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- How you see a product manager’s job (👨🏽💼)?
- Based on what I read in “Product Management in Practise,” the description of what a PM does is largely amorphous. They seem to manage both the long-term goals of a product, while also aiding in the day-to-day operations. They’re the cement, the backbone, the WD40 of the whole affair (🦴). There is no clear structure around their job, and they seem to take on a hefty amount of grunt work. And when s*** hits the fan? They have to mop the blame up off the floor. From an initial perspective, it seems like an unglamorous, thankless job (😞). That being said, however, I think there is a lot of reward and reverence that comes with the role of a PM. They’re the go-to guy. The person who facilitates interactions between everyone else on the team. For individuals who are social, reliable, and love the thrill of being a generalist—an aficionado in many different topics—then being a PM sounds like the perfect job. For me personally, I love operating at a high-level. I am not a specialist, but I am interested in a litany of different subjects, from art and history to coding and maths, and I think being able to utilise all of these interests at one point or another within my job is what is so alluring about product management. I also love working with people, and I think its in these environments where I not only operate at my best, but I feel my best. I suppose my answer to this prompt may not be very concrete or definitive, but nor is the role of being a PM (🤷🏼♂️).
- What questions would you have for the author of the book (📕)?
- There are a couple of different questions that I would ask the author of the book. From the outset, he paints the role of a PM to be pretty unfavourable. I think, with reading more of the book, this sentiment would change, but as an initial question I would like to know what drew him to the role, and why he decided to stick it out, especially when the going got tough. Was it the people he worked with? Was it the thrill of helping build a product that could have a large impact on a number of people? Was it the pay (💸)? I am still wondering what the initial incentives were to become a PM, and what it was about the role that was so rewarding or valuable that he chose to stay. Additionally, I would like to know how he managed difficult co-workers. I feel like at times I can be quite impatient. This attribute accentuates itself when I am dealing with people who I don’t think are as committed as I am, or who are simply pugnacious (🤬). I can see this being a slight issue for me when I go into the corporate world, and I have already seen it rear itself slightly in some of my previous internships. So, I would like to know how to be more patient when working with those who don’t seem as ready for a challenge as I am, and if we do end up butting heads, I would like to know how I can diffuse the situation early and gracefully, before things take a turn for the worse (📉).
