Читать книгу EMPOWERED - Marty Cagan - Страница 11

In this book, I want to share and highlight the differences between how the best companies create technology‐powered products and how most companies create products.

The differences are both fundamental and striking.

The differences certainly include what many people think of as “product culture,” but strong product companies often have very different cultures from one another, so it clearly goes beyond that.

For example, consider Amazon, Google, Apple, and Netflix. I would argue all four are very strong product companies, having consistently innovated for many years, yet they each have very different cultures.

I still believe culture is extremely important, but there is something about great product companies that is more fundamental.

It comes down to the views they have on the role of technology, the purpose of the people who work on the technology, and how they expect these people to work together to solve problems.

Moreover, I don't think it's an accident that, despite their different cultures, these four companies have the most important elements in common.

What I will try to do in this book is untangle the parts of the cultures of these companies that are more a reflection of their founders' personalities from those that are essential to consistent innovation.

I want to share the important lessons I've learned regarding what separates the best from the rest.

One surprising common thread among many of the best product companies is the legendary coach, Bill Campbell. During their formative years, Bill literally provided executive coaching to the founders of Apple, Amazon, and Google, as well as several others.

To get a sense of Bill's views and values, here is one of my favorite quotes about the role of leadership in a strong product company:

Leadership is about recognizing that there's a greatness in everyone, and your job is to create an environment where that greatness can emerge.

This book is all about identifying what makes such an environment, and I want to encourage you to consider adopting these important practices and behaviors.

Please note that I am not arguing that these strong product companies are models of virtue. All of them have been justifiably criticized about some of their policies and practices.¹

But when it comes to the ability to consistently innovate, all four of these companies have demonstrated their skills, and I believe there is much to be learned from them.

At the core, I see three critically important differences between the strongest product companies and the rest:

The first is how the company views the role of technology.

The second is the role their product leaders play.

The third is how the company views the purpose of the product teams—the product managers, product designers, and engineers.

Let's take a closer look at each of these.