Book Notes: “The Professional Product Owner: Leveraging Scrum as a Competitive Advantage”

I have been making my way through the book The Professional Product Owner: Leveraging Scrum as a Competitive Advantage by Don McGreal and Ralph Jocham. Many consider this the go-to manual for those interested in becoming Product Owners within the Scrum Framework, and much of the Scrum.org Product Owner training course material is based on content from this book.

Here are some of the key notes I took from book…

• A project mindset has a more “inside-out” view that focuses on scope, time, and budget, which leads to less business involvement and more task management. In contrast, a product mindset looks “outside-in” by focusing on more frequent releases which results in earlier feedback from the marketplace, communicates objectives instead of tasks, teams take more ownership over their plans, and eliminates waste.

• The three “Vs” of Product Management are: Vision, Value, and Validation.

• A product is defined as anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need.

• The Business Model Canvas consists of nine areas: Customer Segments, Value Propositions, Channels, Customer Relationships, Revenue Streams, Key Activities, Key Resources, Key Partners, and Cost Structures. Other tools like the BMC include the Lean Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas.

• The only way to deliver value is to RELEASE!

• Evidence Based Management is a framework organizations can use to help them measure, manage, and increase the value they derive from their product delivery. EBM focuses on improving outcomes, reducing risks, and optimizing investments.

You can find The Professional Product Owner: Leveraging Scrum as a Competitive Advantage on Amazon. I recommend adding it to your Kindle app, and while you are at it, consider subscribing to a Kindle Unlimited membership, which gets you access to millions of ebooks and thousands of audiobooks to enjoy on any device, all for a low monthly subscription price.