Bad Product Manager: the Mini CEO

There’s an It’s a Wonderful Life moment in Star Trek:The Next Generation where Captain Picard gets to redo a mistake he made as a junior officer where he was badly injured in a bar fight. Flash forward 30 years or so to present day, we see the results of a junior officer living out his career with the experience and demeanor of a Captain, and the result is… Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Picard.

The moral of the story is that we are always changing, and acting like the job that you want to have may not get you the results you expect. One common narrative in the world of unsolicited advice is the idea of a “Product Manager as CEO”. I’d like to make a case that this is bad advice, and can not only impede careers but result in worse outcomes, like being thrown out because you are an insufferable pain in the ass.

The key difference is that the CEO serves at the pleasure of the board of directors, and every single employee is under her authority. Conversely, a PM generally has a peer relationship with other functions, and is accountable for results without the reporting authority over other members of the team.

This isn’t to say that a good CEO is a tyrant who does not accept criticism, but when push comes to shove, she can make decisions without the burden of proof. A PM has to be more persuasive, because no one has to do what he says. Also, it’s also worth saying that tyrannical CEOs can succeed if they are correct- tyrannical PMs rarely have the opportunity to prove themselves right.

Understanding the distinction between authority and accountability is important- Product Managers may be People Managers, but that is an artifact of the employee’s seniority and not a core requirement of the role. CEOs tell their subordinates what to do. PMs convince their peers, subordinates, and superiors of the right thing to do. It’s a subtle but important difference.