As a consulting company we love to use frameworks. Who doesn’t appreciate a good Venn diagram or 2 x 2 matrix? Certainly, some are more useful than others, but they all at least get us thinking. Take Ali G’s Ice Cream Gloves Venn as an example. While not particularly useful, it does make you think about things differently. Just because you both have hands and eat ice cream, it does not mean you need ice cream gloves.
We often get asked, “what makes a good product owner or product manager?” We use a simple Venn diagram referred to as the HBT model. What this model communicates is that, at a high level, the best product professionals are able to work with teams to build solutions that are Human Centered in the design, Business Driven in the way they delivery outcomes, and Technically Feasible given their constraints.
This framework also serves as a way to think about the mindset a product owner needs to have, the skills they need to build, and the tools they may use to help them along the way. Let’s take a look at this in a bit more detail. This is not an exhaustive list, but should provide a great starting point for those looking to build their capabilities as a Product professional.
While not quite ice cream gloves, there is a problem with this framework. Finding a person who is good at all of these things is difficult. We refer to them as a Unicorn. There are probably some out there, we just do not see them very often. You need to continually build your skills on all these dimensions and be clear on where you are weak. You will build skill organically over time, and you should also seek out training and opportunities to grow that will stretch you into less comfortable areas. Equally important, make sure that you have team members working with you who complement your blind spots. If you come from the business side and code for a hobby, you may be strong on the B and the T. Seek out Designers and UX people to help you build solutions that really work for the user. If you are a former developer who is now a UX guru, you probably need help from a business person so you better understand the economics of your product. Whatever it is, be honest with yourself, build skills where you have weakness and build a team around you that makes you awesome together!
Ask yourself these questions: Where are my strengths? Where do I need the most help? What happens if I don’t fill these gaps? Who can I learn from? Where can I seek out more knowledge, training, experience? If you keep working at it you may just become a unicorn.