Four Mindsets of Influential Product Managers with Ken Sandy

In this episode with Ken Sandy, you will learn:

1. A set of 4 fundamental, and sometimes contradictory, mindsets of Influential Product Managers
2. Mapping the product development lifecycle (ideate, discovery, delivery, launch), with each of the 4 mindsets
3. How to adopt these mindsets when working on a new Product/Problem (aka discovery) vs optimizing a feature

KEY DISCUSSION POINTS

[2:05] Why you wrote the book and reason behind its name influential

[6:44] Influential Product Managers employ a set of fundamental, and sometimes contradictory, mindsets. Tell us a bit more about this

[9:02] What are the 4 mindsets of an influential PM?

[16:10] If I am mapping the product development lifecycle (ideate, discovery, delivery, launch), how do each mindset align with each phase? Do you rely more heavily on one mindset depending on the phase?

[22:25] How to adopt these mindsets when working on a new Product/Problem (aka discovery) vs optimizing a feature?

[30:35] Playing only to your strengths as a pitfall and research findings 

[38:16] Tell us about the pitfall about applying the 4 Mindsets, but Not Objectively and some tactics you recommend on tackling them

ABOUT KEN SANDY

Ken Sandy is a 20+ years veteran in technology Product Management. Ken pioneered and teaches the first Product Management course offered in the Engineering school at UC Berkeley, which has over 400 PM alumni practicing in industry. Throughout his career, Ken consistently defined, launched and managed award-winning, innovative Web and mobile products loved by customers and used by millions of users across 60+ countries.

Previously, Ken served as VP of Product Management at leading online education companies, MasterClass and lynda.com (Linkedin Learning), and is currently an executive consultant and advisor for startup and scale-up companies in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. 

​He’s recently released “The Influential Product Manager – How to Lead and Launch Successful Technology Products” a highly practical and approachable guide to becoming more effective and navigating the challenging collaborative aspects of the product manager’s role.

LINKS

• influentialpm.com
• linkedin.com/in/kensandy → heard me on the podcast
• Book: https://amzn.to/39kie8i (or any good book retailer)

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Tagged as: Managing Up,  Team Leadership,  Stakeholder Management,  Strategic Impact,  Product Vision & Roadmapping.