Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making

by Tony Fadell

As we write this in 2021, Google has moved to give product managers more power for the first time. Google has always been technology and engineering-led, but now Search is being rearranged to favor product managers over engineers. It’s a huge move and a dramatic cultural shift. And the reason for it is simple: the customer needs a voice on the team. Engineers like to build products using the coolest new technology. Sales wants to build products that will make them a lot of money. But the product manager’s sole focus and responsibility is to build the right products for their customers. That’s the job. The tricky thing is that the responsibilities of a product manager are completely different at different companies. Product management is less a well-defined role and more a set of skills. It lives between everything, a white space that morphs based on the customer, the needs of the business, and the abilities of the humans involved.