Product Management for Public Good
*record scratch*
*freeze frame*
Yup, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got into this situation…
It all started in the first summer of COVID, and like many others I was spending every waking hour in my home - either working at my home office (the dining room) or relaxing (the living room) - when I came across this:
After many happy years zipping around the streets of Dublin on the city bikes, I was now at home with a bike-shaped hole in my life and unshared opinions in abundance, so I clicked and began my journey down the rabbit hole …
For those of you who’ve had the pleasure of cycling in Ireland’s capital, you’ll be familiar with the adrenaline-fuelled excitement of tussling with buses, the fleeting enjoyment of a playful cuddle with a speeding car, all interspersed with tedious calm when reaching a cycle lane before steering once more into battle. En garde!
Back home in Navan, I missed the daily joust, and my “commute” from bedroom to the dining room office was growing stale. You should get a bike, my brain suggested. It seemed like we’d be stuck with this COVID thing for a few more months (I really said that. Out loud) and I didn’t relish the thought of returning to my three-hours-a-day on public transport afterwards. Plus, the summer rains were unseasonably light this year, making the outdoors seem like somewhere one might go on purpose. So of course I bought an electric bicycle, the only logical option.
But something wasn’t quite right. Around Navan the familiar battle for space on the road was there, with the added challenge of tractors, school-run tailbacks and the odd stray cow. And as for the intermittent sanctuary of the cycle lanes? Not so much. How was one supposed to career bravely into traffic when there was no respite to emerge from?
It just so happened I wasn’t the only person underwhelmed with cycling around Navan. So, after filling in the survey, I met up with these like minded folks and before you can say “any other business?” I found myself as esteemed Secretary of the Navan Cycling Initiative.
The Jolly Life Of An Advocate
Having never done any advocacy before, I found myself in new and exciting territory. My first instinct was to try and understand the current situation. True to form, I created a map of cycle paths around the town, so we could see what we’re dealing with. We’ve since refined and updated this to make the definitive source of cycling infrastructure for the area.
It was pretty clear from the map that the cycling infrastructure was disjointed, degraded and in some cases downright dangerous. No matter. It should be a simple case of making someone aware of the problems and in short order we’d see some progress, right? Did I mention I’m new to advocacy?
Ok, ok. This situation wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. And I wasn’t completely new to being in a position where I was striving toward some better vision of the future but lacked official authority and had to rely on influence, bargaining, arm-twisting and ah-go-on-ing. This is practically the job description for product management, at least in my limited experience. So far, so familiar.
Looking at how 2020 brought a new focus on Going Outdoors On Purpose (walking, running, cycling and various other self-powered modes of movement) it felt like change was in the air. At the same time, the means of change, local government, remained the same. Several times in my career I had the opportunity to work with organisations who wanted to deliver software products more quickly, be more customer-focused or refresh their portfolio of legacy systems. These businesses struggled with layers of processes, built up over decades, each layer embedding new “best practices”, until navigating them was like wading through treacle. When the business was faced with change, it became a huge challenge, despite the well-meaning intentions of folks on the ground. Hmm.
A thought tiptoed quietly into the back of my head. Could I use some of the tools and techniques that worked in product management also apply in this new challenge to improve people’s experience travelling in and around their town? Perhaps I can use my experiences with organisational change and business agility to find new ways to deliver cool stuff quickly and continuously, instead of in large batches every few years?
But wait. Isn’t it the height of hubris to consider that I could jump into a new problem, knowing nothing about it, and arrogantly assume I could immediately make everything better?
Hello, my name is Dave and I’m a Product Manager :D
And so this is my journey, my Tour de Force (oh come on, give me one cycling pun!), into Cycling advocacy, Product Management and The Great Outdoors. I hope you’ll join me (unflattering high-vi optional) as I pedal past potholes, through weather fair and foul, to destinations unknown …
