94: Product Management Rules of Thumb for Decision Making and Persuasion

Product management and rules of thumb

A rule of thumb is defined as “a broadly accurate guide or principle, based on experience or practice rather than theory.”

A lot of what we “know” in product management is actually a “rule of thumb.” In this episode, I talk about three product management rules of thumb I think are particularly powerful for use in decision making and persuasion.

My rules of thumb

* It has to work.

* It has to be 10x better.

* It has to fit (aka, “the 3 boxes” rule).

Related episodes

* I talk about Doug Hall’s 3 Laws of Marketing Physics in episode 70, “The Secrets of a Remarkable Go To Market Strategy” and in this article on my blog.

Some of my previous podcast episodes and articles on:

* Strengths: How To Be Better, Outsmarting Imposter Syndrome, Soft Skills For Product Managers

* Mental models and metaphors: Product Management Metaphors – Bad and Good, Mental Models for Product Managers (an article, not a podcast episode)

* Storytelling: Go-to-market For Yourself: Getting Your Next PM Job, How To Elicit, Structure, and Use Customer Success Stories

Some other peoples’ articles about mental models I find repeatedly useful:

* Gabriel Weinberg’s Mental Models I Find Repeatedly Useful

* Amplitude software’s article The 9 Mental Models You Need to Build Better Products

Resources

If you are just getting into product management, or you’re busy leveling up into more senior PM positions, don’t forget there are a ton of resources in my previous episodes – on storytelling, persuasion, prioritization, working with developers, working with marketers – and on my website The Secret Product Manager Handbook.

And if you want to accelerate your product management career, go to calendly.com/nilsdavis/consultation for a FREE 45 minute coaching and discovery call. (No obligation.)

Don’t forget to subscribe!

If you want to help me out, and more importantly, help other product managers find and enjoy this podcast,