Take a moment to think about something that you use many times a week. Why do you use that thing? What value is it providing to you?
One of these things for me is Microsoft OneNote. I use it as a place to capture all of my thoughts, study, and notes. It synchronizes to the cloud, is free, available on all my devices and even allows me to draw my ideas and concepts with a pen. I do not have to pay for storage (like some services) and it is effectively my second brain. If I want to make sure something does not get lost, then I will jot it down in OneNote.
We use products every day because they solve problems for us and help us to make progress in our lives. Product managers know this, and excellent product managers are relentless in their search for the right problem to solve and obsess about solving that problem so the “user” can make progress in their life.
In product management there is a saying that goes something like this:
You must either solve a novel problem that many people have or solve an existing problem 10x better.
The idea behind this saying is when a problem for a customer is solved clearly and powerfully, they will share it with others. This works for both parts of the quote. If a novel problem (that has no current real solution) is solved, then it will be shared with others. If a problem is solved 10x better than a previous solution, then it will be shared with others.
The connection I made this week from product to learning is found in the sharing. When you share something with others you are doing a form of teaching. Sharing reinforces the value of the product. This leads to usage and when used repeatedly over time builds a habit. Habitual progress (problem being solved) then leads to more sharing and usage. It is following the learning cycle and leadership flywheel.
What this means is every learning professional should design and build their learning experiences like product managers. Focus on the problem, teach people how to overcome challenges and make progress in their lives. It is about being relentless in our service to the user/learner.
What does this spark for you? I want to learn more about product management and the links that could be made in learning experiences. Please shoot me a note, I would love to hear your ideas.
