Product Managers must balance four very different and sometimes conflicting mindsets when approaching ideation, creation, and delivery of high-value products. These are Exploration, Analysis, Critique and Evangelism. No matter what stage in the product lifecycle, simultaneously and deliberately viewing your product through these perspectives will help avoid common pitfalls and help deliver a superior solution. Former VP of Product at Lynda.com, Ken Sandy, talked about the relative advantages of each of the four mindsets: how Exploration drives innovation, Analysis drives understanding, Critique identifies risks, and Evangelism provides a path to delivery. He also talked about how to execution in context: your role is to build the right product, not to build the product right, and how to know what questions to ask yourself at each stage of the lifecycle and strategies to bring stakeholders along with you.

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7. Ken Sandy
Tonight’s Speaker

8. THINK LIKE A
PRODUCT MANAGER
Product School San Francisco
September 14th, 2017
Ken Sandy
Instructor, SCET, UC Berkeley
© Ken Sandy Consulting

9. To start…
1. Take out your phone
2. Pick your second favorite application
3. Turn to a neighbor (next, in-front or behind you)
4. Take in turns to tell your neighbor the
following (be creative)
Convince them they should be using the application themselves
Identify a business or user metric you’d be curious to measure
Imagine what more you wish the app could do for you
Critique something you don’t like about the existing app
© Ken Sandy Consulting

10. The Four PM Mindsets
Imagine
Convergent
Divergent
© Ken Sandy Consulting
Inspect

11. Explorer Mindset Drives Innovation
EXPLORER
Expand the
solution space
with some
creative thinking
© Ken Sandy Consulting

12. Explorer Mindset Behaviors
The Dreamer
© Ken Sandy Consulting
Define a PRODUCT VISION
Canvas broadly for
OPPORTUNITIES and
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
BORROW from other products
PURSUE and PROTOTYPE
multiple solutions concurrently

13. Analyst Mindset Drives Understanding
ANALYST
Understand your
customer and
their unmet
needs
© Ken Sandy Consulting

14. Analyst Mindset Behaviors
The Detective
© Ken Sandy Consulting
Set and measure performance
METRICS for your product
EXPLORE data to look for
unexpected trends
Observe and INTERVIEW
CUSTOMERS (qualitative)
Equip yourself for SELF-SERVICE
ANALYTICS (quantitative)

15. Challenger Mindset Identifies Risks
CHALLENGER
Shine a light on
flaws, hidden
assumptions to
preempt issues
© Ken Sandy Consulting

16. Challenger Mindset Behaviors
The Nay-sayer
© Ken Sandy Consulting
Approach ideas as HYPOTHESES
requiring continuous VALIDATION
LISTEN to dissent – ask “why-not”
COMMUNICATE negative
outcomes and concerns internally
FOCUS, PRIORITIZE, CUT

17. Evangelist Mindset Builds Momentum
EVANGELIST
Motivate a team
and build
support
© Ken Sandy Consulting

18. Evangelist Mindset Behaviors
The Cheer-leader
© Ken Sandy Consulting
COMMUNICATE the idea with
all STAKEHOLDERS
Let others CATCH-UP
Set CONTEXT, not prescribed
solutions
LOSE OWNERSHIP to your
team

19. The Four PM Mindsets
ANALYST EXPLORER
CHALLENGER EVANGELIST
© Ken Sandy Consulting
Imagine
Convergent
Divergent
Inspect

20. Five Common Ideation Pitfalls
1. Playing only to your strengths: practice using all mindsets and
complement the “go-to” styles of stakeholders and your team
2. Applying the mindsets, but not objectively: avoid one of many
cognitive biases
3. Ambiguity vs. Certainty, and Analysis Paralysis: continue to
collect information and defer decisions, in the hope to become more
certain
4. Conflict avoidance: not embracing healthy conflict as part of
bringing diverse points-of-view together for better ideas and decisions
5. Not trusting your instincts and dismissing an idea too
easily: even in the face of challenge and doubt, listen to your intuition

21. Common Cognitive Biases
Confirmation bias
Authority bias
Reputation risk
Group-think
Sunk cost fallacy

22. Exercise
1. Take out a piece of paper
2. Draw the four quadrants
3. Check-mark your strength – your “go-to”
• Write down one behavior or skill you think you do well
4. Circle which one your team members or manager is most
strong
• Write down one behavior or skill you might utilize more to
balance their tendencies
5. Put a cross in the area where you’d like to personally
develop more
• Write down one behavior or skill you want to practice more
© Ken Sandy Consulting

23. The Four PM Mindsets
ANALYST EXPLORER
CHALLENGER EVANGELIST
© Ken Sandy Consulting

24. Questions?
kenjsandy@gmail.com
© Ken Sandy Consulting

25. Appendix

26. Thinking Like a Product Manager
ANALYSTEXPLORER CHALLENGER EVANGELIST
Many product cycles follow a more linear process…

27. Developing Product Best Practices
Example: 1981 Kodak report on the
future of digital
• The quality of prints from electronic
images will not be generally acceptable to
consumers as replacement for prints
based on the science of photography.
• The consumer’s desire to handle, display,
and distribute prints cannot be replaced
by electronic display devices.
• Electronic systems (camera and viewing
input device for TV) will not be low
enough in price to have widespread
appeal.

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