2 | 2019 ANNUAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCT MARKETING SURVEY
AGE
19-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+
9%
19%
4%
34% 34%
Inside the Profession
A total of 2,474
respondents
participated in
this year’s survey,
representing product
professionals
of all types and
backgrounds from
around the world.
EDUCATION
DOCTORAL DEGREE
MASTER’S DEGREE
BACHELOR’S DEGREE
ASSOCIATE DEGREE
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
40%
3%
43%
2%
1%
“ Address the
widespread gender
bias that permeates
the company.”
– Senior Product Manager, PMC-IV
GENDER
58% 42%
LIKE ITS 18 PREDECESSORS, THE 2019 Pragmatic
Institute Annual Product Management and Product
Marketing Survey is lled with valuable, relevant
data about the product management and product
marketing professions.
The following pages offer a prole of today’s
professionals as well as insights into their day-
to-day pains and gains. This year’s survey also
examined the effect respondents expect articial
intelligence to have on their role in the next few
years (and no, no one said they’re expecting robots
to take their jobs).
As you read through this year’s survey, note
that this icon reflects responses to the
question, “If you could say one thing to your CEO
without fear of retribution, what would it be?” And
when you see this icon, those comments
reflect the open-ended responses to the question,
“How do you see AI and machine learning
impacting your role in the next few years?”
Due to rounding, not all numbers
in this report add to 100.
A combined 11% responded with some
college or master’s education
PRAGMATICINSTITUTE.COM | 3
NUMBER OF PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS HELD
PRAGMATIC INSTITUTE CERTIFICATION (PMC) LEVEL
“ Educate and train
product management
teams to speak the
same language and
carry out their roles
and responsibilities
with the same
philosophy.”
– Global Senior Product Manager, PMC-II
68%
19%
11%
1-3
4-6
0
7+
2%
DID YOU KNOW?
Companies searching for product
professionals on websites like Indeed
and Monster.com frequently look for
candidates with a PMC-III certication
or higher. In 2019, Pragmatic Institute
introduced the
PMC-VII certication.
PROFILE OF THE PROFESSION
PMC- VI
PMC-V
PMC-IV
PMC-III
PMC-II
PMC-I
15 %
40%
7%
10%
14%
14%
4 | 2019 ANNUAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCT MARKETING SURVEY
PARTICIPATING U.S. STATES
PARTICIPATING REGIONS
NORTH AMERICA
81%
ASIA
4%
EUROPE
13%
OCEANIA
2%
Africa, South America and Central America are omitted because the number of responses did not meet the minimum sample size.
Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont are omitted
because the number of responses did not meet the minimum sample size. Other states not listed had zero respondents reporting residence.
PROFILE OF THE PROFESSION
CALIFORNIA
14 %
TEXAS
9%
MASSACHUSETTS
7%
Alabama 1%
Arizona 2%
California 14%
Colorado 5%
Connecticut 1%
District of Columbia
1%
Florida 3%
Georgia 4%
Idaho 1%
Illinois 5%
Indiana 1%
Iowa 1%
Kansas 1%
Maryland 1%
Massachusetts 7%
Michigan 2%
Minnesota 5%
Missouri 1%
Nebraska 1%
Nevada 1%
New Hampshire 1%
New Jersey 3%
New York 3%
North Carolina 4%
Ohio 3%
Oregon 3%
Pennsylvania 4%
South Carolina 1%
Tennessee 1%
Texas 9%
Utah 3%
Virginia 2%
Washington 4%
Wisconsin 2%
YEARS OF PRODUCT EXPERIENCE ROLE WITHIN DEPARTMENT
INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTOR
65%
DEPARTMENT HEAD
27%
EXEC UTIVE
9%
YEARS
13%
33%
0 TO 4
26%
5 TO 9
16%
10 TO 14
11%
15 TO 19 20 OR MORE
NO CURRENT
REVENUE
GENERATED
$1 MILLION
TO
$10 MILLION
$11 MILLION
TO
$50 MILLION
$51 MILLION
TO
$100 MILLION
$101 MILLION
TO
$1 BILLION
$1 BILLION
TO
$10 BILLION
$10 BILLION
OR
MORE
LESS
THAN
$1 MILLION
PRAGMATICINSTITUTE.COM | 5
NUMBER OF PRODUCTS MANAGED
ANNUAL REVENUE
PRODUCTS AND REVENUE
“ Focusing on near-term revenue
opportunities is hurting our
long-term product strategy.”
