Final Self Reflect

I came in thinking that being a product manager was a hectic job that required you to juggle a lot of different things. From everything we did in class, that seems to be very much the case. Having been in that role at several points during the quarter, I have much more respect for PMs. They have a pivotal role in the success of a product without the authority to make important decisions which would eventually lead to success. It is through a combination of strong planning, technical excellence, great people skills, and sheer willpower that they get products to where they need to go. I also learnt that they often get blamed when things go wrong because of how central their role is. This is often unfair given the constraints they are working with. I saw this happen several times while I was working at Facebook.

Even though I enjoyed my PM experience, I do not believe the role is a good fit for me. The more I work on non-technical things, the more I realize how much I enjoy deeply technical problems. This class was therefore useful for me to realize. I believe it has also made me a better collaborator. Since PMs usually work closely with engineering managers, it is important for them to communicate effectively. Having been on both sides, I can now understand where each is coming from. If I were to continue down this path, I would look to join a growth stage company as a PM. I think being thrown into the fire is the best way to learn. You need to meet a bunch of people, learn about what is going, and start executing right away. Only then will I truly internalize what we learnt in class.

For future versions of this class, I would strongly recommend you provide a product vision at the beginning and have people work as small teams on that shared vision. Then everyone can learn not just from their own work but also the progress of others. I believe that could help especially if the teaching team does the same. Sometimes, concepts in class felt a bit too far removed with no conclusive answers given. A bit of hand holding can go a long way in the end.