The Debate Club has been one of my favorite parts of ProductCraft since we launched — it’s fun to see our debaters get excited about issues that are being debated on their teams, and occasionally strongly disagree with each other. On a weekly basis, they have shown that there’s no shortage of opinions among product leaders when it comes to the scope of the PM role, how to effectively manage product teams, how to build consensus, and which metrics are most predictive of success. In March, we staged the first live debate on stage at Pendomonium 2018, with guest debaters and some questions from the audience. Our panelists debated where PMs should report, how to set processes the right processes for product teams, and what kind of background makes a great product leader.
Our panelists were:
- Brigitte Eder, Senior Product Manager at Outreach.io
- Cliff Gilley, The Clever PM
- Steve Johnson, author of the Under10 Playbook
- Deb Woods, VP of Product Management, Relias Learning
Starting this summer, we’re taking the Debate Club on the road, with new panelists in each city — the first one will take place June 20 in Seattle with Megan Quinn of Spark Capital moderating. If you’re in the area, we hope to see you there!