— Senior Product Manager
1 TO 10
86%
11 TO 20
7%
21 TO 30
2%
31 TO 40
1%
41 TO 50
1%
51 <
3%
“ Focus on employees,
help them pursue
excellence, and the
money will follow.”
– Director, Product Management, PMC-III
PROFILE OF THE PROFESSION
B2B VS. B2C TYPES OF PRODUCTS OFFEREDTECHNICAL SKILL
SOFTWARE
82%
PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES OR
56%
CONSULTING
HOSTED OR
52%
CLOUD SERVICES
HARDWARE 27%
ABOUT EQUAL 9%
B2B 80%
VERY
TECHNICAL
25%
SOMEWHAT
TECHNICAL
66%
NOT
TECHNICAL
9%
B2C 10%
2%
3%
11%
20%
13%
26%
17%
9%
6 | 2019 ANNUAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCT MARKETING SURVEY
The Pains and Gains
THERE’S NEVER BEEN ENOUGH STRATEGIC WORK DONE,
according to Nancy Rourke, PMC-IV, vice president of
product and business development at LIMSABC Technology
who has more than 20 years of experience in product
management. “There are a lot of factors—a lot of people
don’t know what our role is,” she said. “Often, it’s hard to sell
long-term strategy to the boss.”
The good news is, respondents spent more time on
strategic activities this year than last year. Still, the reported
split was 27% strategic vs. 73% tactical—well below the
desired state.
Finding the right balance is “mission impossible,” said
Stephane Blondin, vice president of product management
and marketing for Presagis, the Canadian provider of
modeling, simulation and embedded display graphics
software.
“There is not a single day that goes by when a single
product manager will feel on top of strategic vs. tactical.
People expect a magic answer—which feature will have the
greatest impact on the company’s prots. There is both
art and science in these kinds of decisions,” he said. “The
struggle of strategic vs. tactical is at the core of product
management. If you can’t wear both hats, you will have
trouble being a product manager.”
Flexibility also is critical, according to Adrian Makohon,
PMC-II, head of product management for Germany-based
PRISMA GmBH, which builds and manages capacity
platforms for natural gas throughout Europe. He compared
product managers to reghters. “We have to jump in to
respond to different situations,” he said. “It helps establish
our place in the company.”
And being able to think strategically often is “a question
of carving out time for yourself,” he continued. “Sometimes
you need to be quite ruthless about it.”
Laurie McBrierty, a consultant who spent 15 years as a
vice president of product management in various healthcare-
related businesses, agreed it’s up to the product manager to
establish time for strategic thinking. She used to allot two
36%
Less time
64%
More time
TIME SPENT ON STRATEGIC ACTIVTIES
(year-over-year)
Even as respondents reported spending only 27% of
their time on strategic activities, they believe they
should be spending 53% of their time on them.
hours per week for her product managers to be totally free to
think strategically.
“If you don’t set aside the time, the tactical will always win
out,” she said. “Product managers owe it to themselves to take
the time. Take responsibility, don’t play the victim. If you aren’t
getting the time, you need to have a conversation with your
manager.”
One recurring theme in this year’s survey is
product professionals’ ongoing frustration
at spending more hours in their week
working on tactics rather than strategy.
The things that help you nd the
next market, the next product or
the next innovation
27%
STRATEGIC
ACTUAL TIME SPENT ON STRATEGIC VS. TACTICAL ACTIVITIES
73%
TACTICAL
The things that help with
current business issues
PRAGMATICINSTITUTE.COM | 7
“ Allow product to be more strategic
and solicit input from the market
rather than allow business to dictate
solutions.”
— Senior Product Manager, PMC-III
“ Allow us time to do our research and
our work to deliver on the outcomes
you require and accurately and
completely solve market problems
with our product.”
— Product Manager, PMC-VI
“ Be suspicious of product managers
who spend more time with
PowerPoint than with customers.”
