As toolmakers, we tend to often be thinking (and talking) about the tools we make and the process of making them. We are Product Hunters, Thinkers, People, etc.
It is critical for us to have those conversations and try to define and improve what is a very empirical craft; but it’s also imperative that we don’t forget what drives all of it: providing results to our customers.
It’s very easy to get drawn into the internal dynamics of the Product and forget about the Bigger Picture. This tweet’s popularity is proof to me that this is a common feeling:
Product Managers: let’s keep our role in perspective #prodmgmt pic.twitter.com/KoQ2ErikdJ
— Daniel Zacarias (@listentodaniel) April 28, 2015
This focus on results has been described by many different names:
- It’s the pain we’re solving
- It’s how we think about our goals
- It’s how we define what to build
- It’s how we design interactions
- It’s how we should sell our product
- It’s what we provide to our users
What customers value the most are Results — not our Products and definitely not our Software. That’s where the danger of thinking only about tools and process lies.
There’s a potential mismatch between what we make and what our customers value. If we shift our thinking to focus first on Results instead of Products and Software, we should be in safer territory.
