I have decided not to wait till the end of the year to publish a best of 2010.  The list will be way too long and you’ll never have time to read it all.  Instead, I am going to focus one month at a time on some of my favorite product posts that I think are worth reading (or reading again).

Enjoy!

Outside-in-view -A New Roadmap to Consider:

As I peruse my product roadmap, I was thinking about what the benefits would be for a product marketing roadmap, how would we change behaviors? We could start product positioning sooner, define the product benefits, do internal education while product is being developed, test potential messages as we test the features – matching critical product launch elements to the product roadmap process.

My Product Management Opinion – The Power of Advanced Research for Product Management

But, are you making the most of some of the advanced research techniques that have become more accessible over the last decade?  Do you understand your market’s preferences for specific features or messaging?  Do you know how various segments will react to price changes?  Can you conduct robust competitive what-if analysis?

Strategic Product Manager – Art or Science?

Since building and delivering software or other high-tech products is generally done with the goal of making a dollar and sustaining a business, I sure hope decisioning is not done within the realm of “human creativity” but with quantitative predictions.

Where the Product Management Tribe Gathers -  Product Management Leadership – Converting Theory into Action

Product management leadership is all about action. It’s converting the theory of product management into sustainable methods. It’s organizing, guiding and enabling a team and teaching them a common language that builds momentum as a team, creates consistency in your activities and ensures product management maintains a level of credibility across organization and with executive management.

Software Product Manager – Software product manager’s first 30 days at a new job ….

Understand people dynamics – This is the most important part, more important than even your product in the first 30 days. You have to start building relationships from day one. Every company has some form of internal people dynamics that you need to observe and learn as you get used to your new position especially in a new company.

Mohan Sawhney – Do Dedicated Devices Die? Principles of Convergence

My take is that, like all questions in marketing and strategy, the right answer is – it depends!  I believe that convergence (and the consequent death of dedicated devices) is a function of several contingent factors.  So, rather than taking one side or another of this debate, I would like to reflect on som principles that will help predict whether we will see convergence win out in a specific context.

Rocketwatcher’s Everything You Say Matters

In your own company you can probably think of a dozen messages like the LinkedIn subject line, that you are putting in front of your customers everyday.  Do they all reflect your company’s value as much as they could?