June 1, 2023 • 11 mins
I wanted to take the opportunity to make an argument for books. With the deluge of information that is available to all of us on the internet, I find books are the best way to really sit with information and let it change your perspective.
Let me know what you think and share a book or two?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jason (00:06):
Thank you for joining us back here at Tokyo.
I wanted to take the opportunityto start by saying thank you to the
new subscribers that have joined.
We've gone up to six, which Ifind is very impressive because I
haven't shared this with anyone.
And it's a great opportunity.
For me to try to connect with you.
I will admit I'm new to this,and I cannot figure out how to
(00:28):
find out who has subscribed.
So I cannot send apersonal, thank you message.
So if you watch this, our new subscribersand you want to have a conversation, then
please feel free to send me a comment or.
Somehow send me a direct message.
I don't know how to do thatbecause I'm still very new.
I wanted to take the opportunitytoday to discuss books or
(00:49):
information and knowledge.
And where do we get the informationthat we get when it comes to trying
to become a good product manager?
Personally, I find there's so much.
Resources online and in coursesand in LinkedIn posts and e-books,
and, , downloadable PDFs andYouTube keynotes, and like this.
(01:11):
An endless array of informationand knowledge out there for you
to learn how to become a good PM.
And I kind of want tomake the case for books.
Now the reason for this is.
And it's kind of ironic because we areon, on YouTube here and YouTube has
been an incredible way to democratize.
Access to.
(01:32):
Learning and access to people.
Who feel like that they havea voice to share something.
I'll admit that's whatI'm trying to do here.
So.
Without a mind.
Y books.
Why focus on books.
Now.
I find if you're scrolling throughLinkedIn and you find really good.
(01:52):
Product management information, you.
From sources such as the product school,they send really cool memes every now and
then when it comes to product management,that's very relatable, but also it gives
you a clear, quick grasp of somethingto learn when it comes to the field.
It can also then become very light.
Very.
(02:13):
It feels like an appetizer.
, when you're having a meal.
And it's very difficult to get intoinformation that sits with you and,
and changes the way that you approachwork or the way that you approach.
People in a day-to-day.
This is my.
Case for books.
Yes, you do lose the democratizationaspect of the information
(02:37):
overload that we have nowadays.
Whether it's medium articlesor substitute newsletters or.
The story goes on.
But the benefit behind books.
This is, this is one example.
It lets you.
Chew on the information a little bit more.
It lets you really dig into.
(02:59):
What the author is trying tosay, and they have 200, 300 pages
for you to sit there and just.
Absorb what they're saying?
What, what meaning are they trying to say?
When it comes to.
Reading a book.
, there's some times that you're justgoing to skim through the book and
you're like, oh, that's a good resource.
Or you have some books where you're goingto find it's more of a reference guide.
(03:22):
So I have a specificquestion or a specific issue.
You can keep it on your desk.
I think there's even a book calledthe product managers desk reference.
And so that's literally a book that youleave on your desk and when you need.
To, to refer to it.
You can take a look.
And.
Those kinds of books.
Is really good to have on hand.
Right.
You, you have information that's there, but the benefit of books goes even deeper.
(03:47):
When you're trying to read a book.
Nowadays, you do have some non-fictionbooks where the author will.
Make a premise in the first chapter.
And then spend the next restof the book to sort of explain.
Why their premise is true.
One book that did this recently,that I read was called essential.
(04:08):
Where at the very beginning, he says,you need to be in the centralist
essential lists to do things really well.
And then spend the rest of the book,giving examples regarding isn't.
Essentially.
And I found that that was very.
Hello.
I don't know if you agree.
Maybe it wasn't so movingor maybe I, I relate to.
(04:29):
The principles that I wastrying to share already.
So it wasn't very impactful for me.
So I found those, that kind of a color.
But there are some books that.
Are chock full of information.
And.
Is worth sitting down with and it'sworth trying to go through those ideas.
Now one example is not this book.
(04:50):
It is.
This book.
I don't know if you'll seeit with the green screen, but
it's called fact fullness.
It's by Hans Rosling who, if anyonehas seen the chart with the circle
graph with all the countries that aremoving in, in the top right direction.
So he wrote that book.
This was his.
(05:11):
Deathbed book, basically hefound out that he had cancer.
And so he decided to put a book togetherand this book is stunning to read
because he shows through data how theworld is actually a really good place.
Yes.
There are problems and.
There are issues that exist.
I'm not going to lie, but he.
(05:32):
Makes very clear to, to look at thefacts and look at the numbers and get
past the narratives and get pasta.
Fictions, then we tell ourselves.
And so I found this book to be very.
Eyeopening.
And he writes it in a waywhere he's not trying to say.
, the world is all all good, but hemakes an argument for effectiveness.
