This book was quite an interesting read because its content seemed to go directly against the most common statements or narrative I had heard about the life of a product manager. For instance, Matt LeMay mentions that product managers don’t necessarily have to work 60 hours a week–and if they do, some are driven by a lack of time management or inexperience. As a student with a technical background interested in both software engineering and product management, I’ve often been told that the distinction between a software engineer and a product manager is the level of stress in their day-to-day workflows and overall career. However, it was refreshing to hear that LeMay was able to productively work 6-hour days (10 am to 4 pm) even at a fast-paced, high-growth startup. It emphasized for me the importance and necessity of prioritizing tasks and removing the internal need to appear hard-working via long, inefficient hours of work.
Another interesting note was that great product managers can come from anywhere. LeMay writes some of the greatest product managers he’s met came from non-traditional backgrounds (music, politics, marketing, theater, etc).
On the other hand, bad product managers are quite consistent. Some use highly convoluted, technical jargon to appear smarter and brighter. Others like the Steve Jobs Acolyte likes to ask big, provocative questions without much substance or purpose. The Hero Product Manager views themselves as the figure able to single-handedly save the whole company (but coincidentally lacks the resources to do so, only at this particularly company). The Overachiever lacks balance and prioritizes quantity of completed tasks over their quality.
The identification of these roles made me reflect on ways I’ve acted in teams–the good and bad–and take the conscious effort to be mindful of my presence in future teams.
After reading the preface and first chapter of this book, I’m beginning to realize that the life of a product manager is quite unstructured and freeform, requiring lots of hats to be worn. Each role on each team can be quite different and unique, which makes it difficult to explicitly define the life and day of a product manager. It also seems important to fight the urge to let insecurity take over, and I should make conscious effort to stay open-minded and communicative.
Question: What are the best ways and tips for students to build up their product management skills?
