Continuous Learning — An Essential Need for Product Managers

The importance, benefits, and essential resources for lifelong learning in Product Management

Does Learning Ever End?

Imagine a seasoned chef who has spent decades perfecting their culinary craft. They’ve mastered the art of creating exquisite dishes, earning accolades and admiration from diners and peers alike. One might think that with such expertise, there’s little left to learn. Yet, if you ask this chef about their journey, they’ll likely tell you that they continue to discover new ingredients, techniques, and flavor combinations every day. Why? Because they understand that learning never ends if you want to always be better. This simple yet profound truth holds just as much relevance in every aspect of life.

As Product Managers, our journey is one of perpetual growth and it just keeps evolving. We may start with a good understanding of what we need to know and do — a solid foundation of product management knowledge and skills, but the world around us keeps changing. This includes the way technology works, market trends, and user behaviour. So, we always need to keep learning and adapting to stay on top of things.

To remain effective and innovative in our roles, we must embrace the concept of lifelong learning.

Lifelong learning isn’t just about acquiring new certifications or ticking off courses from a list. It’s a mindset — a commitment to continuous improvement and adaptation. It’s about recognizing that there’s always room to expand our understanding and refine our skills.

Why Continuous Learning Matters

1. It increases your adaptability, which means you’ll be able to adjust to changes quickly. In tech, things are always changing — new tools, methods, and trends pop up all the time. Continuous learning helps you stay flexible, so you can change your plans when needed.
2. Continuous learning gives you an innovative mindset, you’d be able to come up with new ideas and ways of doing things. When you keep learning about what’s happening in your industry, you get fresh ideas that can make your products better.
3. It helps you grow in your job and career. You get better at your job and move up in your career when you show that you’re always learning and improving. It creates room for new opportunities that lead to job promotions and career growth.

Tips on How to Continuously Learn — What You Can Do

1. Always Stay Curious! Be interested in learning new things, ask questions, listen to others, and be open to trying new stuff. Learning from both successes and failures helps you grow.
2. Set learning goals for yourself, decide what you want to learn, and make a plan to do it. Maybe you want to get better at using a certain tool or understand a part of your job better. Setting clear goals helps you focus on what’s important.
3. Seek feedback — ask others what they think of your work so you can improve. Talk to your coworkers, mentors, or anyone else who can give you advice. Feedback helps you see what you’re doing well and where you can do better.
4. Teaching others what you know can also help you learn and become better. When you explain things to someone else, it forces you to really understand the topic yourself. Plus, you might learn something new from the person you’re teaching.

Resources for Continuous Learning

1. Courses: Places like Product School, Udemy, Coursera, Treford, LinkedIn Learning, etc., offer online courses on different topics. You can learn at your own pace and pick courses that interest you.
2. Books: There are lots of product books out there written by experts and industry leaders. I created a book directory, you can find it here. You can also get good book recommendations from friends and colleagues.
3. Websites/Articles: You can find articles online that talk about what’s happening in your industry. You can always do a simple Google search and loads of articles will come up depending on your industry and specific job role. They’re a quick way to stay updated on new trends and best practices.
   Product school has a very good PM resource bank, you can also check out articles on Atlassian, etc. As a Fintech Product Manager, you will find Stripe’s blog, and Payment Louge useful.
4. Side Projects: These projects let you practice what you’ve learned in real-life situations. This can come in handy if you’re currently out of a job or don’t have the opportunity to do proper product management practices at your current job. You can also use no-code tools to try out new ideas if you can’t find side-project opportunities.

So, does learning ever end? Not if you want to always be better.

Continuous learning is essential for Product Managers to stay relevant and effective in their roles. Recognize and embrace lifelong learning as a catalyst for your success, and have a mindset of curiosity. Don't forget to set clear learning goals, and leverage valuable resources.

Happy learning!