Empowered

Praise for EMPOWERED "EMPOWERED dives deep into the tough organizational and cultural issues that get in the way of most companies I work with today. This is the experience and advice Ive been waiting for in one book." Jeff Patton, Product Process and Design Coach "I've known Chris for well over a decade. He is one of the finest product leaders I know. The product managers who worked for him went on to become great product leaders themselves, in some of the best tech companies around. If you want to learn from the best, this book captures those lessons." Doug Camplejohn, EVP and GM, Sales Cloud, Salesforce "Once again, Marty's wisdom and unique perspective have synthesized best-in-class companies, cultures, and leaders into a thesis and set of principles that are transformational. Easy to consume and apply, EMPOWERED is a must read for product leaders and all leaders who are convinced there must be a better way." Chuck Geiger, former CTO Chegg, IAC, PayPal, eBay, Wine.com, Travelocity "If you're leading product people or even the whole product organization of your company, this book is for you. Its the first book to outline the underlying philosophy behind stellar product organizations from a leader's perspective, and its many examples make it easy to understand these concepts and apply them in your companys environment." Petra Wille, Product Leadership Coach "As one of the most respected leaders on product globally, Marty takes us for a fascinating ride that will help you become a better product leader so you can do what you do bestcreate satisfying, engaging experiences for your users and customers." Simon Zhang, CEO, Growing IO "To thrive in this age of constant disruption, companies must accelerate innovation and continuously deliver products customers love. A higher level of consistent innovation can only come from truly empowered teams. Over the past several years, Marty's insights, practical advice, and wisdom have been immensely valuable during our transformation to a highly empowered product organization. In this book, Marty provides an essential blueprint for building empowered teams. If you are serious about achieving extraordinary business results and developing a product innovation culture you can be truly proud of, this is a must-read!" Shamim Mohammad, SVP, Chief Information and Technology Officer, CarMax "I've had the good fortune to work with Marty for many years, and yet, every time he comes out with a new book or article, Im filled with both excitement and fear. What new product techniques are our competitors using that we are missing? EMPOWERED hits the mark dead on and provides a recipe for creating great products. Marty has a knack for making difficult product techniques seem both necessary and tangible. Read the book and rejuvenate your company!" Jeff Trom, CTO, Workiva "The core challenge of all tech companies today is to be a truly product-led organization, with continuous product innovation resulting in sustainable competitive advantage. EMPOWERED to change their companies in order to survive and thrive." Frerk-Malte Feller, COO, Afterpay "If you are wondering what will ensure your company survives, or why your products are failing, read this book. This is the 'how to' manual for building great product companies that last." Amanda Richardson, CEO, CoderPad "I included INSPIRED as mandatory reading for anyone joining my product development teams. Now I'll add EMPOWERED to the list of mandatory reading." Joca Torres, CPO, Gympass "INSPIRED has been a manual for our team to build better products. EMPOWERED is now a manual to build a stronger team. Everything I've read from SVPG is spot on, and often feels like I can use it the same day." Ian Cairns, Head of Product for Twitte

MARTY CAGAN is the founder of the Silicon Valley Product Group, sharing senior-level experience and best practices with leading technology companies. He is an in-demand global speaker, advisor, author and executive coach. Before starting SVPG, Marty served as a product executive for some of the most successful companies in the world, including Hewlett- Packard, Netscape Communications, and eBay. He is the author of the bestselling INSPIRED: How To Create Tech Products Customers Love. CHRIS JONES has spent more than 25 years building and leading product teams that defined new product categories at companies including Lookout, Symantec, and Vontu. A holder of multiple patents, he has discovered and developed new products in consumer and enterprise mobile, web, data, and platform services. Since joining SVPG, Chris has worked directly with over 100 companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies across a wide variety of technologies, business models, and industries.

