(2019-01-26) Cutler 15 Things You Should Know About Product Managers

John Cutler: 15 Things You Should Know About Product Managers

Table of Contents

• Their days are frenetic
• They can be torn about their role
• They are at the center of a tornado
• They get thrown into the deep end
• They are expected to exude certainty
• They have vastly different roles depending on the company
• They can’t make most decisions unilaterally
• They struggle with the pressure to “ship”
• They are the canary in the coalmine
• They often have to play project manager and facilitator
• They come from many different backgrounds
• They are under a lot of pressure from their teams…
• They are always juggling “theory” and real world practice
• They struggle with impossible expectations
• It’s hard. Super hard.

1. Their days are frenetic

You know you have to do the deep work — strategy, context building, unraveling insights — but somehow that all takes a back-seat to a mess of meetings

2. They can be torn about their role

Some were drawn in by the entrepreneurialism, only to find out that they had to spend all day playing defense and executing another person’s bet.

3. They are at the center of a tornado

Imagine having to switch context so often.

4. They get thrown into the deep end

They are “assigned” to a team, handed the old backlog, tasked with “coming up with a new roadmap”, and set loose.

5. They are expected to exude certainty

This is a problem, because so much of what we do as product developers — why there are opportunities to begin with, actually — relies on the fact that things aren’t “for sure”. If there was certainty, everyone would be doing it

Day-to-day we see PMs pressured to “pitch” to teams, justify a direction, and even slip into a bit of success theater (“the feedback is great!”). It’s super hard. Most PMs know deep down what is going on and feel torn. Some get so caught up in the certainty theater that they start to believe their own Kool-Aid. “I don’t know” is a tough skill to master.

6. They have vastly different roles depending on the company

There’s the “on-paper” PM job description that you might find online, and there is the reality. Why? PMs are smack dab in the middle of everything, and therefore their role is highly dependent on other structures, perspectives, and organizational forces.

7. They can’t make most decisions unilaterally

product managers have influence, not authority.

8. They struggle with the pressure to “ship”

Even when they know a “better” approach is possible, you’ll find PMs get caught up in the feature factory. There’s an incredible pressure to be certain (see above), so pitches turn into prescriptive plans which turn into confirmation bias and delivering “to plan”.

9. They are the canary in the coalmine

early indicator of organizational dysfunction

Any tension/dysfunction among leadership transfers all the way to frontline PMs (to the extent that I can usually predict what is going on at the highest levels based on a quick chat with someone in the product development trenches).

10. They often have to play project manager and facilitator

“High performing” teams are healthier and need less help dotting “I”s and crossing “T”s. In theory, “how” the team delivers can be up to the team and the PM can be a participant in that decision (not the catalyst or “manager”).

11. They come from many different backgrounds

12. They are under a lot of pressure from their teams…

There is different “skin in the game”. When the PM says “ok, we’re moving on, the MVP is good enough!” it might mean very different things for the PM and the team. The team that has toiled in the trenches has been asked to cut their good work short. The relationship can be tense and strained, or it can be based on “healthy tension” which — assuming it doesn’t just render mediocrity — can really benefit the product.

13. They are always juggling “theory” and real world practice

There is no shortage of information and learning

Now, try to do that in practice amidst the strong pressure to ship, be certain about things, and work through the dysfunctions of your team.

14. They struggle with impossible expectations

15. It’s hard. Super hard