26. Theory should not outpace practice
My relative used to work for a community centre during the Soviet times. Most of her working hours she spent drinking tea in the reception area. Once she surprised me with a quote from a gun manual, which she knew by heart: “The trigger pushes the sear bar of the lock up until the sear pawl disengages from the full-cock notch and allows the tumbler and hammer to rotate forward, firing the gun. She told me that every year she had to pass the firearm proficiency exam. I was shocked and asked how often she gets to use a fire gun. She laughed and said she’d never even held it in her hands in her entire life.
There are so many stories out there when people pass a proficiency test, but haven’t really got a clue about the subject they’re studying. In Russian schools, for example, children learn the tenses in English language, but even those with the best grades can barely speak conversational English. A product manager is a very popular job nowadays, with so many educational articles, webinars, meetups and conferences about how to become a great product manager. Learning is no doubt important, but make sure that your theoretical knowledge does not outpace practical skills by a long shot.
Tales of a Product Owner: concentrated wisdom about project management, team creation and UX.
