‘There’s a huge demand’: Why product manager is the new pivotal role at publishers

By Max Willens, Digiday

Product managers have become the must-have new hire for publishers.

Nearly a year into its first chief product officer’s reign, Bloomberg Media has grown its number of product managers from 10 to 14; Vox Media now employs 10 product managers, up from seven last year, after adding three to look after facets of Concert, its ad network, and Chorus, the homegrown publishing platform it also licenses to third parties; and over the past two years, the Washington Post has tripled the number of product managers it employs, attaching one to every single internal and external project it operates…

https://digiday.com/media/product-manager-pivotal-role-publishers/

h/t Graziella Jackson

The CIO Problem →

The CIO Problem

"The CIO Problem, Part 1" by Jen Pahlka, Code for America

"I’d like to share one thing I tell pretty much everyone I speak with who’s looking for great digital talent.... You may be recruiting for the wrong job. Most... folks who reach out are looking to fill either a position for a Chief Information Officer or a Chief Innovation Officer. But both of these jobs are framed in such a way that it can be almost impossible to succeed in them, and the candidate you want is also the candidate who can see that, and won’t take the job."

https://medium.com/code-for-america/the-cio-problem-part-1-678ae2e9d0bf

The Digital Services Playbook →

The Digital Services Playbook, by the United States Digital Service (USDS)

Today, too many of our digital services projects do not work well, are delivered late, or are over budget. To increase the success rate of these projects, the U.S. Government needs a new approach. We created a playbook of 13 key “plays” drawn from successful practices from the private sector and government that, if followed together, will help government build effective digital services.

https://playbook.cio.gov/

How to hire a product manager →

"How to Hire a Product Manager" by Ken Norton

I’ll take a wickedly smart, inexperienced PM over one of average intellect and years of experience any day. Product management is fundamentally about thinking on your feet, staying one step ahead of your competitors, and being able to project yourself into the minds of your colleagues and your customers.

https://library.gv.com/how-to-hire-a-product-manager-6be89e3533fd

The Great Infrastructure and Operations Divide →

By Rachel Dines for Forrester Research

While we can't stop the treadmill, I have seen some organizations slow it down enough to spend more time and money on new initiatives. How, you might be wondering? The key is in the organizational separation of the infrastructure (engineering/design) groups from the operations groups.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-great-infrastructure-and-operations-divide/