— Manager, Product Management, PMC-III
STRATEGY VS. EXECUTION
STRATEGIC AND TACTICAL BY ROLE
INDIVIDUAL
CONTRIBUTOR
DEPARTMENT
HEAD
EXECUTIVE
TACTICAL
49%
44%
40%
STRATEGIC
51%
56%
60%
HOURS WORKED IN A TYPICAL WEEK
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
LESS THAN 40
HOURS
PERCENT
40 TO 49 50 TO 59 6O OR MORE
INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTOR
DEPARTMENT HEAD
EXECUTIVE
65%
42%
45%
Average percent of time respondents believe should be spent
on both strategic and tactical activites
8 | 2019 ANNUAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCT MARKETING SURVEY
Creating sales collateral for
your target buyer audience
6
5
Personally delivering product
information in support of
existing sales efforts
18
Articulating and prioritizing
product requirements to
development
4
Researching and documenting
the buying process your
target personas use
Producing standard
product presentations
and demo scripts
5
ASSISTING THE SALES CHANNEL WITH
PRODUCT AND MARKET EXPERTISE
CONNECTING BUSINESS PLANS WITH THE TEAMS THAT
DEVELOP AND DELIVER SOLUTIONS
1
Identifying
customer referrals
and references
Creating sales tools
for your sales channel
throughout the sales
process
4
Creating or delivering
training programs to teach
the sales channel how to
sell your product
3
How many hours
product professionals
spend each month
on activities
STRATEGY VS. EXECUTION
ENSURING THE SALES CHANNEL’S ABILITY
TO SELL AND SUPPORT PRODUCTS
3
Measuring and tuning
product marketing plans
to ensure alignment
with corporate goals
2
Dening plans and
budgets for selling
products to new
customers
25
Managing email
OFFICE AND ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS
10
Planning and
communicating your
product roadmap
Analyzing market segments
to support current and
future business
7
Dening plans and
budgets for ensuring
customer loyalty
2
CREATING AND MONITORING
GO-TO-MARKET PROGRAMS
6
Ensuring all departments
are prepared for external
product launch
CREATING PRODUCT STRATEGIES
FOR THE ORGANIZATION’S PRODUCTS
Attending meetings
40
PRAGMATICINSTITUTE.COM | 9
Leveraging Articial Intelligence
THERE MAY BE A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE STRATEGIC TUNNEL as
more organizations look to articial intelligence and machine learning
to improve the way work is done. This year’s survey introduced a new
question, “How do you see AI and machine learning impacting your role
in the next few years?”
Overall responses indicate that AI and machine learning will solve
for repetitive and tactical duties, thus freeing brain power for strategic
thinking.
“With AI, we can spend less time on the routine and more time
focusing on developing meaningful strategies,” said Lisa Quinn,
director of global product marketing for inRiver, an international
provider of SaaS-based product information management systems. “It
will enable us to be closer to our customers and capture a larger share
of their wallets.”
Nick Benecke, a product manager at an Australian digital media
and advertising company, said AI is the perfect tool for providing scale
in a digital transformative age.
“It can help us look for patterns in the data we’ve gathered
and makes for much more valuable requirements for product
enhancements,” he said.
AI can also eliminate built-in human bias, said Greg Council, vice
president of marketing and product management for Parascript, a
document automation business.
“It can provide more accurate information than surveys—people are in a different mindset when they take a survey than they are
while performing a task. They don’t remember things accurately,” he said. “Therefore, a survey wouldn’t be as accurate as AI-generated
data. Observation is valuable but is a huge expense and is time-consuming. AI can work all the data then develop and present insights.”
However, it will be important to balance the integration of AI and machine learning in a way that makes sense for the business.
“An old company I used to work for violated something that I learned at Pragmatic and I worry that it might be the same with AI,”
said LIMSABC Technology’s Nancy Rourke. “Instead of developing a product outside-in, they were thinking inside-out. ‘Here’s a shiny
new toy. Now gure out how to sell it.’ But it should be the opposite—nd a problem to solve using our technology.”
Ultimately, the intelligent use of AI likely will determine the market strength of the business.
“AI will separate those who have invested in tech and those who have not,” said Ross Reynolds, PMC-I, vice president of product
marketing for Marketly, a Bay Area media and software company. “Going
forward, players who have made investments into data analytics will be
comparable. The difference will be those who develop strategic uses.”
