Review of: Product Mastery - From Good to Great Product Ownership

This review is based on an incomplete pdf copy of Product Mastery that was shared with the reviewer, which therefore limits discussion of the book.

Geoff Watts, author of Scrum Mastery, has now released Product Mastery: From Good to Great Product Ownership, published by Inspect & Adapt Ltd. The book contains two Forewards by Jeff Sutherland and Roman Pichler, both masters in the field of Scrum management.

The prose Watts uses is straightforward and provides an easy and intelligent read even for the layman, with graphs and illustrations that illuminate his ideas.

The book is built around the idea of DRIVEN, an acronym Watts uses to discuss the traits and characteristics of a great product owner. The book uses each letter as headings, i.e. D = Decisive, R = Ruthless, I = Informed, V = Versatile, E = Empowering, and N = Negotiable. Each heading offers pragmatic advice into the many responsibilities of being a product owner. I will give a few snippets of some insights that Watts shares.

In the first section, entitled “Decisive,” Watts creates stories and discussion that show how product owners need to have courage and trust themselves and others to make decisions, often with incomplete information. He gives strategies to make the decision-making process easier, such as reducing the number of options a product master is considering, and prioritizing. He cites Edison as once famously saying, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Under “Ruthless” Watts shares a mantra used by product owners: “If the product is going to fail, then I would rather it fail in month 2 than month 22.” In other words, it is better to develop the wrong thing quickly and get feedback, than wait too long in an effort to make sure no mistakes are ever made.

The third section is called “Informed.” Watts includes a quote by Roman Pichler, author of Agile Product Management with Scrum, who told him: “Customer feedback is the basis for ideas. Customer data is the basis for decisions.” Watts then cites the experience of a company that creates mobile games. Rather than ask for ratings or feedback, the company monitors actual usage of their games.

In “Versatile” Watts advises product owners to “remain flexibly firm.”

Under the last heading, “Negotiable,” he outlines games to play when negotiating attributes of a product. In this section Watts makes it clear that product owners need to be careful to not fall into the trap of being a perfectionist. He writes: “The temptation to just add a little extra here or there is very strong; but those little bits here or there quickly add up and can easily lead to significant delays, not to mention an unnecessarily cumbersome product to support.”

Product Mastery is a book that is sure to attract a wide readership as it provides a balance

between vision, direction and execution. Wisely, Watts is not dogmatic in his style. He gives numerous approaches to the items under a product owner’s watch. He writes: “Great product owners know how to find the right middle ground, one with an appropriate balance of data and intuition – and a good measure of courage.”

I personally will be adding Product Mastery to BERTEIG’s book offerings for our Certified Scrum Product Owner attendees to consider.

Product Mastery: From Good to Great Product Ownership (282 pp)

Table of Contents

Foreward – Jeff Sutherland

Foreword by Roman Pichler

DECISIVE 26

RUTHLESS 64

INFORMED 102

VERSATILE 144

EMPOWERING 180

NEGOTIABLE 222

Be DRIVEN to Be Great 264

Available at Amazon.

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