Top Product Management books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Product Management books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Product Management

Understanding the concepts of Product Management starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Lean UX: Designing Great Products with Agile Teams

Inspired by Lean and Agile development theories, Lean UX lets you focus on the actual experience being designed, rather than deliverables. This book shows you how to collaborate closely with other members of your Agile product team, and gather feedback early and often.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Badass: Making Users Awesome

People love being empowered and your product's users are no exception to that. Find research and methods about how to make your users powerful and successful when using your product.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Measure What Matters: OKRs

OKRs are well-established in data-driven organizations. This book by John Doerr talks about what OKRs to use and how to implement them right to focus on the right things.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value

Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value shows you how to shift a reactive project factory at risk of disruption into a successful product-focused organization creating products that customers love.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Product Management For Dummies

It offers plain-English explanations of the product life cycle, market research, competitive analysis, market and pricing strategy, product roadmaps, the people skills it takes to effectively influence and negotiate, and so much more.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Shape Up

Shape Up is coming out of the product factory Basecamp. Having been in business for over a decade, both as agency and product company, they have developed a unique and well-tested approach to product management.

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Additional Product Management Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Product Management, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products

Most people think it’s because these companies are somehow able to find and attract a level of talent that makes this innovation possible. But the real advantage these companies have is not so much who they hire, but rather how they enable their people to work together to solve hard problems and create extraordinary products. As legendary Silicon Valley coach--and coach to the founders of seve…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

Creativity, Inc. is a manual for anyone who strives for originality and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The Art of Product Management

Released in 2008, the Art of Product Management has truly stood the test of time and is among the top-selling management books, even today! A must-have in the library of any fresh product manager.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Lean Vs. Agile Vs. Design Thinking: What You Really Need to Know to Build High-Performing Digital Product Teams

As companies evolve to adopt, integrate, and leverage software as the defining element of their success in the 21st century, a rash of processes and methodologies are vying for their product teams' attention. In the worst of cases, each discipline on these teams -- product management, design, and software engineering -- learns a different model. This short, tactical book reconciles the perceiv…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

EMPOWERED: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products

"EMPOWERED is full of actionable straight talk for anyone looking to understand how the best product teams operate. The book demonstrates that great product companies aren't made by magic–the structure and leadership of the whole product development organization creates the environment for success."

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Thinking, Fast and Slow is a 2011 popular science book by psychologist Daniel Kahneman. The book's main thesis is a differentiation between two modes of thought: "System 1" is fast, instinctive and emotional; "System 2" is slower, more deliberative, and more logical.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

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