The first exercise I teach Data Product Managers is opportunity discovery. Step 1 in building high-value data products is defining your options with a framework separate from the technology. Opportunities are centered around needs, tactical and strategic.
Data PMs sometimes own this process, but rarely alone. Enlisting partners leads to a complete view of the opportunity landscape. A Data PM working alone or in a silo with the data team isn't as successful as someone who works with the people who touch tactics and strategy daily.
It's a 2-sided process, top-down and bottom-up. C-level leaders drive top-down opportunity discovery as part of the strategy planning process. Front-line workers and customers drive bottom-up.
A Tactical View Of Data Strategy
I can teach much of the need for data strategy by showing what happens without one. It's an effective trick because the value proposition is most tangible once you feel it. The first Data PM exercise is designed to deliver the experience.
I can also work backward into a tactical definition of data strategy. That's an oxymoron, but the Data PM lives in the space between strategy and tactics. They are translators in the strategy world and don't need the same creator's view as a data strategist does.
The tactical view of data strategy is built when Data PMs define their needs. It's not enough to say, "I need a data strategy." No one at the C-level understands why or what they are defining in the first place. Before this exercise, most Data PMs don't really see the necessity for data strategy either. Why not just discover, estimate, and prioritize opportunities and let that guide strategy?
Most companies don't have all the pieces of a business strategy. The result is dysfunction and inefficiency, but if that's all you've ever worked with, how would you know the benefits?
There are parallels between data teams who have worked with a Data PM and those who haven't. I often hear this statement: "I had never worked with a Data PM before, but it was a night and day difference." Few people know how bad their situation is until they work at a company with an effective strategic function. Few also know how good they have it until they move into a company with no strategic function.
Backing Into A Data Strategy
The exercise is designed to highlight the contrast. I send an email with scarce details about the opportunity discovery exercise. I have a call to action, "What opportunities does your business have to introduce technology into customer workflows?"