It Might Not Be Your Fault, But It’s Your Responsibility

Why product managers get to pick up the pieces

I was watching an episode of Orange Is The New Black recently (I know I’m well behind the times!) and in it one of the characters absent-mindedly leaves a screwdriver in her pocket, which if found could be seen as a weapon and her sentence increased.

The problems that ensue involve all inmates as the search for the screwdriver gathers pace, and at one point a prison guard says “It might not be your fault, but it’s your responsibility”.

What’s this got to do with product management?

As product managers we’re responsible for our products; whether they be a health app, ecommerce website, or internal operations tool.

If someone does something that negatively impacts your product, it will fall on you to find a solution.

• Your health app is pushed out with a problem with the analytics, what are you going to do to get your data back online and not go missing in the future?
• Your ecommerce website has a misaligned payment button from the payment system plug in that you use, what are you going to do to correct this?
• Your internal operations tool is brought to a standstill by someone running a complicated search, what are you going to do with your product to prevent this happening again?