What does vacation teach us about product management?

So the spouse and I recently traveled to a series of National Parks.  We began in Vegas and toured Death Valley, Mono Lake and Yosemite.  We made a couple of side trips to a few really nice state parks as well, most notably to Lake Chabot (the link is included here- who knew you could camp in the East Bay?  http://www.ebparks.org/parks/anthony_chabot).

As we were speeding down the roads in our rental camper named 'Skittles' and watching the tourists mob Yosemite,  I was reminded of a few classic strategy principles- Valuable and Rare. 

Obviously Yosemite is rare place- a one of a kind Valley located in a glacier torn wedge in the Sierra Mountains.   Yosemite's rarity was enhanced by a decision to dam Hetch Hetchy valley in the 1920's to form a reservoir to supply water to San Francisco.  But what about value?  As product management professionals we often forget that a product is everything that you get for your money including the stream of benefits. There is a frequent disconnect between what product managers think they sell and what they actually sell.

For Yosemite, this might include such intangibles as relief from some of America's most crowded concrete jungles (San Francisco and Los Angeles), unimagined natural beauty and unparalleled rock climbing.   For Mono Lake perhaps the benefit is that of education and a chance to view the bizarre Tufas.  The point is each of these parks provides an experience that is unique with unique values.  Do product management professionals really think about the stream of benefits from the products they promote?  

How do we ferret out these values so we can best promote our products?   Never under estimate the power of a focus group.  You and your company can spend untold dollars using professionals (and if you haven't experienced a focus group with professional focus group handlers,  I highly recommend doing so) or you can use tools that are readily available.   LinkedIn groups, focus breakout sessions at user groups, win/loss phone calls, even web meeting voting options can work.   There are more opportunities to ask about the value and benefits received; just don't forget to ask.    

So my good readers,  my blog is short today- I've got 300+ emails piled up and at least 3 presentations to rework for next week's scheduled meetings and at least 200 pictures from the trip to edit.

      

Enjoy! And don't forget to take a vacation, they are good for you and the economy and you just might learn something.