(05:55):
Why do you want to seethe world through facts?
What's the, what's the point of fact.
And these kinds of books.
These are the ones that you want tosit with and you want to, you want to
read slowly and you want to leave notesin the margins for those who writes
in their books, I'm not, but some do.
And.
This kind of booklets, you just.
Stew in the information for a little bit.
(06:15):
And I find when going through.
, Instagram have greatproduct management feeds or.
Again, LinkedIn.
You see the information you read it.
You're like, oh, okay, great.
And then you keep moving.
And it's not information that sits withyou is not information that changes
the way that you do your day-to-day.
And ultimately, I think if we'retrying to find resources that we want
(06:37):
to improve and that we want to learn.
Folks are kind of the way to go.
Another benefit with abook is it's been reviewed.
So often for LinkedIn posts, you'llhave someone unless they're doing it.
As, , as a business.
And they'll make sure that it's crystal.
You'll have someone whoshares their opinion.
(06:57):
Regularly.
And that opinion has value, right?
Their opinion is worthreading, but it's not.
Always something that you want to.
Take to your, to your core andsomething that you want to review
on and think about, and how do we.
Use that post to impactour day-to-day, but a book.
There's a lot of people behind it,, there's the author, there's the publisher.
(07:18):
That's the editor.
So much more work.
Goes into making a book than itdoes to making a LinkedIn post.
That.
Generally, depending on which bookyou choose, of course, but generally.
If you're trying to find something,that'll change your perspective.
I think books are the way to go.
I'd be more than happyto hear your thoughts.
(07:40):
I know there's someincredible YouTube videos.
Ted talks are phenomenal to watch.
And can be very insightful.
But even a Ted talk, I cango through six Ted talks in.
, an hour or two hours.
Just sitting on the sofa and itdoesn't change the way I see things,
but some books like this one or.
So my bookshelf is over there.
(08:01):
Homo Deus by.
You have all Harare.
Those those books.
Really make you sit and think,, what, what are we, what are we.
Moving towards and having that ability.
To sit in.
Think about the books that you're reading.
Whether it's a hyper-focused by ChrisBailey or even old books, , you've
(08:23):
got meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Books.
Provide a way to convey information.
That lasts a lot longer than a postor a meme or a message or an email.
And so.
I would recommend if you're trying toget into product management, find a book,
(08:44):
any book, and I'll take recommendations.
One where I'm starting is.
Inspired.
Which is an incredible book on howto operate with teams, but also
how to find products that, thatinspire customers to use them.
And another one that I haven'tread yet, but I want to is the
O'Reilly publications of the.
A guide to practical product management.
(09:06):
And this book kind ofjust covers the basics.
And sometimes it's the basics thatwe miss and it's the basics that
we don't have the chance to learnbecause we're thrown into it.
And we kind of figureit out along the way.
Which means that you miss thecore of what is your biggest
contribution that you could be making.
So start with the basics, reviewthe basics, and that's kind of what
I'm doing by reading that book.
(09:27):
But they're, they're incrediblebooks, incredible resources.
And so if you have onethat you'd like to share,
With us, then please let me know.
But I think.
If you really want to change the waythat you sit in the way that you.
You perceive things.
Pick up a book and then put that on yourphone or close your laptop for a second.
(09:48):
With that said
If you ever both, you recommend.
Please do let me know.
And we do have an irregularbook club within our.
Product group here in Tokyo.
So for those who are trying tolearn product management, I'll
kind of share a book and then wehave the chance to discuss it.
At the moment.
It's a bit on pause because I'mon currently paternity leave, but
I look forward to going througha couple of books with you.
(10:10):
And.
I'm personally trying toread 20 books this year.
I use good reads and Kindle, whichgives you a very clear set of book.
Efforts.
And it's not quantity.
So, , some people read 50and some people will read.
Five.
But those that retired, maybereread it, reread it, and
really absorb the information.
So I'm trying to read 20 booksto set a good guideline on how
(10:35):
much do I want to set aside timeand prioritize time for learning?
So.
I would recommend maybe setyourself a book challenge.
It doesn't need to be.
, a hundred, it could be five.
But if you said five books and knowwhich five books that you want to read.
Then I challenge you to read themand, let me know if that changed your
perspective on books or if you think.
(10:56):
Books are a waste of time.
You don't have to finish the book.
Okay.
Have you started bookingyour finance boring.
You never have to finish it.
I think.
It can feel like some costs.
If you read a little bit and thendon't go through the entire book.
But like I said, at the beginning, you dohave some books where the premise is at
the beginning and then the rest is just.
Reinforcing the premise and those books,you don't actually have to finish.
(11:19):
You kind of get the gist of what theauthor is trying to say, but some books
you really want to sit and just, , gowith a nice highlighter and then really.
