Know the Struggle. The struggle moments, needs, expectations, jobs-to-be-done, and context of those that use the software (hiring managers, people managers, applicants, and employees).

Paint the Picture. Most of the Quad's top job is communication. Bringing clarity to would-be chaos. The chaos of the unknown and uncertain. We do this with prototypes, videos, and a variety of workshops and assets. Designers are the keys to productive collaboration... Which is a vital ingredient towards our goal of delivering value!

Shape the Value. All members of the Quad, must be a part of discovering the solutions and shaping the intended value (we call this being a Value Shaper). Designers are at the forefront because the user job-to-be-done is such an important part of the equation.

State the Possible. Marty Cagan is well known for saying [1, 2] "If you’re just using your engineers to code, you’re only getting about half their value." A big reason why... I'll use yet another Marty quote: "they’re working with the enabling technology every day, so they’re in the best position to see what’s just now possible". All members of the Quad, must be a part of discovering the solutions and shaping the intended value (we call this being a Value Shaper)... stating the possible and helping ensure we are continuously learning are critical to the Quad's success

Continuously Be Learning. Delivering on a project is table stakes. Breaking up a project into minimal progressable unit takes the type of skill we look for! What is a Minimal Progressable Unit (MPU)? Progress is defined as either; (1) adding value to customer (2) adding clarity to stakeholders about what is possible and what is coming (3) re-risking an initiative. Above all a MPU is about learning. If there is an opportunity to learn, we must take advantage by being vigilant and constantly on the lookout. This means valuing effectiveness over efficiency. Efficient being "we can build all of this if we stay focused in X time" vs "we can build this chuck in Y time... but we'll learn if building Z is worth it if we pause there... yes it'll be more time overall, but we'll be learning along the way".

Possible into Reality. The other three members of the Quad are dedicated to a Base. Meaning they serve multiple squads. However, tech leads are dedicated to a single squad. Why? Primarily because we expect the tech lead to be a deep expert in the functional area their squad is responsible for. Including the tech debt and other head winds. These head winds are mentioned here because they are one of the many factors that have to be addressed in the journey towards value delivered. Ultimately, squads design, build, and then are responsible for the operations of the software. The tech lead is at the center of the responsibility in turning what is discussed as possible into a reality that exceeds our thresholds of quality.

Know the Market. CareerPlug uses the phrase front and back of the house to delineate between those tasked with bringing in new clients and partners (sales and marketing aka front-of-the-house) and those relied upon to ensure those that come in get results that inspire them to love us (client/partner experience and operations aka back-of-the-house). Growth Product Managers are responsible for being the liaisons of the front-of-the-house in that we will know the market our base is serving (HIRE and RETAIN, specifically) nearly as well as anyone in the world. We will know the competitors, the talk tracks, the objection handling, and the strategies we employ in the markets we target. This includes but is not limited to ensuring sales and marketing have what they need when it is time to launch new or enhanced offerings. All members of the Quad, must be a part of discovering the solutions and shaping the intended value (we call this being a Value Shaper)... knowing the market and helping ensure we are aware of how we stack up against competitors and what our buyers are thinking depending on the phase they are in within the demand-side-sales journey are critical to the Quad's success.

Power Early Adoption. We've learned that our product aspiration is one where we believe "whoever is closest to the customer, wins". This requires frequent and direct client and partner interaction. This comes in the form of a Partner Advisory Board (PAB), a potential future Customer Advisory Board (CAB), and our continuous delivery and learning system where we put early versions of our offerings and we call this the Lab. All of these require us to build relationships to drive adoption of these programs. A Minimal Progressable Unit (MPU) that is put in the Lab, and no one uses – no learning can be gained from that. As Growth Product Managers we ensure that does not happen. 

Self-Serve Science. This position is similar to a Product Marketing Manager. The biggest differences are that PMMs focus heavily on running with new offerings after they are built, sales enablement, and new customer acquisition. GPMs focus being a direct member of the Product Squad through the entire lifecycle (from inception of idea to operationalization of the offering), provide sales and marketing with ingredients to do sales enablement but aren't directly accountable for sales enablement, and focus almost exclusively on AFTER a client has signed up (focusing on trial success, expansion, and retention). Our model and annual contract value is such that our clients MUST do the majority of the best actions without the help of a human on a call. We pride ourselves on having world class customer service, but when you have a team of approximately 100 total serving SMB clients measured in the tens of thousands, most actions will have to be taken without human intervention. As GPMs we will be trial success, expansion, retention, and new value / early adoption scientists. We get people to do what's best for them, by speaking their language.

Know the Business. CareerPlug has multiple distribution strategies (because of this we have multiple types of account management), a variety of customer sizes (from small-business clients to very large Enterprise partners), a collection of payment models, among other operational complexities. We'll use the phrase front and back of the house to delineate between those tasked with bringing in new clients and partners (sales and marketing aka front-of-the-house) and those relied upon to ensure those that come in get results that inspire them to love us (client/partner experience and operations aka back-of-the-house). Product Managers are responsible for being the liaisons of the back-of-the-house in that we will know the operational business incredibly well. When it comes time to launch, the squad knows they can rely on us to represent the every part of the business outside of sales and marketing. All members of the Quad, must be a part of discovering the solutions and shaping the intended value (we call this being a Value Shaper)... knowing the business is vital to Stakeholder Management, Goal Management, and ultimately understanding the business viability... Which are all critical to the Quad's success.

Usher the Outcomes. Every six months, every squad is asked to discover and deliver solutions aimed at 1-3 strategic OKRs. As PMs we ensure the Quad understands the reason these OKRs were chosen, what the alternatives were, and how we'll measure them. We will then ensure the Quad establishes quarterly OKRs that put us in the best position to exceed the strategic KRs. This process would be much easier if there was a single leader on the Quad. However, there isn't and therefore we must facilitate forward progress and use influence and molding consensus tactics. Ensure everyone understands and is heard... And clarify what the decision is and navigate any disagreements and uncertainties (this is B2B SaaS... we participate in the art of making decisions with limited information). Once the quarterly OKRs for the squad are set, we must continue our Forward Progress Facilitation as well as ensuring we are not trying to "inspect quality in" but we are "building quality in" from the start. From understanding the context of the goals, to facilitating the setting of them, to the communication and reflection on them... PMs are truly ushers through the goal lifecycle.

Up To Date. In some organizations a Product Owner or Product Manager is just a different title for Project Manager or maybe Scrum Master. At CP the Product Manager position more resembles the responsibilities defined in books such as Inspired and Continuous Discovery Habits. Let's recap... where as the other three members of the Quad are focused on specific parts of the Constellation Metrics, us PMs must be aware of the fact that systems theory teaches us that they are all connected. Making connections, providing context, and translating between domain-specific language with expert skill. Can speak the lingo of Design when they talk about information architecture, design systems, and principles of Lean UX, etc... While being fluent in the language of engineering when they talk about tech debt, refactors, and needing to do a spike, dive, or a feasibility prototype, etc... While also switching seamlessly to the language of Growth and their TOFU, BOFU, email sequences, pirate metrics, etc... All while speaking the language of the operations side of the business and their account management philosophies, customer support aspirations to move from transactional to consultative, and traversing the web of billing. Because PMs are required to be multi-lingual in this way, it makes them the perfect people to ensure everyone is up-to-date on the squad; (1) Strategy (2) Quarterly Objectives (3) Solution Discovery (4) Progress of "Up Next" (5) How the previously launched offerings are doing (6) Insights that will lead to better decision making such as future strategy, objectives, and solution discovery. Which is why we are the Sorecers of Truth. Not just for stakeholders, but for the S(Q)uad itself.