome pearl of business wisdom (via Kellblog): In a strong wind, even turkeys can fly – in his blog post of the same name.

This insight came from Mark Suster’s colleague Ameet Shah, a co-worker at Andersen Consulting  in the late 90′s.  Andersen Consulting was the largest independent consulting firm at the time, but amid scores of existing competitors and newly-funded Internet consulting startups…

…the market seemed crowded and our leadership position that had been built over many years seemed to not matter any more…[But] Ameet said to me, “Ah, I’ve seen this many times before.  See, Mark, in a booming market you can never tell the winners from the losers.  In a booming market buyers aren’t very discerning and companies that have weaknesses can mask them…Andersen Consulting always gains market share in down markets.  That’s where the companies who are [only] good at marketing tend to crumble…Don’t worry, we’ll be fine, just wait for the next downturn.”  That had never occurred to me.  In other words, in a strong market, even turkeys can fly.  (emphasis added)

A company that works to “gain market share in down markets” and seizes “the next downturn” as an opportunity is most certainly the opposite of a “flying turkey” business.  I’d call it a “crow” business, referencing the amazing adaptability and intelligence of crows, as I have blogged previously. 

I also suggest Jeffrey Fox’s latest book, How to be a Fierce Competitor: What Winning Companies and Great Managers Do in Tough Times, is a users guide on how to become a “crow” business. 

Read on for a review of this great book along with more insights from Mark Suster’s fine blog post.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Books | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Mike Urbonas

“Where’s Mike” Happy Fun Contest Winners

January 12, 2011

Quick follow up: The photo taken by David Meerman Scott during his great Jan. 6 BPMA presentation (see next post) reminded me of a “Where’s Waldo?” picture, so congratulations to Dan McCarthy and Howie Lyhte who took me up on my challenge to find me in that photo.  Since they both dropped me an email quite quickly (with my correct location), I declared them both winners.

For those of you playing at home, I am a couple of rows in front of the post holding my book with a thumbs-up.

Dan and Howie will receive David Meerman Scott’s new book we’re all holding up in the photo, Real-Time Marketing & PR, plus a great bonus book I will be reviewing here soon: How to be a Fierce Competitor by Jeffrey Fox. Enjoy, guys!

Leave a Comment » | Books, Marketing | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Mike Urbonas

Real Time with Bill Maher David Meerman Scott

January 8, 2011

Thanks to David Meerman Scott for a great presentation on Real Time Marketing for the Boston Product Management Association Thursday evening, January 6, at the Microsoft NERD Center, an impressive, event-friendly space in Cambridge, Mass.

David Meerman Scott built his presentation off his new book, Real-Time Marketing & PR.  Key highlights of David’s presentation follow!

BPMA attendees holding their happy fun complimentary copy of David Meerman Scott’s “Real-Time Marketing & PR”!  And now a challenge: “Where’s Mike?” The first non-attendee to contact me and point out where I am in this photo (click on photo to access full size version), I will get you a copy of David’s book plus a super-awesome bonus book!  UPDATE 1/12: Was lost but now I am found – See above post for my two winners/finders! (Photo taken in real-time by David Meerman Scott.)

Read the rest of this entry »

4 Comments | Books, Marketing | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Mike Urbonas

Animal Metaphor Farm: Don’t be a Gorilla or Eagle…Be a Crow

September 28, 2010

The good old “800 pound gorilla” metaphor came up in a conversation this week, reminding me of a clever article I read a few years ago on the subject of animal metaphors, which are all too common in business-speak.

This company or that company is the “800 pound gorilla.” Another company might say it “strives to be an eagle in its industry.” Infamous ex-Sunbeam CEO “Chainsaw” Al Dunlap, fitting his penchant for firing scores of people with impunity, adorned an entire office wall with an image of a mighty lion, honoring its predatory, eat-or-be-eaten, zero-sum game carnivorousness. And of course, one wants to be a “dog” company.

Source: jpmckenna (Flickr-CC)

Actually, companies should strive to be the crow of their industry.

Putting aside the ominous symbolism of crows in mythology and popular culture, business columnist Dale Dauten made a pretty good case for businesses to act like the crow. Given the particularly difficult economy today, calling for business to have the same kind of hardscrabble resourcefulness and adaptiveness of the crow is more on target now than when he wrote this a few years ago:

Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments | Books, Positioning | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Mike Urbonas

Channeling 37Signals (and Kathy Sierra): Beating the Competition by Underdoing the Competition

May 10, 2010

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. – Albert Einstein

I’ve been reading Rework by 37Signals founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. The book is loaded with wise, relentlessly succinct and deliberately sharply-written advice to succeed in business in a web-enabled world. 

There are plenty of insights in Rework worthy of several blog entries, but one that especially jumped out at me was Jason Fried’s and David Heinemeier Hansson’s advice to “underdo the competition.” This is also one of the blunt implorements on the back cover, including: Emulate drug dealers(!) Pick a fight(!) Happily, each is elaborated upon in the book to successfully deliver a salient point.