Part I Lessons From Top Tech Companies 1 Chapter 1 Behind Every Great Company 5 Chapter 2 The Role of Technology 12 Chapter 3 Strong Product Leadership 17 Chapter 4 Empowered Product Teams 23 Chapter 5 Leadership in Action 25 Chapter 6 A Guide to EMPOWERED 27 Part II Coaching 31 Chapter 7 The Coaching Mindset 33 Chapter 8 The Assessment 40 Chapter 9 The Coaching Plan 47 Chapter 10 The One-on-One 65 Chapter 11 The Written Narrative 73 Chapter 12 Strategic Context 76 Chapter 13 Sense of Ownership 81 Chapter 14 Managing Time 87 Chapter 15 Thinking 90 Chapter 16 Team Collaboration 93 Chapter 17 Stakeholder Collaboration 98 Chapter 18 Imposter Syndrome 102 Chapter 19 Customer-Centricity 105 Chapter 20 Integrity 109 Chapter 21 Decisions 114 Chapter 22 Effective Meetings 120 Chapter 23 Ethics 124 Chapter 24 Happiness 128 Chapter 25 Leader Profile: Lisa Kavanaugh 134 Part III Staffing 139 Chapter 26 Competence and Character 142 Chapter 27 Recruiting 146 Chapter 28 Interviewing 151 Chapter 29 Hiring 155 Chapter 30 Remote Employees 159 Chapter 31 Onboarding 164 Chapter 32 New Employee Bootcamp 170 Chapter 33 Performance Reviews 174 Chapter 34 Terminating 176 Chapter 35 Promoting 179 Chapter 36 Leader Profile: April Underwood 182 Part IV Product Vision and Principles 187 Chapter 37 Creating a Compelling Vision 190 Chapter 38 Sharing the Product Vision 195 Chapter 39 Product Principles and Ethics 201 Chapter 40 Leader Profile: Audrey Crane 203 Part V Team Topology 209 Chapter 41 Optimizing for Empowerment 212 Chapter 42 Team Types 216 Chapter 43 Empowering Platform Teams 220 Chapter 44 Empowering Experience Teams 224 Chapter 45 Topology and Proximity 229 Chapter 46 Topology Evolution 233 Chapter 47 Leader Profile: Debby Meredith 236 Part VI Product Strategy 241 Chapter 48 Focus 246 Chapter 49 Insights 251 Chapter 50 Actions 258 Chapter 51 Management 261 Chapter 52 Leader Profile: Shan-Lyn Ma 264 Part VII Team Objectives 269 Chapter 53 Empowerment 274 Chapter 54 Assignment 280 Chapter 55 Ambition 285 Chapter 56 Commitments 288 Chapter 57 Collaboration 292 Chapter 58 Management 295 Chapter 59 Accountability 298 Chapter 60 Objectives in Perspective 301 Chapter 61 Leader Profile: Christina Wodtke 304 Part VIII Case Study 309 Chapter 62 Company Backgrounder 312 Chapter 63 Company Objectives 314 Chapter 64 Product Vision and Principles 317 Chapter 65 Team Topology 319 Chapter 66 Product Strategy 325 Chapter 67 Product Team Objectives 334 Chapter 68 Business Results 343 Chapter 69 Key Takeaways 346 Chapter 70 Leader Profile: Judy Gibbons 349 Part IX Business Collaboration 355 Chapter 71 The Role of Product Leaders 357 Chapter 72 Stakeholder Management vs. Collaboration 360 Chapter 73 Shared Insights and Learning 363 Chapter 74 Keeping the Lights On 365 Chapter 75 Evangelism 367 Chapter 76 Leader Profile: Avid Larizadeh Duggan 370 Part X Inspired, Empowered, And Transformed 375 Chapter 77 Meaningful Transformation 377 Chapter 78 Transformation in Action 380 Chapter 79 TRANSFORMED 386 Chapter 80 The Most Important Thing 389 Chapter 81 The Destination 392 Acknowledgments 396 About the Authors 398 Learning More 400 Index 401