Too on the information.
So.
I'd say.
Give it a shot.
And thank you for joining us.
Thank you for joining us back here at Tokyo.
I wanted to take the opportunityto start by saying thank you to the
new subscribers that have joined.
We've gone up to six, which Ifind is very impressive because I
haven't shared this with anyone.
And it's a great opportunity.
For me to try to connect with you.
I will admit I'm new to this,and I cannot figure out how to
(00:28):
find out who has subscribed.
So I cannot send apersonal, thank you message.
So if you watch this, our new subscribersand you want to have a conversation, then
please feel free to send me a comment or.
Somehow send me a direct message.
I don't know how to do thatbecause I'm still very new.
I wanted to take the opportunitytoday to discuss books or
(00:49):
information and knowledge.
And where do we get the informationthat we get when it comes to trying
to become a good product manager?
Personally, I find there's so much.
Resources online and in coursesand in LinkedIn posts and e-books,
and, , downloadable PDFs andYouTube keynotes, and like this.
(01:11):
An endless array of informationand knowledge out there for you
to learn how to become a good PM.
And I kind of want tomake the case for books.
Now the reason for this is.
And it's kind of ironic because we areon, on YouTube here and YouTube has
been an incredible way to democratize.
Access to.
(01:32):
Learning and access to people.
Who feel like that they havea voice to share something.
I'll admit that's whatI'm trying to do here.
So.
Without a mind.
Y books.
Why focus on books.
Now.
I find if you're scrolling throughLinkedIn and you find really good.
(01:52):
Product management information, you.
From sources such as the product school,they send really cool memes every now and
then when it comes to product management,that's very relatable, but also it gives
you a clear, quick grasp of somethingto learn when it comes to the field.
It can also then become very light.
Very.
(02:13):
It feels like an appetizer.
, when you're having a meal.
And it's very difficult to get intoinformation that sits with you and,
and changes the way that you approachwork or the way that you approach.
People in a day-to-day.
This is my.
Case for books.
Yes, you do lose the democratizationaspect of the information
(02:37):
overload that we have nowadays.
Whether it's medium articlesor substitute newsletters or.
The story goes on.
But the benefit behind books.
This is, this is one example.
It lets you.
Chew on the information a little bit more.
It lets you really dig into.
(02:59):
What the author is trying tosay, and they have 200, 300 pages
for you to sit there and just.
Absorb what they're saying?
What, what meaning are they trying to say?
When it comes to.
Reading a book.
, there's some times that you're justgoing to skim through the book and
you're like, oh, that's a good resource.
Or you have some books where you're goingto find it's more of a reference guide.
(03:22):
So I have a specificquestion or a specific issue.
You can keep it on your desk.
I think there's even a book calledthe product managers desk reference.
And so that's literally a book that youleave on your desk and when you need.
To, to refer to it.
You can take a look.
And.
Those kinds of books.
Is really good to have on hand.
Right.
You, you have information that's there, but the benefit of books goes even deeper.
(03:47):
When you're trying to read a book.
Nowadays, you do have some non-fictionbooks where the author will.
Make a premise in the first chapter.
And then spend the next restof the book to sort of explain.
Why their premise is true.
One book that did this recently,that I read was called essential.
(04:08):
Where at the very beginning, he says,you need to be in the centralist
essential lists to do things really well.
And then spend the rest of the book,giving examples regarding isn't.
Essentially.
And I found that that was very.
Hello.
I don't know if you agree.
Maybe it wasn't so movingor maybe I, I relate to.
(04:29):
The principles that I wastrying to share already.
So it wasn't very impactful for me.
So I found those, that kind of a color.
But there are some books that.
Are chock full of information.
And.
Is worth sitting down with and it'sworth trying to go through those ideas.
Now one example is not this book.
(04:50):
It is.
This book.
I don't know if you'll seeit with the green screen, but
it's called fact fullness.
It's by Hans Rosling who, if anyonehas seen the chart with the circle
graph with all the countries that aremoving in, in the top right direction.
So he wrote that book.
This was his.
(05:11):
Deathbed book, basically hefound out that he had cancer.
And so he decided to put a book togetherand this book is stunning to read
because he shows through data how theworld is actually a really good place.
Yes.
There are problems and.
There are issues that exist.
I'm not going to lie, but he.
(05:32):
Makes very clear to, to look at thefacts and look at the numbers and get
past the narratives and get pasta.
Fictions, then we tell ourselves.
And so I found this book to be very.
Eyeopening.
And he writes it in a waywhere he's not trying to say.
, the world is all all good, but hemakes an argument for effectiveness.
(05:55):
Why do you want to seethe world through facts?
What's the, what's the point of fact.
And these kinds of books.
