My Reading List for Product Managers

Taj Moore
4 min readApr 26, 2018

As a product manager, I read a lot about product thinking. Some of that comes from obvious places, while some represent more lateral thinking. First, I would like you to understand where I’m coming from and where I’m going: read The Infinite Product Manager Manifesto (it takes about thirty seconds). Then, review the below books for becoming a well-rounded product thinker.

Note: I update this list as I read more. I also look forward to your recommendations. v2020.01.22

In the beginning…

Survive

When you feel your world is crashing around you, and you just need something to help you get by as you catch your breath, start with these titles. The first helps you get what you need, even if that’s just a minute to think. The second helps you know yourself, know what you need, and keep from losing yourself in the process (with your negotiation skills from the first book).

  1. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It, by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz
  2. Essentialism, by Greg McKeown

Thrive

This section helps you become disciplined at whatever you deem worthy. The first book is a practicable guide to forming habits. The second helps you decide on what to do. The third book helps you answer the question, “how could this be easier?”

  1. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear
  2. How To Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices, by Annie Duke
  3. Effortless, by Greg McKeown

Getting a fresh start

These titles will set you on the path to a) getting your house in order, b) navigating the product landscape, and c) learning some foundational philosophies of product management. The goal is always to learn through our practice and improve through our learning. (If you see repeat titles in this section, maybe read them twice.)

  1. Essentialism, by Greg McKeown
  2. Effortless, by Greg McKeown
  3. My Product Management Toolkit: Tools and Techniques to Become an Outstanding Product Manager, by Marc Abraham
  4. The Infinite Game, by Simon Sinek
  5. Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts, by Annie Duke
  6. The Startup Way: How Modern Companies Use Entrepreneurial Management to Transform Culture and Drive Long-Term Growth, by Eric Ries
  7. Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice, by Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall
  8. Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less, by Leidy Klotz

Broadening

These books will help you learn the ways of people and the business world. I hope these inspire you to strive to be ethical, effective, and kind. (If you see repeat titles in this section, maybe read them twice.)

  • Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High (Second Edition), by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
  • Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It, by Chris Voss
  • The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever, by Michael Bungay Stanier
  • The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox
  • Reframing Organizations, 6th Edition: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership, by Terrence E. Deal and Lee G. Bolman
  • The Phoenix Project, by Gene Kim
  • Leaders Eat Last, by Simon Sinek
  • How To Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices, by Annie Duke
  • How To Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
  • Four Days to Change: 12 Radical Habits to Overcome Bias and Thrive in a Diverse World, by Michael Welp
  • The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown., by Daniel Coyle
  • Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation, by Edward L. Deci, Richard Flaste

Deepening

These books will help you deepen in your product management practice. I hope these enable you to pursue work that is viable, feasible, and desirable. (If you see repeat titles in this section, maybe read them twice.)

  • Strategize: Product Strategy and Product Roadmap Practices for the Digital Age, by Roman Pichler
  • Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love, Second Edition, by Marty Cagan
  • Scaling Lean: Mastering the Key Metrics for Startup Growth, by Ash Maurya
  • The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business, by Patrick Lencioni
  • Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by Richard H. Thaler and Cass Sunstein
  • Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
  • Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment, by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass Sunstein
  • How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of ‘Intangibles’ in Business, by Douglas W. Hubbard
  • The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman
  • Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change, by Victor Papanek
  • Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, by Scott McCloud

Other books I just like or recommend for PMs

  • The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics, by Jonathan Haidt
  • Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know, by Adam Grant
  • Ego, Authority, Failure: Using Emotional Intelligence like a Hostage Negotiator to Succeed as a Leader, by Derek Gaunt
  • No More Feedback: Cultivate Consciousness at Work, by Carol Sanford
  • The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande
  • American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America, by Colin Woodard
  • The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict, by The Arbinger Institute

Voted off the island

These books were previously on my list but have been bumped for various reasons. They once felt important to recommend to developing product managers but no longer do. I mention them here because they might still be valuable and relevant to you.

  • The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, by Marie Kondo (replaced with Essentialism as a more direct path to this way of thinking)
  • Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen (replaced with Essentialism as a way to decide what things are worth getting done because not everything needs doing)
  • Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days, by Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz (because I’ve never been in an org willing to invest in this process)

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Taj Moore

Domain expertise in product management. Technology expertise in people. “I’m just here for the transformation.”