WHAT I DO

Before I moved to the government and nonprofit world, I worked as a product manager in software startups that delivered cutting-edge technologies. Startup product managers don't design, build, market, or sell the product, or have authority over those who do. Their role is to shepherd the product from vision to delivery, ensuring the final result remains true to the vision and addresses both the company's and customers' needs.

Successful product managers understand the larger system and see how its parts work together. They operate in many different worlds at once, interpreting and coordinating between them. They identify strategic paths through conflict and constraint and drive execution of a plan even as it evolves in response to shifting conditions and learning. They assess and convey the value and impact of the product for both customers and company. And they do it without formal authority over anyone.

These days I use the same skills in service to my community, helping organizations implement new tools and programs, reimagine impact, and build stronger networks to create connected, resilient communities. I work both through paid engagements and as a volunteer, including chairing the System Performance Committee of the Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care for homelessness. In my free time, I think and write about building resilient and just systems in my newsletter, Resilient Change.

How I Can Help

Community organizations don't usually have product managers, but their work can require similar skills. In a way they are like perpetual startups, constantly seeking funding and scrappily figuring out what does or doesn't help them fulfill their mission. Here are a few ways I've helped with those challenges:

• Creating systems for evaluation, reporting, & learning. Simple counts of people served or supplies provided are important, but don’t tell you how people and the community were impacted or how changes in process might improve the results. Organizations often could gain that information, but lack the systems and processes to do so.
• Implementing a strategic plan. Strategic planning often yields a valuable plan that then gathers metaphorical dust in a folder somewhere. Implementation requires identifying ways to integrate changes into day-to-day activities that can actually lead to the desired new state.
• Collaborating with other organizations. Collaborative ventures frequently struggle to realize their potential value, even when everyone is bought in. From differing incentives and cultures to incompatible technologies, successful implementation faces a range of challenges and always requires an iterative collective learning process.
• Purchasing & implementing new software systems. Identifying and implementing a new donor, case management, financial, or other system not only requires gathering and balancing requirements across multiple stakeholders, it also requires careful thought about how people, process, technology, and data play into a successful implementation.
• Managing complex and high-risk projects. Many projects and new programs are similar enough to what has been done before that they just need a skilled project manager. But projects with significant uncertainty call for strategic skills to assess connections to the larger system and build learning into the process.