Annie Wang, Product Manager
Joined in 2018, from 🇹🇼
What led you to become a product manager
Connecting the dots
I cannot say there was a clear turning point in my life when I decided that I wanted to become a Product Manager. It was a culmination of years of experiences that led to where I am today, which included my time at university, my internship at an advertising agency, my first job working in the finance industry, and later on as early member of a fast growing internet company. It was a journey helped me explore who I am, what I am passionate about, and what I want to achieve. All in all, this involves identifying problems, and empowering people by providing the tools and platform for them to connect with the world to improve their lives.
What does a typical day look like
1 — Wake up at 7:30am and have a bowl of muesli
2 — Listen to podcasts and read subscribed newsfeeds while commuting
3 — Fill up a glass of water before sitting down at my desk
4 — Work related routine: Focus, Communication, Discovery, Delivery
5 — After work exercise: swimming (if the pool is open), walk around local park.
6 — Read business books or novels
7 — Prepare or plan for upcoming weekday or weekday activities
8 — Say my prayers before going to sleep
Name three people or things you feel inspired when creating a product.
The 7 habits of highly effective people — by Stephen R. Covey
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Habit 4: Think Win/Win
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Habit 6: Synergize
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
This is one of my favourite books. The list of habits are not only applicable to our career but our personal lives. Take Habit 2 as an example: if there is no vision or direction before we design the product, the result will end up going nowhere. What we define and what we perceive for the future determine what kind of product we are going to create in the beginning.
Once the goal is set, Habit 3 — “Put First Things First” jumps in. This essentially means ‘Prioritisation’ in the context of the product world. As long as we are aligned with the objectives, working on the important but not urgent items will lead us to the key results that we would like achieve in the end.
INSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love — by Marty Cagan
“As product people, we’re essentially in the idea business. It’s our job to come up with great ideas and then make them a reality.”
Building a product is not easy. Being a Product Manager is challenging. This is the book I would recommend to anyone who interested in a product role or is already in such a role. To minimise the gap between ideals and the reality, we have to fail, but fail fast, and tackle the mistakes fast. However, you can not do it alone. How to convince the team to join this adventure without no real authority but still let them work on their magic is another lesson that every Product Manager needs to practice.
What would your self-portrait look like?
Reading books with a Shiba at the seaside or in the forest.
Anything you want to promote or plug?
Hello, introverts!
As an introvert, I doubted whether I could be a Product Manager in the beginning. I thought this was a role that belonged to extroverts. For example, constant communication with others always consume a lot my energy, and furthermore I may not voice out my thoughts especially when I am still gathering information and trying to understand the issue. For an introvert, this can be exhausting, but I find that this is countered by a sense of accomplishment that consumes me when I can finally create value for the end users, and that is very reward and makes it worth!
Thus, I would like to encourage introverts who might be interested in becoming a Product Manager to not hold back and give it try. There are different types of PMs, and you can always choose the type that suits your personality best utilises your skillset.
