The best 13 Product Management books

1
Unreasonable Hospitality

Unreasonable Hospitality

Will Guidara
The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect
4.4 (235 ratings)

What's Unreasonable Hospitality about?

Unreasonable Hospitality (2022) illustrates how surpassing expectations can take your service-based business to the next level. Through a collection of anecdotes and firsthand experiences, it imparts valuable insights into customer service, as well as employee management.

Who should read Unreasonable Hospitality?

  • Hospitality professionals
  • Anyone in the service industry
  • Business owners and leaders

2
How Big Things Get Done

How Big Things Get Done

Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner
The Surprising Factors Behind Every Successful Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration
4.0 (109 ratings)

What's How Big Things Get Done about?

How Big Things Get Done (2023) explores what it takes to make large-scale projects work. It tackles tough questions like why so many big projects fail, and what makes the ones that succeed stand out from the rest. With real-life success stories as well as cautionary tales, its lessons can be applied to projects of any size, shape, or form. 

Who should read How Big Things Get Done?

  • Project managers looking to hone in their skills
  • Anyone about to embark on a new project or start a new business
  • Fans of Elon Musk wanting to learn how he works his magic

3
Continuous Discovery Habits

Continuous Discovery Habits

Teresa Torres
Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value
4.2 (227 ratings)

What's Continuous Discovery Habits about?

Continuous Discovery Habits (2021) explores how product managers and designers can keep making a positive impact on their customers’ lives. It explores an optimal decision-making process for product teams, so that they can continue to improve their offerings. 

Who should read Continuous Discovery Habits ?

  • Product managers looking for a new way of working
  • Entrepreneurs seeking a fresh perspective on creativity
  • Product designers

4
Inspired

Inspired

Marty Cagan
How To Create Products Customers Love
4.4 (398 ratings)

What's Inspired about?

Inspired describes the best practices of creating successful software products and explains the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them. The lessons are applicable in a range of product environments, from fledgling start-ups to large corporations.

Who should read Inspired?

  • Anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes view of how great software products are created
  • Anyone working or wishing to work in software product management
  • Anyone hoping to build innovative software products

5
Scrum

Scrum

Jeff Sutherland
The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time
4.5 (280 ratings)

What's Scrum about?

Learn all about Scrum, the project management system that has revolutionized the technology industry. This is a uniquely adaptive, flexible system that allows teams to plan realistically and adjust their goals through constant feedback. By using Scrum, your team can improve their productivity (and the final result) without creating needless stress or working longer hours.

Who should read Scrum?

  • Anyone whose business is struggling to make ends meet
  • Anyone who wants to be more productive in less time
  • Anyone who manages a team

6
Learning Agile

Learning Agile

Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene
Understanding Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban
4.3 (283 ratings)

What's Learning Agile about?

Learning Agile (2015) is a no-nonsense guide to an often misunderstood concept – agile. The reason for that misunderstanding is simple: all too often, agile is bandied about as a one-size-fits-all solution to every conceivable organizational difficulty. Longtime agile practitioners Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene don’t see it that way. For them, agile is a great tool, but you have to know how – and when and why – to use it. And that starts with getting a grasp on agile’s underlying principles. 

Who should read Learning Agile?

  • Software developers
  • Team leaders 
  • Project managers

7
Empowered

Empowered

Marty Cagan with Chris Jones
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products
4.0 (51 ratings)

What's Empowered about?

Empowered (2020) is a written master class that guides ordinary people to create extraordinary products. Discover how to create profitable products that consumers love!

Who should read Empowered?

  • Tech product owners looking to lead with purpose
  • Lovers of influential product designs
  • Anyone curious about how great tech gets made

8
The Agile Leader

The Agile Leader

Simon Hayward
How to Create an Agile Business in the Digital Age
4.4 (191 ratings)

What's The Agile Leader about?

The Agile Leader (2018) explores how leaders can steer traditional organizations in the fast-paced digital world. These blinks show that agile working can help corporate teams to compete with start-ups, and to keep up with ever-changing customer expectations.

Who should read The Agile Leader?

  • Managers hoping to boost their team’s productivity
  • Entrepreneurs looking for a fresh perspective
  • Management consultants seeking new insights

9
Start at the End

Start at the End

Matt Wallaert
How to Build Products That Create Change
4.3 (139 ratings)

What's Start at the End about?

Start at the End (2019) provides a highly practical, step-by-step approach to designing products and services that make an impact on the world. Drawing on behavioral science, the process begins with a simple question: How do we want our potential consumers to act? It then works backward to figure out how to make that vision a reality. 

Who should read Start at the End?

  • Start-up employees looking for a way to shake up their industry’s playing field 
  • Leaders of established companies looking for their next big idea 
  • Entrepreneurs interested in applying behavioral science to their pursuit of business

10
Self-Made Boss

Self-Made Boss

Jackie Reses and Lauren Weinberg
Advice, Hacks, and Lessons from Small Business Owners
4.4 (156 ratings)

What's Self-Made Boss about?

Self-Made Boss (2022) is a practical starter kit for anyone looking to start a small business. It’s packed with advice and case studies looking at small businesses from across the United States, with step-by-step instructions for turning your great idea into a successful business. 

Who should read Self-Made Boss?

  • Small business owners
  • Aspiring entrepreneurs
  • Anyone curious about how brands are built from the ground up

11
Radical Product Thinking

Radical Product Thinking

R. Dutt
The New Mindset for Innovating Smarter
4.1 (310 ratings)

What's Radical Product Thinking about?

Radical Product Thinking (2021) lays out a step-by-step approach to developing game-changing products. Taking aim at the iteration-led approaches to product development that have become popular in recent years, it provides an inspiring, vision-driven alternative. 

Who should read Radical Product Thinking?

  • Product developers 
  • Entrepreneurs 
  • Change-makers

12
The Direct to Consumer Playbook

The Direct to Consumer Playbook

Mike Stevens
The Stories and Strategies of the Brands that Wrote the DTC Rules
4.1 (44 ratings)

What's The Direct to Consumer Playbook about?

The Direct to Consumer Playbook (2022) takes a look at how some of the world’s top e-commerce brands got to where they are today. Through a series of inspiring interviews with DTC founders, you’ll discover stories of both failure and success – and be much better placed to build your own DTC company.

Who should read The Direct to Consumer Playbook?

  • Entrepreneurs looking for tips on how to build their own DTC business
  • Founders in need of inspiration on how to move forward
  • Anyone interested in how DTC brands sell their products

13
The Business of Belonging

The Business of Belonging

David Spinks
How to Build Communities that Grow the Bottom Line
4.5 (79 ratings)

What's The Business of Belonging about?

The Business of Belonging (2021) explores how businesses can harness the power of online communities for the benefit of both themselves and their customers.

Who should read The Business of Belonging?

  • Community professionals seeking to hone their craft
  • Businesspeople who’d like to tap into the power of community
  • Marketeers on the lookout for new approaches

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