Think Twice Before Deciding to Break into Product Management

I get all the hype... We are in the Golden Era of Product Management: Demand for these roles in the US outpaces the average increase in demand for other roles in the US by a whopping 5x in recent years.

Job market trends change all the time and what I believe one should consider before making a career transition is to figure out their why before focusing on how. Simon Sinek in his book, “Start with Why” stress this point to fine details.

Now I won’t be surprised if most people don’t think this way and that is exactly the purpose behind this article: to shed some light on Product Management from an insider’s view to help you with your why and some tips on the how.

I’m fortunate to be involved heavily in the PM community at Product Manager Hub and one question that I get asked often is:

“How can I tell whether Product Management is the right career choice for me?”

Product Management is a Mindset

I was recently talking with one of the guests on my PM Hub podcast show and he brought up an interesting point: “Most people who break into Product have been doing Product Management work long before even knowing it’s called Product Management”.

Let that sink for a second…

I believe having a Product mindset is the most important factor that you should consider before considering to break into the field. Product Management is more about the way you think about problems and how you operate rather than just shipping features.

Let me ask you this:

Think about the last time you tried to solve a problem. Did you take a second and ask yourself why you are doing that or did you just jump into actions?

Product Managers constantly need to question their approach and be crystal clear on their why.

Now reflecting on the problem you were looking to solve… what happened at the end? Did you record your learnings and iterate on your solution?

It’s the scientific approach to solve problems: trial and error. Mindful iteration is the mother of all inventions in fact. Product Managers are wired to iterate, learn, and be okay with failing.

Don’t take my word for it…. Network with Product Managers who have a similar educational/professional background as you ask about their why. Chances are if they’re doing well in their roles, they have a strong why.

Product Management is NOT for Everyone

As a Product Manager, you’re in charge of making decisions that will impact potentially thousands if not millions of people.

Let that sink for a second…

What that means is that yes, you have a direct influence on what comes next and the future strategy of a Product, but what that also means is that you have to be comfortable taking that seat when considering the repercussions.

Can you handle the stress and sheer amount of responsibilities?

A LOT of aspiring PMs don’t consider this but trust me, it will catch up with you later in your career. I know of a PM who wasn’t comfortable with making decisions and naturally the product didn’t end up staying in the marketplace. He had a very hard time landing his next gig; employers want to see results and if they don’t meet the bar, your PM career path will suffer.

Write this down somewhere… As a Product Manager, when you launch a successful Product or feature, credits will all go to the team, but when it fails, you are the one responsible.

There is No Single Playbook for Product

You took a course on how to do Product Management and you think you know exactly how you need to do your job following the playbook they gave you, but unfortunately, I have to be real with you and burst that bubble.

I will tell you that every company does Product differently. What’s in the books changes depending on the size of the company (Startup to Enterprise), type of Product (B2B, B2C, etc), mode of Product (Core Feature, Growth, Scale, Expansion) and you have to be open to unlearn some of the approaches in your playbook and figure what works in your environment.

Another caveat about Product is that it is widely misinterpreted by different organizations. Product Management is relatively a new field and there was even no University curriculum on it until recently as I am writing this post.

And let me tell you this:

Depending on where you end up working, odds are that your manager likely doesn’t have a strong Product background. So be prepared to learn from outside and apply as you go. You won’t get the same level of mentorship as to say you were a software engineer.

Don’t Let the Salary Figure Fool You

“Culture eats Strategy for breakfast” Peter Drucker

I would add that culture eats salary for lunch for PMs!

PMs get paid generously especially as they move up to Product Leadership roles, but this should not be the main motivation for you to get into Product Management.

In order to excel in Product Management, it’s much more important to figure whether you are in the right culture setting than how much you get paid. As the Product Manager, you will be working with different teams on a daily basis and you want to make sure that culture is there for cross-collaborations.

You also want to make sure there is Leadership support for Product thinking; far too many companies are focused on solely delivering business outcomes and not solve for user problems. Rest assured, this short-sighted approach to Product will lead to being disrupted as it’s been discussed heavily in the book, Innovator’s Dilemma.

You’re the CEO of the Product

As Manager of your Product, you are the shepperd of the vision that is set by executives.

Now some say you are the CEO of the Product, but don’t let that fool you: There is some truth to this as to why some compare it to a CEO since you’re in charge of making important decisions on what gets build and what doesn’t, but keep in mind that you don’t have all the resources that a CEO has nor the authority.

Product Management is a highly influential role with low levels of authority; you are like the mortar in the brick wall as Ravi Mehta, ex-CPO of Tinder referenced it.

As an individual contributor, no one should report to the Product Manager. One of the reasons for this setup is to keep the transparency levels high. In order to make the best decisions, you need to have honest and unfiltered information from your extended team, and having the authority to fire them, will likely hinder this.

As a PM, you should be an exceptional communicator and comfortable with building relationships and evangelize the vision of your Product.

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