In this Focus Forty episode of The Design Your Thinking Podcast, I talk to Jeff Lash who is the Vice President and Group Director at SiriusDecisions and runs a blog called How to be a Good Product Manager.
Who is Jeff Lash?
Jeff is a recognized thought leader in product management, with over a decade of experience in the development of Web-based products and SaaS. His product management career includes both new product introductions and major turnarounds of existing product lines, as well as introduction of the product management role into organizations. He has significant expertise in customer understanding, new product innovation, agile product management, user experience design, and product development processes.
Prior to joining SiriusDecisions, Jeff was vice president, product portfolio management for a division of Reed Elsevier, a leading global provider of professional information solutions. There, he developed and implemented product portfolio management practices, managed the new product approval process, and was responsible for training, coaching and mentoring a diverse product management team. He also served in senior-level product management positions across a portfolio of information products serving physicians and medical professionals, and helped design and roll out standardized product development processes across the organization. Jeff has also worked in product management and user experience design for organizations including MasterCard International, Sendouts (now Bullhorn), and XPLANE.
Jeff received his MBA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a BS from Washington University in St. Louis (where he currently resides).
What will you learn?
- Reason why Jeff is successful?
- Empathy
- Jeff’s productivity secret?
- Ruthless prioritization
- Balancing the creative and productive sides of being a Product Manager
- Taking a break
- What problem are you solving?
- What are the 3 things that Jeff believes is important in developing a Product Mindset?
- Empathy
- Tenacity
- Being a part of a team
- Mistakes made by Product Managers in B2B companies
- Understanding Customers
- The future of products and product management
- Advise to product managers
- Block time to do competitive analysis, talk to sales person, interview a customer
Useful Links
- Jeff’s website – How to be a Good Product Manager? (goodproductmanager.com)
- Jeff’s Twitter handle – @jefflash
- SiriusDecisions Field Guide
