Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a voracious reader (much better reader than I am writer or speller btw). I read as much as I possibly can for work and for pleasure. I probably spend nearly a thousand dollars a year on books, the most expensive of which are books related to technology and design (recently dropped $75 on a human factors book that I probably won’t get to for another couple of weeks).
The interesting thing is that I can’t remember ever seeing a book on web product management. There are tons of books on user experience design, hci, usability, design best practices, software and web project management, and development. I own a bunch of them enjoyed most of them (you’ll be able to check out my favorites on my reading list if I ever get the time to update it), but have never seen one related to what I’ve spent over half of my career doing – web product management and community development. In fact, with all of the web 2.0 hype, I’ve never even seen a book on social media and online community management (there are some books about blogging and I think I even saw one on citizen journalism once). Maybe it’s because I haven’t looked hard enough or that I’m looking in all of the wrong places. Another theory I have is that product managers aren’t interested in writing books because they’re so damn paranoid about their success. You’ll notice that designers and developers write quite a bit, developers probably the most of all, especially if you include open source code. They don’t seem to be protective of their knowledge because they know their true value is in their ability to build/create.
Product managers, on the other hand, rely heavily on others to build/create/maintain their products. It could be that they (we) fear that once the secrets of their success are published anyone will be able to do the job. There’s probably more to it than that, like trade secrets, the possibility of being sued, no time to write, and complete inability to explain success or failure. The statement, “I don’t know why it worked, but it did” comes to mind.
I’d appreciate comments and thoughts on this matter. I know I’d buy a book on web product management if one existed. I’d even try to write one given the opportunity.
Sphere: Related Content