Marty Cagan revisits Fred Brooks's classic essay "No Silver Bullet" and argues that the software world is full of advocates who present a single favorite technique as the answer to everything. He acknowledges that he…
Marty Cagan explains how SVPG operates: it advises startups and growth-stage companies and runs public and private workshops on how strong product teams work. Demand far exceeds capacity, which he attributes to SVPG's…
Marty Cagan reflects on his personal regrets from coaching companies through product transformations, prompted by a reader's question about whether every transformation in the book TRANSFORMED succeeded. He admits that…
Marty Cagan argues that every technology company has more product ideas than capacity to build them, so the real work of portfolio planning is deciding where to invest. Rather than only adding headcount, companies can…
Marty Cagan reflects on a recent article he wrote critiquing the MBA pathology in product management, which he admits backfired. Although the core message was valid, opening the piece with a provocative Elon Musk quote…
Marty Cagan argues that Six Sigma, a quality-control methodology proven in manufacturing, does real damage when applied to software product discovery and development. He observes that once influential innovators such as…
Marty Cagan and Lea Hickman catalogue the common forms of 'theater' that show up when companies try to transform how they build products. Their core observation is that many transformations stay on the surface…
Marty Cagan argues that the gap between the best product companies and the rest comes from a misunderstanding of technology's role. He recalls Marc Andreessen's warning that software is eating the world and notes that…
Marty Cagan argues that moving from command-and-control leadership to an empowered product model requires changes on both sides: executives must not simply step back, and product teams must engage executives more, not…
Marty Cagan argues that many Agile coaches come from delivery backgrounds and lack the product and design experience needed to help teams with discovery. He describes Discovery Coaches as typically former product…
Marty Cagan argues that product management certification is premature and counterproductive for the software industry. He notes that the field is far from scientific, that software product success rates are poor, and…
Marty Cagan argues that once a product strategy is set, leaders cannot simply step back, because no strategy survives contact with reality. Teams will hit dependencies, technical gaps, customer crises, platform…
Marty Cagan responds to recurring questions about whether SVPG promotes a specific branded process such as 'the INSPIRED process' or 'the EMPOWERED process'. He argues that nearly everything involves some process, and…
Marty Cagan, after noticing that more than half of the 'rock star' product managers he knows are women despite women being a small share of the field, offers personal, non-statistical theories about why. He argues that…
Marty Cagan argues that Imposter Syndrome is real and healthy when understood correctly: it is a signal that you have not prepared enough. Rather than trying to push past the fear, he uses it as motivation to study…
Marty Cagan addresses a common objection from non-tech companies: that the product operating model doesn't apply to them. He argues that being a 'tech company' is about how a business chooses to power its offering with…
Marty Cagan argues that organizations must shift from measuring success by shipping output on fixed dates to achieving customer and business outcomes. He frames this as moving from time-to-market to time-to-money and…
Marty Cagan argues that weak products are those that fail to meet their objectives or create new revenue and growth for the company. He lists ten root causes, centered on the absence of a real product vision…
Marty Cagan argues that during and after the pandemic, teams are sliding back into heavy requirements documents (PRDs) because remote collaboration is tiring. He reframes the core of strong product work as three things…
Marty Cagan argues that as companies shift from sales-driven feature teams to empowered product teams, the way product teams engage customers changes, and customers need to understand why. He frames a set of pledges…
Marty Cagan argues that the word "pivot" is overused in product teams and that teams too often abandon their product vision far too early. He separates two kinds of pivots: vision pivots, which change the underlying…
Marty Cagan argues that for product companies at scale, he knows of no reliable alternative to strong product leadership. He explains that founders who act as head of product eventually stop scaling, and that the common…
Marty Cagan argues that great products are not accidents but follow from a set of consistent principles. He lists ten truths, centered on the primacy of user experience design, the need to test ideas with real users…
Marty Cagan argues that ethics deserves its own explicit place in product decisions, proposing a fifth risk alongside value, usability, feasibility and business viability: 'Should we build it?' He notes ethics often…
Marty Cagan follows up his earlier talk on why product teams fail by describing ten attributes of strong product teams operating under a Continuous Discovery and Delivery model. He argues that empowered, durable…
Marty Cagan, author of INSPIRED, EMPOWERED, TRANSFORMED and LOVED, shares discussion guides for book clubs and product teams. The guide recommends an order for reading the books, starting with TRANSFORMED for an…
Marty Cagan contrasts the traditional PC-era product manager with the modern Internet-era product manager. He argues that many organizations still operate with the older model, which was often ineffective and poorly…
Marty Cagan argues that a successful move to the product model depends on the product organization earning the trust of the rest of the company, which is a race to win over executives before they lose confidence. Senior…
Marty Cagan argues that product people, despite often coming from analytical backgrounds, work fundamentally in the realm of emotion and psychology. He observes that people buy and use products mainly for emotional…
Marty Cagan argues that the product industry needs more skilled product coaches, and that many self-described coaches lack real product experience. He insists that effective product coaching must rest on relevant…