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Cracking the PM Career: The Skills, Frameworks, and Practices To Become a Great Product Manager (Cracking the Interview & Career) Kindle Edition

by Jackie Bavaro (Author), Gayle McDowell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 336 ratings
See all formats and editions
Product management is a big role, and this a big book.

From the authors of the best-selling Cracking the PM Interview comes the comprehensive guide to the skills, frameworks, and practices to become a great product manager. It will help you level-up your skills and career from your first product management role through product leadership, addressing questions like:

    • What does it take to become a great product manager and great leader?

    • How can you reliably ship products that make a difference in the world?

    • How do you build your product intuition, hone your execution, strengthen your leadership, and develop your strategic skills?

    • What does it take to lead and inspire teams?

    • When is people management the right career move?

    • How does excellence in those skills translate into career success?



    This book will teach you the reliable frameworks and best practices that improve your chances of shipping a successful product. The frameworks won't transform you into a great product manager overnight or guarantee that your products never fail, but they'll help you avoid the most common problems and give you the structure to start experimenting, reflecting, and improving.

    You'll learn how to:

      • Design high-quality products that delight users and solve people's needs.

      • Run and deliver your projects quickly, smoothly, and effectively.

      • Create product visions and strategies to set direction and optimize for long-term impact.

      • Lead people and influence without authority.

      • Manage people, develop great PMs, build great teams, and create great product organizations.

      • Manage your career so you can translate your efforts into the recognition you deserve.



      TOPICS INCLUDE:

        • Getting Started: the product life cycle; the first 90 days

        • Product Skills: user research; A/B tests; problem solving frameworks; systems thinking; product discovery; design sprints; ethical product design; technical terms and concepts; product documentation (specs and PRDs)

        • Execution Skills: agile project management; minimum viable products (MVPs); incremental development; product launches; time management; overcoming obstacles

        • Strategic Skills: product vision; strategy; roadmaps; goals and OKRs

        • Leadership Skills: growth mindset; ownership mentality; influencing without authority; stakeholder management; collaboration; communication; inspiring a team; mentoring; working with designers, engineers, and executives

        • People Management Skills: becoming a people manager; being a member of the leadership team; reviewing work; holding people accountable; coaching and development; recruiting and interviewing; product processes; organizational structures

        • Careers: career ladders; career goals; partnering with your manager; picking the right team; negotiations; networking; handling bad situations; career options beyond PM

        • Product Leader Q&A: in-depth career interviews with eleven successful product leaders who have chosen career paths including CPO, head of product, CEO, social impact work, venture capital, angel investing, coaching, and starting their own companies.



        And much, much more.

        Featuring stories from over fifty PMs and product leaders who have worked at organizations including: Adobe, Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, Asana, Atlassian, Calendly, Chan-Zuckerberg Institute, Chegg, Cisco, City of San Jose, Coda, Coinbase, Dropbox, eBay, Facebook, FlipKart, Gojek, Google, HSBC, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Microsoft, Netflix, OpenTable, Pinterest, Pocket Gems, Quora, Samsara, Slack, Sonos, Stripe, Swiggy, Twitter, Uber, Walmart Labs, Yahoo, and Yelp.
        Previous page
        1. Part of series
          Cracking the Interview & Career
        2. Print length
          1038 pages
        3. Language
          English
        4. Sticky notes
          On Kindle Scribe
        5. Publication date
          January 26, 2021
        6. File size
          6856 KB
        7. Page Flip
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        8. Word Wise
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        9. Enhanced typesetting
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        10. See all details
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        Editorial Reviews

        Review

        "Generic advice is impossible to put to work in the specifics of product management where real-time judgment calls are required. Jackie and Gayle provide context and frameworks that help future PM leaders to formulate their own conceptual models as they grow to successful product leaders."- STEVEN SINOFSKY, former Microsoft president and product leader

        "More than product management 101, this book will help even the most seasoned product manager be a more effective leader and decision-maker."-         GIBSON BIDDLE, former VP, Chief Product Officer of Netflix and Chegg

        "Amazing, practical advice to take control and navigate your product management career. I wish I had this book when I first embarked on my PM journey. A must-have guide!"-         YARDLEY POHL, co-founder and board member of Women In Product