The term “augment” came up frequently in relation to how AI will affect
respondents’ jobs. “AI will not replace product managers,” said PRISMA’s
Adrian Makohon. “It is a set of tools that will augment what we do.”
That augmentation will assist across a variety of functions. For example,
it can examine different data points to identify outliers, markets that haven’t
been identied or things like patterns in recorded conversations that may not
have otherwise been seen. With AI, “humans will have the capacity to free
up time,” said Agile Coach Rob Shea, PMC-VI. “Time to problem solve, show
empathy.”
At the same time, it’s important to remember to focus on the human factor.
“It’s the people, leadership, vision and execution that will determine how well
you perform,” Shea said. “5% is the hard skills, data and science. All the rest of
it—the squishy stuff—will determine if you make a dent in the market.”
“ I see AI and ML making it much easier for
me to spot trends, identify potential risks
and quantify opportunities. The hardest
part of these exercises is gathering,
collating and culling the data needed to
conduct the exercises in the rst place!”
— Senior Product Manager, PMC-III
“ Providing more user/customer insights via
data usage patterns that can help guide
customer research and market insights/
trends. Helping product leaders to spot new
market problems or design retention plans.”
— Director of Marketing, PMC-II
“ With the proper
implementation of
AI we can flip the
80/20 model from
80% tactical to 80%
strategic.”
— Product Manager
10 | 2019 ANNUAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCT MARKETING SURVEY
TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES
Performing technology assessment
Performing competitive analysis
Maintaining the roadmap
Managing innovation
Writing product requirements
Dening user personas
Dening use scenarios
Monitoring product milestones
14%
13%
16%
34%
35%
Activities
Despite AI’s abilities, it won’t replace product professionals. Rather, it will develop areas where
the astute product professional who knows how to use it will have that “aha” moment.
BUSINESS ACTIVITIES
Understanding market problems
Performing win/loss analysis
Articulating distinctive competencies
Market denition, sizing and segmentation
Dening distribution strategy for the product
Managing product portfolios
Creating and updating the business plan
Setting and maintaining pricing
Making buy, build or partner decisions
Tracking product protability (e.g., P&L)
Dening positioning
27%
47%
53%
22%
22%
40%
69%
27%
30%
91%
88%
60%
48%
63%
76%
42%
60%
28%
87%
87%
29%
81%
65%
27%
33%
23%
46%
19%
52%
41%
88%
66%
85%
51%
35%
GO-TO-MARKET ACTIVITIES
Dening marketing plans
Measuring ROI of marketing programs
Building customer acquisition plans
Building customer retention plans
Launch planning
Buyer personas
Success stories
Thought leadership
Lead generation
Understanding customer’s buying process
SALES READINESS ACTIVITIES
Providing sales channel training
Creating customer-facing sales collateral
Creating internal sales tools
Creating presentations and demos
Going on sales calls
Stafng seminar and trade show events
Answering sales questions
17%
6%
67%
30%
4%
7%
16%
33%
53%
36%
38%
42%
35%
69%
33%
66%
45%
72%
41%
84%
71%
48%
35%
75%
75%
73%
62%
81%
91%
84%
52%
50%
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
PRODUCT MARKETING
PRAGMATICINSTITUTE.COM | 11
0
1 to 5
6 to 10
11 to 15
16 to 20
73%
2%
5%
HOURS PER
MONTH
NUMBER OF DIRECT REPORTS
Among Department Heads and Executives
0
1 to 5
6 to 10
11 to 15
16 to 20
21 to 25
More than 25
TIME SPENT ENGAGING CUSTOMERS AND EVALUATORS
EMPLOYEES BY DEPARTMENT
WHERE YOU’RE SPENDING TIME
Engineers/developers
Salespeople
Sales engineers or pre-sales consultants
Engineering/development manager
Quality assurance
Project management
Product marketing
Business/systems analyst
Product-level architects or designers
Marketing communications
Product owners
UI/UX/human computing designers
Data scientists
7.1
5.3
1
1
0.9
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.2
58%
11%
23%
4%
1%
1%
1%
“ For the past several years
we have achieved our goals.
Please realize that we also
need a signicant increase in
stafng to continue to support
such aggressive growth
targets.”
— Product Manager
“ Adequate stafng is critical for the
future potential of the business.”
