Working on a new product or project, especially in an established company or environment, can be quite chaotic! And I do not mean for the Product Manager (PM) or the involved team of developers, designers and marketeers. It can be also chaotic -or even worse totally indifferent and boring, for the CEOs and directors, the support team, the accounting department, the secretary and even the sweet cleaning lady making sure you have a wonderful work environment to be creative in.
OK, probably the cleaning lady doesn’t give a dime about your product, you’re not the center of the universe… 😉
Have you ever wondered why your developers don’t really understand why the heck you went crazy about that specific bug, or your support agent didn’t really got why her response lacked of empathy according to your point of view? Why nobody seems interested in speeding up things, or working that little extra mile, or putting that little extra attention to detail? Am I nuts? Am I the only one caring here? Ahhhhhhhhhhhh… Sorry, had to slap my face and pull myself together!
Repeat after me: I am not the center of the universe
To begin with people are busy. They have stuff to do, specific hours to work and their own lives to live. Ain’t nobody got time for your silly poop darling! If you cannot grab the attention of your colleagues with your project, do not expect to grab any attention of customers and users! So, if you want their full engagement, you need to use your enthusiasm to make some noise and bring everyone on the same page with you!
What you need to do is to “pitch” your idea to your team. You are the super happy excited PM behind this great (… or nah) idea! Moreover, you are the person who knows “what we do” and “why we do” it! It is in your responsibility to share the enthusiasm, the vision and the problem your product solves to the whole team. And you should do that quite early!
Problems, problems everywhere
Does a problem “give birth” to a product, or a product “gives birth” to a problem? No, no, nope! Don’t focus on creating a product that solves a problem that others haven’t addressed yet. I am really sorry if that’s what you did. Already tried it and failed, many times.
Although solving a problem is the fundamental thinking behind every startup, it is also one of the reasons why more than 90% fail (approx., didn’t google it). Plus, I would really appreciate it, if you could try to control your brain from copycating. We have already discussed about that 😉 What I mean is find THE problem.
Houston we have… the problem
The problem! That real concern that “eats” our human brain and soul from the inside. That fear, that wish, that desire, that need that powers our actions, and especially your target audience’s actions. Everybody cares a lot about something, or some things or many things, even if she hasn’t realised it yet!
Does a rapper wear a golden chain because it’s fashionable? No, he wears it to show that he made it, probably all the way from the ghetto. Do you buy an iPhone because it’s better than an Android, does it really solve a problem? No, you buy it because of the status that comes with its price tag and brand (Ok some do it for the security, but that’s not you!). Do all those people buying jeeps really explore wild mountains, secluded beaches and jungles often? Nope, it represents the adventurous character they want to show to themselves and their environment. They want to feel alive!
Spot that real issue, write it down, explain with passion why you want to solve this problem. Be careful! If it’s not also your problem or if you won’t make it your own, probably you will never care enough to actually solve it in a way a person that really cares would. I know, it’s tricky! However, all you need is love about your product and the reason why you want to solve it will come naturally! This my friend will be your 1st Project Brief!
1. Project Brief
In practice, this means you will write down a maximum of one page of content, starting with a title followed by 3 very specific questions, followed by 3 specific short answers. For example:
My life’s project brief
1 What problem do we solve?
All we need is love, true unconditional caring that matters. But we don’t really realise it, we don’t pay enough attention, we don’t forgive, we don’t try, we put ourselves above everything and we consume ourselves with products, people and activities that do not really matter. At the end, we still feel lonely and sad.
2. Why we want to solve this problem?
Because many happy loving persons… can change our world as we know it!
3. How do we measure success?
By counting how much love we give, not how much love we get. By measuring how happy we make the ones we care about. Because no matter what you do or accomplish, if there’s nobody to share it with, it ceases to exist.
Ok probably here you need stats, such as product fit (LTV/CAC), NPS score, No of purchases etc.
And you are done 🙂 Your version of a short to the point project brief is what you are going to present to your colleagues. You can also turn it to a 4 slide presentation, but do not forget to present it yourself!
What’s the price?
Sorry mamma, this is going to be covered in the next post!
“If it makes you happy, it is worth it! Happiness is priceless.”