        About the Author

        Jackie Bavaro was most recently Head of Product Management for eight years at Asana, the well-loved work management software, where she joined pre-launch as the first PM. During her tenure, she grew the PM team to over twenty amazing people, helped Asana's go from $0 to more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue, and launched Asana's associate product manager program. With over 15 years of product management experience, she has also worked as a PM for Google and Microsoft as well, and in a diverse set of roles--a consumer PM, a B2B PM, a platform PM, a mobile PM, and a growth PM. Jackie has coached, mentored, managed, and advised hundreds of people in product and people who aspire to move to product roles. Jackie and Gayle's first co-authored book, the best-selling Cracking the PM Interview, has been credited with helping to level the playing field for product management talent. Jackie graduated from Cornell University with a double major in Computer Science and Economics. She currently writes, coaches, and advises from her home in San Francisco, California. More of Jackie's writing about product management can be found at https: //twitter.com/jackiebo and https: //medium.com/@jackiebo.

        Gayle Laakmann McDowell is an author, consultant, and founder focusing on improving tech hiring for both the interviewer and the candidate. Gayle has worked as an engineer for Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Most recently, at Google, she served on the hiring committee where she interviewed hundreds of candidates and evaluated thousands more. It was here that she discovered the disconnect between candidates, their skill set, and their interview performance. Though her company, CareerCup, Gayle has worked with many of the top tech companies to reform their hiring practices and implement interviewer training programs. She is the author and creator the best-selling Cracking the Interview & Career series: Cracking the Coding Interview, Cracking the PM Interview (co-authored with Jackie Bavaro), Cracking the PM Career (co-authored with Jackie Bavaro), and Cracking the Tech Career Gayle holds a bachelor's and master's in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. She currently consults, writes, and codes from her home in Palo Alto, California. She can be found online at gayle.com, twitter (@gayle), and facebook (@gayle).

        Product details

        • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08TQ89LKB
        • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 26, 2021
        • Language ‏ : ‎ English
        • File size ‏ : ‎ 6856 KB
        • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
        • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
        • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
        • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
        • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
        • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
        • Print length ‏ : ‎ 1038 pages
        • Customer Reviews:
          4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 336 ratings

        About the authors

        Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
        Previous page
        1. Gayle Laakmann McDowell

          Gayle Laakmann McDowell

          Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
          Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

          Gayle Laakmann McDowell is an author, consultant, and founder focusing on improving tech hiring for both the interviewer and the candidate.

          Gayle has worked as an engineer for Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Most recently, at Google, she served on the hiring committee where she interviewed hundreds of candidates and evaluated thousands more. It was here that she discovered the disconnect between candidates, their skill set, and their interview performance.

          Though her company, CareerCup, Gayle has worked with many of the top tech companies to reform their hiring practices and implement interviewer training programs.

          She is the author and creator the best-selling Cracking the Interview & Career series: Cracking the Coding Interview, Cracking the PM Interview (co-authored with Jackie Bavaro), Cracking the PM Career (co-authored with Jackie Bavaro), and Cracking the Tech Career

          Gayle holds a bachelor's and master's in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.

          She currently consults, writes, and codes from her home in Palo Alto, California. She can be found online at gayle.com, twitter (@gayle), and facebook (@gayle).

          See more on the author's page
        2. Jackie Bavaro

          Jackie Bavaro

          Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
          Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

          Jackie Bavaro was most recently Head of Product Management for eight years at Asana, the well-loved work management software, where she joined pre-launch as the first PM. During her tenure, she grew the PM team to over twenty amazing people, helped Asana's go from $0 to more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue, and launched Asana's associate product manager program.

          With over 15 years of product management experience, she has also worked as a PM for Google and Microsoft as well, and in a diverse set of roles—a consumer PM, a B2B PM, a platform PM, a mobile PM, a growth PM, a manager, and a manager of managers.

          Jackie has coached, mentored, managed, and advised hundreds of people in product and people who aspire to move to product roles. Jackie and Gayle's first co-authored book, the best-selling Cracking the PM Interview, has been credited with helping to level the playing field for product management talent.

          Jackie graduated from Cornell University with a double major in Computer Science and Economics.

          She currently writes, coaches, and advises from her home in San Francisco, California. More of Jackie’s writing about product management can be found at https://twitter.com/jackiebo and https://medium.com/@jackiebo. 