— Product Manager, PMC-II
For every ONE product
manager there is:
1%
0%
4%
21%
16%
37%
37%
68%
1%
0%
4%
25%
Interviewing
customers
Interviewing untapped
potential customers
Conducting win/loss
analyses of recent
evaluators
Customer and evaluator
feedback is critical for
making market-driven
decisions. Yet the vast
majority of respondents
spend less than 5 hours
a month gathering
feedback.
12 | 2019 ANNUAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCT MARKETING SURVEY
WHEN LOOKING AT HOW PAY STACKS UP IN THIS YEAR’S SURVEY, it’s important
to remember that several factors affect employers’ compensation plans. Company
characteristics like industry, size and its philosophy about why it pays what it pays
all factor in—and ignoring those company-specic factors can produce misleading
generalizations, according to Catherine Hartmann, a compensation expert with
global consulting rm Willis Towers Watson.
“We are nding more and more that an employer’s compensation philosophy
influences where the numbers come out,” Hartmann said. “They are thinking more
strategically with their compensation.”
Overall, Hartmann said the numbers in this year’s survey follow national trends. The
overall average salary was $120,633, with male respondents averaging $126,044 and
female respondents averaging $112,189. All salaries shown are in U.S. dollars.
Salary
“ Focus on the
product rather than
getting caught up
in the politically
correct trend of
the day.”
— Product Manager-
Aftermarket Marketing
Creating and executing go-to-market strategies
for products (e.g., working with sales and
marketing, channel support)
$118,571
Deciding what should go in products (e.g.,
gathering requirements from the market,
prioritizing, working with development)
$117,829
SALARY BY ACTIVITIES
$126K $112K
$0 to $100K $101K to $149K $150K or more
AVERAGE SALARY BY GENDER SALARY BREAKDOWN
“ Align compensation based
on value a product manager
brings and spend more on
marketing activities.”
— Market Owner, PMC-IV
46%
39%
40%
30%
14%
31%
MALE FEMALE
Average salary based on where respondents spend the majority of their time
“ Empower women in
this company. Empower
young leaders. Empower
the product team beyond
having a weekly meeting
with us.”
— Product Manager, PMC-III
PRAGMATICINSTITUTE.COM | 13
As with most professions, salaries average higher on the coasts, with Massachusetts ($153,200), California ($151,500) and
Connecticut ($150,000) leading the way. Hartmann said there are some hot spots inland, such as Dallas, Houston, Austin
and Denver. “Generally, it takes only one or two high-paying companies entering the market to cause a hot spot,” she said.
“Bonus and grading
employees on a curve is
really ridiculous.”
— Senior Manager, Provider
Portfolio Marketing, PMC-III
SALARY BY STATE
SALARY BY COUNTRY
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
TOTAL COMPENSATION IN THOUSANDS
AVERAGE SALARY
AVERAGE SALARY
AVERAGE BONUS
AVERAGE BONUS
IRELAND
115,999
AUSTRALIA
105,814
U.S.
145,616
CANADA
106,591
GERMANY
125,582
FRANCE
101,410
NETHERLANDS
107,880
UK
117,340
INDIA
61,798
WHAT YOU’RE WORTH
Arizona
$113,333
$12,000
Idaho
$102,200
$8,100
Oregon
$113,200
$11,094
Washington
$138,750
$17,935
California
$151,518
$19,578
Colorado
$134,889
$14,776
Conneticut
$150,000
$19,182
Maryland
$134,444
$8,813
Virginia
$134,706
$15,955
Georgia
$138,958
$19,439
Alabama
$115,555
$16,857
North Carolina
$120,714
$13,808
Illinois
$132,909
$17,149
Iowa
$114,000
$20,500
Kansas
$107,778
$14,563
Oklahoma
$136,000
$24,750
Texas
$126,131
$14,142
Utah
$115,946
$17,260
Nebraska
$98,750
$8,800
Florida
$110,862
$11,333
Indiana
$111,000
$15,917
New York
$136,786
$17,211
Pennsylvania
$124,211
$15,534
Minnesota
$117,180
$13,500
Nevada
$138,750
$16,250
Ohio
$119,286
$16,025
Michigan
$108,684
$14,088
Wisconsin
$125,556
$15,571
New Jersey
$126,957
$15,421
South Carolina
$100,000
$15,250
New Hampshire
$128,571
$27,000
Massachusetts
$153,226
$19,275
Tennessee
$92,273
$15,100
DENMARK
111,167
FINLAND
81,611
SWEDEN
86,333
SWITZERLAND
148,786
ISRAEL
141,354
District of
Columbia
$102,000
$8,250
14 | 2019 ANNUAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCT MARKETING SURVEY
There also is a difference
in pay from the lowest
level of education
in the survey to the
highest-paying category.
