My background is such that I am able to straddle the fence between development and business. I got my MBA in Marketing and my MS in Computer Engineering and I have worked in both capacities in the past, although over the past several years, I have focused on building strong Marketing and Product Management teams. I often get asked “What is a Product Manager?”

I’ve been a part of the Microsoft patterns & practices team for several years.  I’ve shipped a lot of things and learned a lot of stuff.  Here’s a distillation of some of my key lessons learned.  I’m leaving myself room so that I can expand or elaborate on some of the points downstream.
 
Top Ten Lessons
Here’s my favorite lessons at a glance:

Win the heart, the mind follows.
Know the tests for success.
Fix time, flex scope.
Use the system to educate.
Work with the right people, on the right problems, making the right impact.
Have the …