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6 diagrams I use to explain Product Management concepts

Some visualisations to help you understand and communicate key ideas in Product Management

Curtis Stanier
The Startup
8 min readDec 15, 2019

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but, honestly, I think they are worth much more. They help you build a common understanding and remove much of the complexity and nuance that comes with written and verbal language.

I wanted to share 6 diagrams I find myself frequently using to when discussing Product Management ideas. These are a few drawings are well-received and convey the point well. The 6 diagrams are:

  • The “Product Manager Bottleneck”
  • The “Delivery Size Throughput”
  • The Classic “Waterfall vs Agile”
  • The “Initiative Size, Risk and Leadership Involvement”
  • The “Knowledge Silos”
  • The “Segmentation Value”

Please feel free to use them in any way you find beneficial to your role.

The “Product Manager Bottleneck”

One of the most common mistakes I see Product Managers make is feeling the need to be a part of every discussion. I understand there is a positive intention behind it — you’re the PM and you need to be across everything in case you’re asked about it.

Unfortunately, this has many drawbacks. First, it’s not practical. You will rapidly become overwhelmed —…

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Curtis Stanier
Curtis Stanier

Written by Curtis Stanier

Director of Product at @DeliveryHeroCom. Formerly @HelloFresh, @BBC, @Atos. Passion for product, business &tech. I like helping people solve problems. Berlin

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