The book Product Management with Scrum by Roman Pichler was recommended to me by some great colleagues with the comment, “it’s clear and to the point.” It’s hard to disagree with that assessment, but my expectations, based on such a recommendation, didn’t quite match the book’s content.
No, it’s not that the ideas or methods described in the book are wrong—everything is fine in that regard. However, I’m left wondering who the target audience is. Who exactly is this book for?
The book’s main goal is to explain Scrum from the perspective of the role of the Product Owner. It begins by describing who the Product Owner is, then goes on to detail what is expected from them at different stages of working on a product using the Scrum methodology.
However, all the information seems quite superficial to me. It’s as if the author is trying to explain Scrum to those who are completely new to it. The examples provided clearly serve the same purpose: “Look how great this is, but pay attention to the following if you’re starting out.” But this level of knowledge isn’t enough to actually implement Scrum in a company where it hasn’t been used before.
And if you’re not new to Scrum and agile methodologies, you already know the key terms and approaches. It would be much more interesting to dive into the details, real-life examples, and learn about the challenges product owners have faced. But that’s missing here.
That’s why my overall rating is low—it feels like it’s trying to serve both beginners and experienced practitioners but ends up not satisfying either. Although, in general, everything is indeed well-explained and to the point.
My rating: 2/5