Respondents with
completed master’s
degrees averaged slightly
less than those with
“some master’s,” while
doctorates averaged
about $8,000 less—
possibly affected by a
smaller sample size.
SALARY BY EDUCATION
Associate Bachelor’s DoctoralHigh
school
Master’sSome
college
Some
master’s
$96,300
$108,000
$106,500
$116,500
$128,900
$126,700
$120,300
Average salary based
on number of years in
current role
Not surprisingly, there
is a sizeable difference
from respondents new to
their current role to those
who have been in their
position the longest.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
20 years
$184,000
13 years
$154,545
8 years
$129,130
< 1 year
$112,565
SALARY BY TIME IN CURRENT ROLE
THE MORE PEOPLE ARE PAID, THE MORE SATISFIED THEY ARE:
“ Total rewards (compensation
packages that include benets
such as healthcare, retirement
investment, work-life balance,
flexible work arrangements) are
important,” Hartmann said, “but
competitive pay is still the major
driver. It’s what makes people take
jobs and leave jobs.”
Very satised
$146,400
Very dissatised
$100,698
Somewhat dissatised
$106,601
Satised
$121,592
WHAT YOU’RE WORTH
PRAGMATICINSTITUTE.COM | 15
Product’s Point of View
A Look Foward
ON THE SURFACE, THE RESULTS OF THIS YEAR’S SURVEY seem similar to past years’ results.
However, a deeper dive shows that product management and product marketing are developing and
growing as professions, requiring today’s professionals to also develop and grow.
For example, this year’s respondents reported having more professional certications than in 2018,
thus reflecting an increased focus on professional development. Likewise, 83% of respondents said
continuing education and certications are either “somewhat” or “very” important to their future career
growth, compared with 79% of last year’s respondents.
And, while the expected effects of articial intelligence and machine learning aren’t viewed the same
among participants, advancing technology and demands on time are undeniable. For companies to not
only survive but also thrive in a changing world, product professionals must arm themselves with an
understanding of and appreciation for data and how it can be leveraged to make better decisions.
Pragmatic Institute thanks this year’s respondents for participating in the 2019 Annual Product
Management and Product Marketing Survey. The insights gained continue to support this survey’s
reputation as not only the longest-running, but also the most credible report in the profession.
ROLE OF DATA
MARKET FOCUS
ROLE OF PRODUCT
COMPANY CULTURE
“ We need to validate
the market and its
requirements with more
data and less internal
opinion.”
“ Stop chasing the
perceived market,
segment the market
correctly and use that
information to make a
data-driven decision of
the company strategy.”
“ Listen to data and stop
pretending you are the
only one that knows
how to revolutionize the
market.”
“ We need to make more
decisions based on data/
analysis and fewer on
your gut or your desire to
try something out.”
“ Invest further in our data
and analytics capabilities
(AI, ML) to provide a
platform for growth.”
“ Keep working towards
being a data-driven
organization and listen to
the recommendations of
your staff. They’re smart
people.”
“ Build a culture of risk
taking. The current
culture is highly
conservative and risk
averse. It is very hard to
compete in our industry
with such a culture.
We must change or
we will be killed off.
Make experimentation
a goal for every product
manager.”
“ Even the CEO needs to
take these courses and
reflect on the content. It
only works if everyone
adopts this mindset.”
“ Give product a seat at the
table. Trust and respect
the role and let us do our
job.”
“ Hire a Chief Product
Ofcer and give them the
authority to restructure
the company to be
product-centric.”
“ Give product
management a leader
at the top of the
organization.”
Respondents had a lot to say in response to the question, “If you could say one thing to your CEO without fear of retribution, what
would it be?” Here are some additional insights into the minds of today’s professionals.
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