These are the ones that you want tosit with and you want to, you want to
read slowly and you want to leave notesin the margins for those who writes
in their books, I'm not, but some do.
And.
This kind of booklets, you just.
Stew in the information for a little bit.
(06:15):
And I find when going through.
, Instagram have greatproduct management feeds or.
Again, LinkedIn.
You see the information you read it.
You're like, oh, okay, great.
And then you keep moving.
And it's not information that sits withyou is not information that changes
the way that you do your day-to-day.
And ultimately, I think if we'retrying to find resources that we want
(06:37):
to improve and that we want to learn.
Folks are kind of the way to go.
Another benefit with abook is it's been reviewed.
So often for LinkedIn posts, you'llhave someone unless they're doing it.
As, , as a business.
And they'll make sure that it's crystal.
You'll have someone whoshares their opinion.
(06:57):
Regularly.
And that opinion has value, right?
Their opinion is worthreading, but it's not.
Always something that you want to.
Take to your, to your core andsomething that you want to review
on and think about, and how do we.
Use that post to impactour day-to-day, but a book.
There's a lot of people behind it,, there's the author, there's the publisher.
(07:18):
That's the editor.
So much more work.
Goes into making a book than itdoes to making a LinkedIn post.
That.
Generally, depending on which bookyou choose, of course, but generally.
If you're trying to find something,that'll change your perspective.
I think books are the way to go.
I'd be more than happyto hear your thoughts.
(07:40):
I know there's someincredible YouTube videos.
Ted talks are phenomenal to watch.
And can be very insightful.
But even a Ted talk, I cango through six Ted talks in.
, an hour or two hours.
Just sitting on the sofa and itdoesn't change the way I see things,
but some books like this one or.
So my bookshelf is over there.
(08:01):
Homo Deus by.
You have all Harare.
Those those books.
Really make you sit and think,, what, what are we, what are we.
Moving towards and having that ability.
To sit in.
Think about the books that you're reading.
Whether it's a hyper-focused by ChrisBailey or even old books, , you've
(08:23):
got meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Books.
Provide a way to convey information.
That lasts a lot longer than a postor a meme or a message or an email.
And so.
I would recommend if you're trying toget into product management, find a book,
(08:44):
any book, and I'll take recommendations.
One where I'm starting is.
Inspired.
Which is an incredible book on howto operate with teams, but also
how to find products that, thatinspire customers to use them.
And another one that I haven'tread yet, but I want to is the
O'Reilly publications of the.
A guide to practical product management.
(09:06):
And this book kind ofjust covers the basics.
And sometimes it's the basics thatwe miss and it's the basics that
we don't have the chance to learnbecause we're thrown into it.
And we kind of figureit out along the way.
Which means that you miss thecore of what is your biggest
contribution that you could be making.
So start with the basics, reviewthe basics, and that's kind of what
I'm doing by reading that book.
(09:27):
But they're, they're incrediblebooks, incredible resources.
And so if you have onethat you'd like to share,
With us, then please let me know.
But I think.
If you really want to change the waythat you sit in the way that you.
You perceive things.
Pick up a book and then put that on yourphone or close your laptop for a second.
(09:48):
With that said
If you ever both, you recommend.
Please do let me know.
And we do have an irregularbook club within our.
Product group here in Tokyo.
So for those who are trying tolearn product management, I'll
kind of share a book and then wehave the chance to discuss it.
At the moment.
It's a bit on pause because I'mon currently paternity leave, but
I look forward to going througha couple of books with you.
(10:10):
And.
I'm personally trying toread 20 books this year.
I use good reads and Kindle, whichgives you a very clear set of book.
Efforts.
And it's not quantity.
So, , some people read 50and some people will read.
Five.
But those that retired, maybereread it, reread it, and
really absorb the information.
So I'm trying to read 20 booksto set a good guideline on how
(10:35):
much do I want to set aside timeand prioritize time for learning?
So.
I would recommend maybe setyourself a book challenge.
It doesn't need to be.
, a hundred, it could be five.
But if you said five books and knowwhich five books that you want to read.
Then I challenge you to read themand, let me know if that changed your
perspective on books or if you think.
(10:56):
Books are a waste of time.
You don't have to finish the book.
Okay.
Have you started bookingyour finance boring.
You never have to finish it.
I think.
It can feel like some costs.
If you read a little bit and thendon't go through the entire book.
But like I said, at the beginning, you dohave some books where the premise is at
the beginning and then the rest is just.
Reinforcing the premise and those books,you don't actually have to finish.
(11:19):
You kind of get the gist of what theauthor is trying to say, but some books
you really want to sit and just, , gowith a nice highlighter and then really.
Too on the information.
So.
I'd say.
Give it a shot.
And thank you for joining us.
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