Trapped in Silos: Unveiling Our Self-Imposed Barriers
This is the second comment to the article ‘Entrepreneurship: Lessons from US Big Tech for EU Product Managers,’ written by Sean O’Neill.
Let’s remind ourselves again of Sean’s insight:
“A key behaviour I have noticed is that for some UK and EU Product Managers, what ever product book they read that drew them into the industry (Inspired, Lean Startup, Sprint, Lean UX, Crossing the Chasm, etc …), they have become fanatical about that being the ONLY way to properly be a PM. Like in the Mandelorian where they are always saying, ‘This is the Way!’
For a profession that is meant to be adaptive by design, these folks can be the most rigid in insisting there is only one way to do the job. Some UK and EU PMs come across as very naive when complaining that their company doesn’t operate the way Marty Cagan’s book says they should, and this is missing the key point of what makes a Product Manager successful. At the core of a great PM is an entrepreneur.”
Let’s set aside the question of why this behavior occurs, such as issues with product strategy or the lack of authority within roles that bear the title of product management. While these factors are important for discussion, I touched upon them in my previous comment.
In the large organization where we are part of the product management team, we have different streams, many departments, and lots of smaller units. Sometimes, it seems like we’re inside a castle, not noticing what’s happening outside, literally, we don’t pay much attention to what’s happening outside our walls. We’re becoming less interested in the overall view of our company’s product and more focused on our own small section of it. It’s as if we’re in a sandbox where everything feels familiar and well-arranged.
No matter how your organization might not work perfectly, or even if it’s not exactly how books describe the best product organizations, I really believe that each of us can adopt an entrepreneurial mindset personally.
Teresa Torres shared her experience at the beginning of her carrier:
“Trust me, I know what it’s like to work at places that don’t do modern product discovery. However, in every single one of these jobs, I found a way to get close to the customer. I found a way to advocate for human-centred design. […] Instead of asking for permission or waiting for someone to show you how, start small. Iterate from there.” 223
And Torres continues with the key point:
“Many product teams aren’t allowed to do discovery. They still work in a feature-team or delivery-team model, where business stakeholders tell them what to build. […] When you are asked to deliver a specific solution, work backwards. Take the time to consider ‘If our customers had this solution, what would it do for them?’”. 226
To me, a top-notch product manager needs an inner drive that pushes them to be curious. They should want to explore how their small “product” world fits into the bigger picture of the company’s overall product that customers buy.
You could protect your “castle” and “your” developers, thinking everything in your small area is going great. But if this doesn’t help the company’s product do well, it doesn’t really matter much.
I have a hunch that when Sean mentioned Mandalorians, he could have been alluding to the Judicials from the TV show Silo. Nevertheless, this analogy isn’t meant to be humorous; it actually holds a somewhat darker connotation.
