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Andres is a freelance writer and digital marketer with a background in engineering and a keen interest in the latest technology advancements. He currently helps tech companies and startups tell their stories by turning their complex ideas into easy to understand material. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn

Andres Phillips

<p>What constitutes real product experience? In this <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/producttank/">ProductTank</a> London talk, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithmerriman/?originalSubdomain=uk">Keith Merriman</a>, Senior Product Owner at The AA, explains how to deliver complex products and three things that helped him during his career as a product manager.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Watch the video to see Keith’s talk in full or read on for an overview of his key points:</p>
<ul>
<li>Understand the theories but be flexible</li>
<li>Remind yourself about simplicity</li>
<li>Think like Columbo</li>
</ul>
<h2>Understand the theories but be flexible</h2>
<p>Throughout Keith’s career, three things bothered him. He had never worked in a startup, never disrupted anything, and never worked as a product manager in the way the product books said. However, he found that while these things are important, they aren’t the only way to be a product manager.</p>
<p>While creating digital sales channels at a previous role, the number one outcome was to be compliant by a specific deadline. He couldn’t A/B test, and there was only one shot at getting it right. Keith found that when dealing with legacy systems and several staff members, waterfall can sometimes be a friend</p>
<p>In some cases, the agile approach doesn’t work, but waterfall exists. It’s essential, therefore, for product managers to build their knowledge in multiple areas and focus on outcomes, not outputs. How you reach a product goal is less important than actually getting there.</p>
<h2>Remind yourself about simplicity</h2>
<p>As a product manager, it can be easy to lose yourself in the details of complex products and become a subject matter expert. In businesses with lots of processes, detail and culture can sometimes make you blind to obvious, simple solutions. Therefore, you should be wary of the details and use someone a little farther away from the action as a sounding board on your approach to certain tasks.</p>
<h2>Think like Columbo</h2>
<p>Keith draws on an example of an old detective TV show to hammer home his point about how to navigate complex situations by having the right mindset. Four mindsets are crucial to being a successful and influential product person, and product managers should employ these mindsets, just like Detective Columbo, to achieve success with complex products:</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Explorer:</span> Imagine possibilities and brainstorm options</li>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evangelist: </span>Know when to focus and when to motivate the team to a singular goal</li>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Analyst:</span> Gather data to discover hidden gems</li>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Challenger</span>: Ask questions to eliminate less promising paths</li>
</ul>
<h2>Enjoy more from ProductTank</h2>
<p>ProductTanks are informal meetups, created by <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mind the Product</a>, to bring local product people together and to enable speakers to share amazing product insights. Today we have ProductTanks in more than 200 cities across the globe and there’s probably one near you.</p>
<p>Learn more about <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/producttank-about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ProductTank</a> – find your local meetup, explore more ProductTank content, see the latest ProductTank news, and discover ways to get involved!</p>

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