The Politics of Product Management

My background into Product Management is a bit of an oddity. On one side, I’ve got the traditional MBA and the commonly used analytical and managerial toolkit that comes with it. However, since I love student debt so much, I entered into a concurrent degree program, earning another degree in Public Policy and Administration… or “politics”.

One of my classes was designed to be a simulated congressional legislature, a way to teach us how the sausage is made. Over 100 “Type-A” personalities were all trying to pass their own bill for their constituents by competing for attention, resources, key committee assignments, and, ultimately, votes to get things done.

With the 116th U.S. Congress underway, I’m reminded about the importance of politics to getting big things done. Now I don’t mean “Politics” (capital P) where people try and jostle for taking credit, maneuver for territory, or try to undermine perceived opponents. These are destructive behaviors and unfortunately erode many organizations, which give the entirety of politics a bad reputation. This is also where our current political system is failing and disappointing our society.

The kind of politics (lower case p) I’m referring to is the inherently tangled process of reconciling different interests, negotiating ultimate outcomes, and creating plans that are designed to be liked by many, but loved by none. For many ambitious product managers, designers, and other business professionals, these skills become ever more important the higher one rises in their role.

Talk is cheap, and ultimately results matter — through collaboration across multiple interests to deliver tangible outcomes.

Here are some of the lessons learned in politics that have proven invaluable in product management no matter the industry one is in.

Lesson 1: Know How To Count

Seems basic, but ultimately whether in politics or business — votes matter. Knowing how people are inclined to vote before any meeting is critical to getting things done. In Congress, they call this “whipping votes”, which is the pre-work necessary to understand if your project / idea will pass.

In other industries, the voting structure may be more ambiguous but it is always there. Whether you just need your boss’ approval, the Board of Directors’ sign off, or for a committee to unanimously agree — knowing how many votes you need (and by whom) to get your idea accepted is paramount to success.

The ultimate goal should be that you know how everyone around a table is going to vote (or at least that you can address their concerns) before you present your idea / ask for approval. This is critical to understanding what parts of your work needs to change vs. what would be nice to change.

Some techniques can include soft sounding emails, preliminary 1:1 meetings, or even just bluntly asking for their feedback — better to hear it sooner rather than later. Know your number, know how many people (and who) you need to get on board, and then go whip those votes.

Lesson 2: Understand the Process, Respect the Process

There’s a scarcely known position in Congress called the “parliamentarian”. This person, while not elected, wields incredible power. Their role is to act as an official nonpartisan judge on the rules and procedures of Congress. Additionally, they assign to which committee specific bills will be sent. Essentially, if you want your bill to come to the committee you sit on so you can move it forward, you need to make sure that the parliamentarian agrees with you.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: teams and leaders get aligned on the general ideas of a specific product, investment, etc. but when the rubber meets the road, things start to fall apart. “Wait, I thought this was coming out of your budget”, “Who has final approval on this?”, “Oh, I didn’t know I needed to fill out this template… can we still move ahead?”.

Often, people will get caught up in arguing about the process of doing something, rather than the actual merits of an idea. While sometimes fruitful discussions to have, I’ve found it rarely actualizes into anything that resembles progress. Of course, it’s always possible to improve the process, but this seldom coincides with one’s immediate need to get something out the door in the near future.

Most organizations don’t have an official parliamentarian to help them. So high performers should know the process it takes in their org to get things done. I’ve seen projects get scuttled time and time again because the owner didn’t fully understand all that was required to get it launched. Often, the ultimate approval needs to go to someone else or higher up in the org chart who isn’t familiar with the project or context and decides to tank it.

Spending time at the onset of each project to agree on a set of rules, who owns what decision point, and how things will be transitioned can save many painful headaches later down the line.

Lesson 3: No Permanent Adversaries

People argue. That’s just part of the human condition. Unfortunately, many of us hold onto our resentment to professional “opponents” far beyond what is useful. In the messy process of politics, people will passionately disagree and challenge each other’s ideas. However, in a well functioning body of government (often an oxymoron), members understand that while you might strongly disagree with someone on any particular issue, there is no such thing as a permanent adversary.

At the end of the day, it takes a lot of different opinions and perspectives to do big things. In a less toxic era, politicians would hotly argue policy decisions but then come together at the end of the day for a drink, a cordial dinner, or to watch a game together. Why? Because 1) it’s better to have good relationships than not, and 2) you never know when you may have an overlap of interests in the future.

Humans are inherently relationship-driven creatures. In order to have influence without authority, one needs to rely on the work and support of others to get big things done. By holding onto old grudges, or refusing to work with others who very well may help move your idea forward, you’re doing yourself an immense disservice.

This is a practiced skill and we can see the impact of the failure of many of our elected officials who refuse to build these muscles. Next time you have a very strong disagreement with someone at work, ask them out to clear the air over drinks when the work is done — let it go, hug it out and figure out how to better work together towards mutual interests in the future. It’s surprising how much small acts like that can help to build momentum for future deliverables down the line.