          See more on the author's page
        Next page

        Customer reviews

        4.6 out of 5 stars
        4.6 out of 5
        336 global ratings
        Great book that will help you as a PM and as a person
        5 Stars
        Great book that will help you as a PM and as a person
        I started as software engineer out of college where I have great ambition but no direction in the software tech industry.Gayle McDowell's book serves as a torch guiding the unknown path for me.  By reading her books i can start seeing more clearly what is around me (where i am standing) as well as a grand passage of what the journey looks like down the road and how to improve myself in order to progress forward."Cracking the PM Career" is just an amazing resource work done by Jackie Bavaro and Gayle Laakmann McDowellI have been in industry for 15 years now (SWE converted Product Manager), while i have accumulate knowledge & scars along the way as a Product Manager Lead at Meta.  I find it still incredibly helpful to read their books to fill my gaps and extend well-rounded knowledge.  The latest publish shares a lot great knowledge that will help you to be a even greater product manager.I strongly recommend this book to others wether you are an aspiring PM or already a PM, or PM Leader to refine yourself throughout reading!
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        Top reviews from the United States

        Bo-Huei Lin
        5.0 out of 5 stars Great book that will help you as a PM and as a person
        Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2022
        Verified Purchase
        I started as software engineer out of college where I have great ambition but no direction in the software tech industry.

        Gayle McDowell's book serves as a torch guiding the unknown path for me.  By reading her books i can start seeing more clearly what is around me (where i am standing) as well as a grand passage of what the journey looks like down the road and how to improve myself in order to progress forward.

        "Cracking the PM Career" is just an amazing resource work done by Jackie Bavaro and Gayle Laakmann McDowell

        I have been in industry for 15 years now (SWE converted Product Manager), while i have accumulate knowledge & scars along the way as a Product Manager Lead at Meta.  I find it still incredibly helpful to read their books to fill my gaps and extend well-rounded knowledge.  The latest publish shares a lot great knowledge that will help you to be a even greater product manager.

        I strongly recommend this book to others wether you are an aspiring PM or already a PM, or PM Leader to refine yourself throughout reading!
        Customer image
        Bo-Huei Lin
        5.0 out of 5 stars Great book that will help you as a PM and as a person
        Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2022
        I started as software engineer out of college where I have great ambition but no direction in the software tech industry.

        Gayle McDowell's book serves as a torch guiding the unknown path for me.  By reading her books i can start seeing more clearly what is around me (where i am standing) as well as a grand passage of what the journey looks like down the road and how to improve myself in order to progress forward.

        "Cracking the PM Career" is just an amazing resource work done by Jackie Bavaro and Gayle Laakmann McDowell

        I have been in industry for 15 years now (SWE converted Product Manager), while i have accumulate knowledge & scars along the way as a Product Manager Lead at Meta.  I find it still incredibly helpful to read their books to fill my gaps and extend well-rounded knowledge.  The latest publish shares a lot great knowledge that will help you to be a even greater product manager.

        I strongly recommend this book to others wether you are an aspiring PM or already a PM, or PM Leader to refine yourself throughout reading!
        Images in this review
        Customer image
        Customer image
        8 people found this helpful
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        Scott
        5.0 out of 5 stars Would have paid 10x to have this when starting out
        Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2021
        Verified Purchase
        This book is the best Product Management book I've come across. I'm mid to late stage career. Have been co-founder or VP level at several companies. Have lead PM at several startups with successful exits. And with all those decades of experience, there was still good new stuff - to me - in here to learn, and great refreshers on other items.

        As I read the book, I couldn't help thinking of the cliche about "if I'd only known this starting out." I definitely could have used these insights. (Of course, some things are 'sign of the times' specific... there was no "Agile" as it exists today. But that's not so much the point as compared to just having a better starting framework for what does exist in the now; whatever those things may be.) It might be that some things don't really hit home until you have the experience, even if you got the book learning. But still, at least you have a better sense of things if you've been exposed to the concepts.

        This is not a full "Body of Knowledge" (BOK) type work. But it is just full of practical sensible, "this is what you may be facing" type scenarios. New or junior PMs... just get this.
        6 people found this helpful
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        Eric Jeewoong Lee
        5.0 out of 5 stars Textbook for PM (and tech) career
        Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2022
        Verified Purchase
        This is a very comprehensive book detailing the whole arc and every dimension of the PM career with relevance for other tech roles as well. It provides clarity and insights about the PM career trajectory as well as how to build better relationships with your manager, peers, networks. So much gem in this book!

        Note this is more of a foundational summary book. Try other books for more specifics on the execution of daily tasks.
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        Margot MacGill
        4.0 out of 5 stars Great resource, but not a cover-to-cover read
        Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2024
        Verified Purchase
        My recommendation for how to engage with this book most effectively: do a mock interview with a trusted PM at a level higher than you, ask for specific feedback, and read the sections most pertinent to that feedback.

