Insights From The Thompson Twins On How Product Managers and UX Can Better Harmonize To Drive Bigger Business Impact
Christopher Cummings
by Christopher Cummings
1M ago
As a product manager, do you ever get frustrated by UX designers who want to influence decision-making, but don’t know how? As a UX person, do you find it frustrating when product managers won’t take your thoughts into consideration? The Thompson Twin’s 1983 pop song “We Are Detective” tells the playful story of detectives who are being spied on by other detectives, and there are lessons in here for how product management and UX can better cooperate to drive bigger business outcomes. The lyrics go like this: Somebody’s watching me And now I’m nervous, and I shouldn’t be Somebody’s got their e ..read more
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H.O.S.T.E.S.S. Framework: Key To Winning Battle Among Supersonic Hair Dryers, Cup Cakes, Changing Market Landscapes
Christopher Cummings
by Christopher Cummings
7M ago
Starting in the late 1970s, Hostess hired comic book creators to produce a series of single-page ads to promote Hostess fruit pies, cup cakes, and other desserts. In the Hostess ad Blown About, the Human Torch’s battle against the villainous Blow Dryer provides a tasty framework for helping Product Managers navigate an ever-changing market landscape. < SPOILER WARNING > This article features key plot points from one of these bizarre 40-year-old comic book ads. Actually… the entirety of this bizarre 40-year-old comic book ad is pictured below. So, consider yourself warned! < / SPOILER ..read more
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Product Management Lessons From The Life Of Jack Rebney, Winnebago Man
Christopher Cummings
by Christopher Cummings
10M ago
Jack Rebney, aka “Winnebago Man”, aka “The World’s Angriest Man”, passed away recently at the age of 93. Rebney is probably the most famous person you’ve never heard of, but you have likely heard his voice. He was a former RV salesman whose hysterical, explosive, profanity-laced outbursts circulated on VHS tapes in the 1990s and then became one of the web’s first viral sensations in the early 2000s. In 2009, a documentary crew caught up with Rebney and helped viewers get to know the man behind the cursing montage. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer discovered Rebney living alone, on top of a mountain ..read more
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How Product Management Led Me To The Empty Tomb
Christopher Cummings
by Christopher Cummings
1y ago
Product management is a truth quest. Not to be grandiose, but — at its core — that’s what this field is. Our job as Product Managers is to find the truth, understand it, quantify it, qualify it because it may be true and also irrelevant to what we’re seeking to accomplish, and then make the relevant truths understandable to others so the business can make informed decisions about strategy and tactics. There’s more to it than that. But it’s not less than that. And that drive to understand, to question, to look beneath the surface, often brings us to unexpected places that require further discov ..read more
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Product Managers, What Ever Happened To Baby Jane…?
Christopher Cummings
by Christopher Cummings
1y ago
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane…? is a 1991 thriller, starring real-life sisters Lynn Redgrave and Vanessa Redgrave as siblings entangled in a progressively-deranged codependent relationship — and carries an important lesson for Product Managers about using S.M.A.R.T. goals to create appropriate boundaries at work. < SPOILER WARNING > Key plot points of this grim, 32-year-old made-for-TV thriller are discussed below. You have been warned! < / SPOILER WARNING > “Baby” Jane Hudson is a famous child star, dominating her sister Blanche, who serves as Jane’s understudy. Their happiest t ..read more
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Why Did The Vampire Fail As A Product Manager?
Christopher Cummings
by Christopher Cummings
1y ago
I love jokes because they can accomplish multiple objectives at once: Break tension, reduce stress, and pave the way for actual conversation. Feel free to deploy today’s #PMJoke at your convenience: New Around Here? Subscribe to receive future updates. Connect with me on LinkedIn. Follow me on Twitter to continue the conversation! The post Why Did The Vampire Fail As A Product Manager? first appeared on Product Management Meets Pop Culture ..read more
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Top 12 Product Management Insights From 2022
Christopher Cummings
by Christopher Cummings
1y ago
Your teammates are starting to go offline and Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You looms all around, so you know what that means: It’s time to reflect on the top product management insights from the last 12 months and explore pop culture’s highest peaks and lowest lows. Starting with… January High: Comic book industry reels as VIZ Comics ties Marvel Comics in the Top 10 Graphic Novels Sales chart (2 titles each)… and Boom! Studios and Image Comics tie for first place (3 titles each). Where is DC? Low: Patton Oswalt throws Dave Chapelle under the bus on Instagram. Product: Vincent Wu ..read more
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Product Manager Perspective – How Personalized Interactive Videos Enhance Customer Experiences
Christopher Cummings
by Christopher Cummings
1y ago
The fine folks at Duck Creek Technologies invited me onto their monthly podcast where they discuss market trends, innovative technologies, and implications for the insurance industry. Here is the description of the episode: From online shopping to ordering a rideshare, today’s consumers have become accustomed to receiving personalized, seamless experiences – and they expect similar experiences when dealing with their insurance company. One new tactic insurers are adopting is the development of personalized, interactive videos and deploying them across a number of use cases, such as during a ..read more
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Answering Captain Levi’s Question Is The Key To Building Trust As A Product Manager
Christopher Cummings
by Christopher Cummings
1y ago
Successfully fending off giant man-eating monsters is a bit like successfully leading a product in this regard: Without a strong trust dynamic among the team, you’re likely to fall prey to concerns much larger than you or your companions. As Simon Sinek puts it: “A team is not a group of people that work together. A team is a group of people that trust each other.” In Attack on Titan: No Regrets, we see Levi Ackerman’s journey from operating as a criminal in an underground city to becoming a new member of the Titan-fighting Survey Corps. A core theme of the story is trust. Outside of his frien ..read more
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Product Management Insights From The Life Of Legendary Artist Neal Adams
Christopher Cummings
by Christopher Cummings
2y ago
Neal Adams, renowned for his work with various DC Comics and Marvel characters, has passed away. He was 80. His son Adam told The Hollywood Reporter, “My father was a force. His career was defined by unparalleled artistic talent and an unwavering character that drove him to constantly fight for his peers and those in need.” Reflecting on Neal Adams’ career and character, I see two important insights for product managers. “Draw like you.” At a 2018 convention in the Philippines, Neal told aspiring artists in attendance: “If there are a small number of you in here that want to be artists, you c ..read more
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