Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products
by Marty Cagan & Chris Jones · 2020
In a nutshell
A comprehensive guide to product leadership by Marty Cagan and Chris Jones from Silicon Valley Product Group. The book reveals how leading tech companies enable their people to work together to solve hard problems and create extraordinary products through empowered product teams.
Overview
EMPOWERED tackles head-on the reason why most companies fail to truly leverage the potential of their people to innovate: product leadership. Published by the Silicon Valley Product Group, this book complements INSPIRED by focusing specifically on the leadership side of building great product organizations.
Core Insight
Most people think the top tech companies' innovation comes from hiring exceptional talent. However, the real advantage these companies have is not so much who they hire, but rather how they enable their people to work together to solve hard problems and create extraordinary products.
The vast majority of the members of these companies' product teams are actually ordinary people. The important difference lies in how they are led and empowered.
Key Topics Covered
Building Empowered Product Teams
- Creating the right organizational structure
- Hiring and developing product talent
- Building high-performing product teams
- Establishing effective product culture
Product Leadership
- The role of product leaders in enabling teams
- Setting product vision and strategy
- Making effective product decisions
- Managing stakeholder relationships
Scaling Product Organizations
- Growing product teams sustainably
- Maintaining quality as you scale
- Building repeatable processes
- Developing product leaders internally
Target Audience
EMPOWERED is essential reading for product leaders of companies building technology products, including:
- CEOs and founders
- Heads of Product
- Product Directors and VPs
- Engineering and Design Leaders
- Anyone responsible for building product organizations
Relationship to INSPIRED
While INSPIRED is aimed at product managers and product teams showing them how to discover and deliver technology products customers love, EMPOWERED targets product leaders showing them how to create the environment where product teams can thrive.
Together, these books provide a complete framework for building successful product organizations.
About the Authors
Marty Cagan is the founder of the Silicon Valley Product Group and has been an executive responsible for defining and building products for some of the most successful companies in the world, including Hewlett-Packard, Netscape Communications, and eBay. He has coached hundreds of teams at companies ranging from startups to global enterprises.
Chris Jones brings extensive experience in product leadership across multiple companies and has been a key contributor to SVPG's methodologies.
Recognition
Considered essential reading in the product management community and widely adopted by product leaders at top technology companies.
Availability
Published by Wiley, available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats through major retailers including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Reference
Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products — publisher / official page. Summary adapted from the Awesome Startup Books collection.
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