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Books

Product Books

If you are like me, you buy a lot of books, perhaps more than you have time to read. Here are the books its really worth reading, studying and reading again if you are a product manager, a product leader or a CEO trying to understand how to build digital products.

Inspired

By Marty Cagan

Based on Marty Cagan’s perhaps unique position in the industry and access to a large number of organisations and key people, this is a very comprehensive guide to how the most successful software companies do product management. It is a manual of best practise. 

Continuous Discovery Habits

By Teresa Torres

Despite the esoteric title, this is a very practical guide to the product discovery process aimed at reducing risk in product investments – basically it helps you figure out the most valauble thing to build. It is also a guide to how you can innovate with small teams and make continual progress. 

Testing Business Ideas

By  David J. Bland  & Alexander Osterwalder  

From the people who created the iconic and very useful business model canvas, this is a comprehensive guide to the different kinds of tests you can run to test whether or not to build a product or a feature. Hint: talking to customers without focus and only doing that is not necessarily going to give you enough insight to make good decisions.

Bullet Proof Problem Solving

By Charles Conn & Robert McLean

This is an extremely practical guide to problem-solving from top McKinsey people (although don’t let that put you off!). Conn and McLean have come up with a problem-solving process that takes design thinking to a more universal level.  

Good Strategy / Bad Strategy

By Richard Rumelt

This classic strategy book is essential for product managers, leaders and CEOs. This, again is a practical read that explains the components of strategy and how to build one. 

User StoryUser Story A tool used in Agile software development to capture a description of a software feature from an end-user perspective. User stories help to create a simplified description of a requirement and can help to create a user-focused framework for daily work. Mapping

By Jeff Patton

Unpretentious and practical. This book steps you through what is a very useful skill for anyone and a core skill for product development and product management. 

Jobs to Be Done

Jim Kalbach

Decisive

By Chip & Dan Heath