Resources > Articles

Solving Market Problems One Bowl at a Time

Author
  • Jim Foxworthy

    Jim Foxworthy is president of Pragmatic Institute and an industry veteran with more than 30 years in the computer industry. Prior to becoming president, Jim was an instructor for Pragmatic Institute and headed a consulting firm focused exclusively on implementations of the Pragmatic Institute Framework. Contact Jim at [email protected]

solving market problems one bowl at a time

While visiting my daughter and her husband recently, I noticed a bowl in her cupboard that brought back great memories. Painted on the sides are the words, “Serving The World – One Bowl At A Time.” In her role as a public school teacher, these words symbolize her contribution to society. She sees the bigger impact of her work, but executes by focusing on each student individually.

This message reminded me of questions we sometimes hear from attendees of Pragmatic Institute courses: “The Framework has 37 activities! Where do I begin? Can I really expect to succeed?”

Photo By Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Where to begin? We have a saying at Pragmatic Institute: Nothing important happens in the office  (NIHITO). You should focus your energy on the Market Problems box of the Framework by doing NIHITO visits. Can you succeed? You bet: one bowl at a time.

Let’s say that you’ve just begun in your new role on the product team. You’ve got an existing product that isn’t selling the way your company had originally hoped. How can you stimulate increased sales? Should you update the collateral? Do sales training? Go on sales calls? You could do any or all of those things, but your best investment is to interview recent evaluators of your product–both wins and losses–to listen and learn about their experiences. Don’t react to the first interview, or the second or the third. But as you continue to interview, watch for patterns to emerge. These are the indications of what you can change to increase sales. With this data, you are armed with the ipower to do more of what is working and less of what is not.

Several years ago, I worked with an organization that spent considerable marketing dollars on thought leadership, particularly with the Gartner Group. The vice president of marketing wanted to know if these dollars were well spent, so she conducted a series of NIHITO visits with recent evaluators of her product. She asked open-ended questions: What was the catalyst for you to begin looking at products like mine? Once you realized you needed to investigate product like mine, what did you do first? Second? Third?

She interviewed 13 recent evaluators, and 11 told her that their first step was to go to the Gartner Group website and learn which vendors were in the Gartner Magic Quadrant. Those were the only vendors to be evaluated. Clearly, developing a strong relationship with Gartner represented “table stakes” for any deal. She now had the data she needed to support continued budget investments with thought leaders.

Perhaps you are leading a product team, and you and your team have just completed training with Pragmatic. Where should you start then? Absolutely the same way. NIHITO is the core activity to Market Problems, and the data source you need to lead the team.

Start simply, but engage directly. Many adults have a natural resistance to talking with strangers, so sit with your team when they make their first calls or even make some calls yourself, so they can observe and learn. Go with them on interviews; write call reports together. Roll your sleeves up and work side by side with your team. This will help them see that you are just as committed to NIHITO as you say.

You can begin this process through basic role play. One team I worked with sat around a conference-room table and pretended to call each other to set interview appointments. After we’d done two or three role-play calls, we offered each other constructive critiques. This very simple activity gave the team encouragement as we began our market research efforts. Ultimately, we completed more than two dozen face-to-face interviews, reviewed call reports for patterns, validated those patterns in web surveys with statistically valid samples and used that information to drive annual business plans and roadmaps. The team’s credibility with the CEO blossomed–as did many of their careers.

When we are faced with tasks that seem overwhelming, we often say of those projects that they are trying to “solve world hunger.” Here is the good news: We can start to solve such problems, whether they are at work, in our homes, in our communities and even in our countries. Just remember: Serve the world, one bowl at a time.

Author
  • Jim Foxworthy

    Jim Foxworthy is president of Pragmatic Institute and an industry veteran with more than 30 years in the computer industry. Prior to becoming president, Jim was an instructor for Pragmatic Institute and headed a consulting firm focused exclusively on implementations of the Pragmatic Institute Framework. Contact Jim at [email protected]

Author:

Other Resources in this Series

Most Recent

Prism photo: Product management Lessons from Pink Floyd
Article

Product Management Lessons from Pink Floyd: a Lighthearted Look into Their Epic Music and Unlikely Product Expertise

Few people (actually, no one!) spontaneously associate product management with Pink Floyd, but if you look closely, you can find good examples of best product management practices in their journey, as I hope to reveal...
Creating a product roadmap: what should you include
Article

A Guide to Product Roadmaps: How to Build One That Works

A product roadmap is a frequent request from the sales force and others in the company. ‘What’s coming in the next release and the ones after that?’ Long buying cycles common with strategic products often...
Dry erase board with product roadmap drawn on it
Article

How to Build a Brilliant Visual Product Roadmap

Building roadmaps is a crucial part of a product manager’s job. Yet most product managers still use outdated tools for roadmapping—Excel, PowerPoint, wikis, etc. The good news is that there’s a better way. Executives have...
Product Datasheet
Article

How to Write a Kick-Butt Product Datasheet

If your datasheet passes the all-important skimming test, it's more likely that buyers will read it in detail. Here are 10 tips to help you write a datasheet that buyers actually read.
Person working on project management software on a tablet
Article

10 Tools for Product Managers 

The right product tools can make it easier to manage your team, but there are hundreds out there—so how do you choose which one is right for you?

OTHER ArticleS

Prism photo: Product management Lessons from Pink Floyd
Article

Product Management Lessons from Pink Floyd: a Lighthearted Look into Their Epic Music and Unlikely Product Expertise

Few people (actually, no one!) spontaneously associate product management with Pink Floyd, but if you look closely, you can find good examples of best product management practices in their journey, as I hope to reveal...
Creating a product roadmap: what should you include
Article

A Guide to Product Roadmaps: How to Build One That Works

A product roadmap is a frequent request from the sales force and others in the company. ‘What’s coming in the next release and the ones after that?’ Long buying cycles common with strategic products often...

Sign up to stay up to date on the latest industry best practices.

Sign up to received invites to upcoming webinars, updates on our recent podcast episodes and the latest on industry best practices.

Training on Your Schedule

Fill out the form today and our sales team will help you schedule your private Pragmatic training today.

Subscribe

Subscribe