        Reading it cover-to-cover will expose you to information that is useful enough, but often intuitive. If you're a good PM, you'll be efficient with your time.
        Helpful
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        John C
        5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent PM book!
        Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2021
        Verified Purchase
        One of the best PM books on the market. Thorough and worth the entire read. If you’re pressed for time and can’t read the entire book they guide you on which sections to skip to. Jackie and Gayle does an excellent job of describing the day to day as a PM, the tools you’ll need, methodologies to learn, and even how to understand the professionals you’ll work with every day.

        By the end of it you’ll feel sharpened and know exactly what to do to sharpen your game. 500+ pages later I’m still highlighting. Excellent book! 📖🤓
        3 people found this helpful
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        Amazon Customer
        5.0 out of 5 stars The best definitive book to becoming a great Product Manager
        Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2021
        Verified Purchase
        As someone who has been a Product Manager for 15 years across Google, Foursquare, and Slack, my reaction when reading Cracking the PM Career was an audible, "Finally!" Someone finally wrote the best resource for not only navigating the PM career path, but building all the necessary skills to be a great product leader at every stage of one's career.

        I'm often asked for recommendations on what's the best single thing to read as a resource for developing into a world-class PM, and now I finally have the perfect answer.
        4 people found this helpful
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        Amazon User
        5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
        Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2021
        Verified Purchase
        This book is very long, I can't remember if I ever read longer book. But every page is useful and I learned so much.

        I know books of 200 or 300 pages which could be compressed in one chapter and everything else is there just to fill the space and make the book bigger. But in this book there is no useless part. The book is written by someone who knows the craft. Thank you Jackie and Gayle for sharing your knowledge.
        2 people found this helpful
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        Nicole Chao
        5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book
        Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2021
        Verified Purchase
        I transitioned from software engineer to product management role 1+ year ago. Though I had a gut feeling that I fit better in product teams as I always love to look at the product from birds eye view and plan projects for product and drive them instead of just code them, I found this book extremely helpful on the mindset that needs to be shifted, and understand the skill sets that might be needed and improved systematically. Highly recommended.
        5 people found this helpful
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        Top reviews from other countries

        Ebuka
        4.0 out of 5 stars Good start for new Product Managers
        Reviewed in Canada on April 18, 2023
        Verified Purchase
        I have been considering transitioning to Product Management from my Finance field and had been researching materials I could read to help with this transition.

        I got some recommendations about this book and so got it. I have found the content helpful as a good start.

        If you are like me trying to transition, you will find this helpful. I believe it could be helpful as a refresher for those already in the field!
        One person found this helpful
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        Me
        5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
        Reviewed in India on March 26, 2022
        Verified Purchase
        Best book to learn the concepts of Product manager roles and responsibilities. As usual Amazon fast delivery with appropriate packing
        One person found this helpful
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        Feet on the floor
        5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the best books for product managers
        Reviewed in Germany on February 23, 2021
        Verified Purchase
        I am so glad that Jackie and Gayle published this book after the great success of "cracking the pm interview". This new book is amazingly pragmatic, super hands on and translatable into every day life. What I really love is that they cover skills concerning 1) product, 2) execution, 3) strategy, 4) leadership, 5) people management. Followed by chapters around career and a product leader Q&A. They really work out how the skills of chapter 1-3 evolve with a PMs career path.

        The book has over 500 pages packed with insights, with aha moments and really the essence of product management. I am a pretty experienced product leader, however this centres me and takes me out of habits and back to growth trajectory. This book can be read and is valuable to PMs of all career stages.
        One person found this helpful
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        Amazonian
        5.0 out of 5 stars This will lay the foundation for u in the PM role.
        Reviewed in India on July 10, 2021
        Verified Purchase
        Anyone who is aspiring to be a PM should read this book!
        2 people found this helpful
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        Carina Sauter
        5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on PM by far with the most actionable advice
        Reviewed in Germany on May 29, 2021
        Verified Purchase
        I have been reading many books on product management already and this one is by far the most actionable and helpful. The authors really managed to touch everything that makes up product management (and even go beyond) without ever becoming too general and vague. This will be my first recommendation for aspiring Product Managers and Product Leaders. I’m sure I’ll frequently be referring back to it.
        One person found this helpful
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