As for underdoing the competition:

Instead of entering into a “one-upping, Cold War mentality” with competitors, “do less than your competitors to beat them. Solve the simple problem and leave the hairy, difficult, nasty problems to the competition.”  (Rework, p. 144) …

In the end, it’s not worth paying much attention to the competition anyway…Focus on competitors too much and…(y)ou wind up offering your competitor’s products with a different coat of paint. (p.148)

Simplicity is clearly a strong product differentiator.

As product examples proving their point, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson point to the increasing popularity of plain-vanilla fixed-gear bicycles that are cheap, easy to ride, and require less maintenance, as well as the Flip, a best-selling compact camcorder with no bells or whistles - except that the market has decided ”ultra simplicity” is the one bell/whistle they really need.

Actually, I found an example of my own while looking for a web-based to-do application. There are plenty of fine (and free) online organizers out there, but the one I settled upon was perhaps the simplest one available: TeuxDeux by “studio-mates swissmiss and Fictive Kin.”

Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments | Books, Positioning, Product Marketing | Permalink
Posted by Mike Urbonas

Dale Carnegie: The World’s First Blogger! (Or: In Praise of Conversational Writing)

December 6, 2009

Source: Flickr (by Auntie P - Creative Commons)

November marked Dale Carnegie’s birthday (November 21, 1888) and also the anniversary of his death (November 1, 1955). While recently browsing the bookstore, I saw Dale Carnegie’s classic How to Win Friends and Influence People alongside another familiar book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey’s 1989 bestseller. I have read both books; while both books have much to offer, I hold one book in much higher regard than the other (I bet you can guess which one from this post’s title!).

Covey billed his book as a next generation self-improvement book above and beyond Dale Carnegie’s (complete with a “Goodbye, Dale Carnegie” quote of advance praise); and yet, Dale Carnegie’s venerable 1937 book has actually endured much better than 7 Habits over the last twenty years, thanks to Carnegie’s timeless, highly personable advice, wrapped in one of the first and best conversational writing books ever written.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Books | Permalink
Posted by Mike Urbonas

Poor Communication can Scuttle Effective BI, Your Personal Brand, and a Simple Bus Ride

November 8, 2009

Simpsons_Bus_Driver1Some ten or twelve years ago I flew home from a trade show via TF Green Airport in Providence, RI instead of the usual Boston Logan Airport.  This small airport has (or at least had at the time) one large economy parking lot with shuttle buses.

You were supposed to give the bus driver the number of your bus stop near your car.  Running late, I rushed to catch my departing flight and didn’t make note of the number, but I knew where I was in relation to the entire lot.

“Excuse me,” I said to the bus driver, “but I don’t have my bus stop number. Can you just drop me off at whatever stop is near to the far right corner of the lot?”

“What’s the number?” grunted the bus driver.

“I don’t have the number.  But I know my car is near the far right corner of the lot from where we are right now.”

A slightly louder grunt this time: “What’s the number?”

Huh…?! After one more similarly circular exchange I said, “Sir, any stop near the far corner of the lot will be just fine…”

One of my compadres from the trade show mercifully interjected with a stop number he knew was somewhat close to my car. The bus driver, now given “the number,” did silently acquiesce to stop there, his eyes forward. Note that there was no language barrier or misunderstanding. The driver could also hear me just fine. But he was simply locked into his own way of thinking to a degree beyond the pale.

The way a person communicates is a major part of their reputation, and therefore, their personal brand.  I also suggest the vast majority of communication problems are caused by the personal baggage we bring to the table when communicating, known in sociological terms as conditional confirmation bias.   Read the rest of this entry »

6 Comments | Books, Business Intelligence, Interpersonal Skills, Personal Branding | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Mike Urbonas

Point/Counterpoint: Two Polar Opposite Managerial Styles & Personal Brands

October 11, 2009

October 2010 marked the first annual customer User Conference I attended hosted by my employer at that time, iStrategy Solutions [since acquired by Blackboard]. It was a pleasure to meet so many smart, enthusiastic data warehousing customers I had been collaborating with for case studies, webinars and in-person testimonials.

Since I traveled to BWI at the end of September and returned in early October, I had a chance to read AirTran’s September and October issues of its Go magazine. I found it interesting that the business author profiled in each issue so thoroughly and diametrically opposed the other.

George Cloutier, the founder of American Management Services, with a long record of successful business turnarounds to his credit, is the author Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing, profiled in the Go September issue. Meanwhile, the October issue of Go profiles the book ESPN the Company: The Story and Lessons Behind the Most Fanatical Brand in Sports by longtime consultant to ESPN Anthony F. Smith (scroll about halfway down each of these links to read each book and author profile).

How is this for disagreement, not to mention two very different personal brands, as summarized by Go magazine:

Source: PicApp.com

Source: PicApp.com

On Leadership:

George Cloutier: I am Your Work God! You want your employees to do what you say, not what they think.

Anthony F. Smith: Avoid the myth of single-person leadership. “Leadership is really a shared phenomenon…(Each ESPN executive) needed to surround themselves with other effective people who could fill in areas where they were not as skilled.”

Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments | Books, Personal Branding | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Mike Urbonas

« Previous Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.