The Fundamental Question: "So What?"
Before you spend cycles defining that new product or feature, first make sure you can answer, “So what?”
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Articles
Steve Johnson
4 min
How To Merge Products
Merging the features of two products involves careful planning of customer requirements, technical directions, and stakeholder management.
Todd Middlebrook
3 min
Win-Loss Interviews: Asking the Right Questions to Solve the Right Problems
After many years in product management, marketing, and competitive sales roles, I know how few businesses understand the power of...
Steve Johnson
1 min
The Strategic Role of Product Management
Learn how agile created role chaos, how Quartz clarifies the product management triad, and how to reclaim product management.
Steve Johnson
4 min
Don’t Sell; Advise: Embrace the Role of Trusted Advisor
The best salespeople don’t sell; they advise. Discover how product managers and consultants can adopt this approach to drive success. The...
Steve Johnson
4 min
When to Hire Product Roles: A Guide for Growing Product Companies
Abstract: Discover the key signs that it's time to bring product management and product marketing teams to grow your business.
Steve Johnson
4 min
The Real Reason Agile Created Chaos in Product Management
Learn why turning product managers into product owners was a disaster and how to fix it.
Steve Johnson
3 min
How I Measure Process Success
Processes are like software. They are defined, deployed, and revised. And they need to be measured—what’s working and what’s not?
Steve Johnson
3 min
AI is solving the wrong problems
I don’t need AI to create—I’ll do that; I need AI to take out the garbage.
Steve Johnson
2 min
What's New for Quartz
We have embedded the Quartz Open Framework into most of our offerings and were delighted to work with the Quartz team to refine a new...
Steve Johnson
3 min
How I Communicate with Leaders
It’s time to present your business plan or product strategy to your leadership. You’ve prepared too many slides, and you’ve started to...
Steve Johnson
4 min
Best Techniques for Product Training
Approach training of customer-facing teams with just-in-time information. Instructional designers will tell you that 75% of what is...
Steve Johnson
3 min
Unleashing the Power of Win-Loss Analysis
Win-loss analysis is one of the most powerful sources of product insights. Few salespeople want to do it, but they usually don’t want...
Steve Johnson
2 min
Are Internal Procedures Sabotaging Customer Service?
Is your team focused on creating a superior customer experience or crippled by internal procedures?
Steve Johnson
4 min
Use an Extended Kanban Board for Product Planning
Do you need a quick way to check and share project status? Use an extended Kanban board for planning and status. Move items from one work...
Steve Johnson
6 min
ASPIRE to your capabilities
The likelihood of product success dramatically increases when you leverage existing competencies. Image by Pexels from Pixabay So you’ve...
Steve Johnson
3 min
Organizing a Product Portfolio
A portfolio or suite of products must be managed like a product with a target persona, positioning, and pricing. Microsoft boils its...
Steve Johnson
4 min