Path to Product Management
What drives you? What really drives you? What anchors you? What is the character of your mindset? What sets you apart?
These are diagnostic questions that can help you discover your “calling” for products (product management).
Lately, I have received a variety of questions from aspiring Product Managers: “I want to be a Product Manager, how can I do it, what experience or skills do I need? Where do I start?” So it got me thinking, what really is the path to Product Management? And even from new entrants: “I am drowning, how do I navigate?”
The first time this question was posed to me I was hesitant, trying to remember exactly how I got immersed in the world of Products. It wasn’t something that I started out saying I wanted to do or be. I think, I actually wanted to be a lawyer — 😃 I enjoy(ed) defending a position with information — data and knowledge. And these skills have actually proven useful.
Build your PM career from other experiences
I agree with Product Leaders that say Product Management found them rather than the other way around, because Product Management rightly found me. I say this because historically most PMs don’t start out as one; and would usually gain experience under their belts in complementary fields — Engineering, Design, Marketing, Business — or otherwise in Arts, Sciences etc (some recent change in trend due to prevailing needs, and more structured and charted paths by multinationals like the Google Associate Product Manager Program or Facebook’s Rotational Product Manager Program allow students or inexperienced to start out fresh. It is good to note that there is a growing number of degree programs that cater for the product management discipline; one such is Carnegie Mellon’s PM Graduate coursework.
I was headhunted for my first product management role. I got the job. Time later, I asked my then boss what gave him the incline that I would succeed as a Product Manager. His interest in my profile (resume) was not because it had the role/title of Product Manager, because it didn’t. I came to understand that it was because it revealed entrepreneurial activities, product sense (ability to build for value), and a data-driven approach. Our initial in-person additionally uncovered, among other things, my intense passion for building from the customer’s perspective, a seemingly persuasive voice, and a knack for creating content — story behind the vision that compels your team and the customer.
Find your PM Star!
If exploring a career selection or move into products, start with a self- assessment, learn about yourself — your work-related values, interests, personality type, and aptitudes. You would be intrigued to find out, or not, if your life thus far can tell a story that would qualify you for a career in product management. You may be shocked to know that your life experiences and those in other functions may have laid the groundwork for a successful career.
Your rumination should bare a leading trait of bringing new things to the world, unearthing problems, breaking things and fixing them. You should be a builder, a shaper, a big thinker — a visionary. A builder has history of what has been delivered, changed, generated, and released. A visionary has a broader orientation than what is available to them. Let’s not be presumptive, but explicit that product management takes intellectual capacity — you should have intellectual horsepower, a super-charged cognitive aptitude.
I like to call Product Managers synthesizers. This is a keen signal, perceptive even, because PMs are required to unravel complexities as simple, clear, plain, straightforward concepts. The PM role draws on a wide spectrum of knowledge — engineering, UX, data, finance, organizational design, operations, research, marketing, etc. Their ability to dimension and effectively synthesize this broad scope of inputs into strategy is a tall order that sets great PMs apart. And not only should they be fitted with the capacity to synthesize specialized information but the product management task of synthesis imposes largely diplomacy and communication savvy — proficiency to unify team members who have different positions on the product.
Product thinkers are not lateral thinkers. They are not left-brain thinkers or right brain thinkers. The exquisiteness of a product manager is that they leverage immensely the function of both the right brain and the left — demanding equal efforts of both sides of the brain. They are logical, meticulous, analytical, AND creative, intuitive, empathetic. They are a unique bunch, and should genuinely be well-rounded, multi-talented.
The Soft Skills
Still in self-discovery mode, aspiring PMs should portray, or be willing to develop, real skills like:
- Empathy — Be rooted in the why of the problem you want to solve. Be able to tuck your needs aside (avoid being self-centric) and ruthlessly focus on the customer — fill your customers’ shoes. Always be willing to explain the why to your product team to drive motivation, and keep them happy. Most importantly, build trust. Trust is the foundation that will fuel authentic connections, a productive team, and a successful product.
- Big Thinker — Be Innovative. Look for opportunities to disrupt the status quo. Be Strategic. Intricately understand that your business model is your product. Business model guides the signals for success. Think Divergently. Creativity is an asset. Think outside the standard product box to solve problems and develop novel solutions. Push Boundaries. They push companies beyond their comfort zone with compelling evidence and constant communication, and they build bridges across functions in the face of resistance.
- Demonstrate Curiosity — PMs are lifelong learners. They ask the right questions and find the right answers. Are more interested in the right answer than being right. They know their market deeply. They understand their competition and use competitor products daily, if possible. Values diversity of thought, and sees opposing views as an opportunity to learn a new idea
- Executor — You have to be impeccable in execution. It is critical that you have the knack to decompose your product vision into manageable bits. You must know what to build and the right time to build it. Has to have a bias for action, quick with decision making when required, even with incomplete information. Constantly delivers on business impact.
- Leadership — PMs are not managers, they are leaders, influencers. They create an enabling environment of enthusiastic and motivated team members. They lead by example and collaboratively achieve through others. They speak for the customer, not themselves. They put the team’s goals ahead of their own ambitions, and work to make decisions by consensus. They have strong sense of self coupled with a servant-leader mindset.
The Hard Skills
Along with the understanding that soft skills can give you a soft landing, we can’t neglect the hard kills. I mentioned that my journey started on a different path, however complementary. And I was fortunate to have been a three time founder, running my own business, and to work in a number of fields/disciplines that have immensely contributed to my product career. I started as a QA Engineer then some obscure coding as a Software Engineer, and my favorite development experience as a PL/SQL Developer. I realized that I enjoyed technical challenges of engineering but didn’t care much for coding. I preferred the strategic aspect of driving the product, the preoccupation with improving what’s already out there and the excitement that comes from getting the world behind a product messaging and positioning. I intensely cared about the perceived quality of a product in the hands of the user. I got out of engineering and took on project and business analysis roles, but I would still find myself glaringly wanting to tweak the products in view.
These skills apparently set a foundation for me. Martin Eriksson, a celebrated product executive, and founder of Mind the Product, and corroborated by other product leaders, is known for saying that product management is the intersection between business, technology, and user experience functions. A good product manager must be experienced in at least one, passionate about all three, and conversant with practitioners in all.
Quite honestly, you could delve into product management from a wide array of backgrounds but having any of the three can accelerate and ease your evolution. What are these fundamental skills all about?
- Business — viability (will users want to buy this?) Product Management is a business function and requires the PM to have strong business judgment.
- Tech — feasibility (can our engineers build this?); Great PMs need to have a deep understanding of the design and engineering. When the tech is understood, so is the product, on a much deeper level. This is essential because PMs cannot define what they should build if they don’t know how it will be built. (a good number of people differ with me on this, don’t get me wrong no formal education is required, if you live products enough, you will inherently pick this up)
- UX — usable (can the user figure out how to use this?) Great PMs are the voice of the customer inside the business and thus are passionate about UX. Need to find ways to infuse the user at every stage of the road map.
The Roadmap to your New life…
You may still be asking what exactly is the roadmap? 😜 Again product managers come from different backgrounds, however having a business or technical related degree helps you acquire the knowledge and skills that I have touched on. So, if your interest is piqued early enough, bet on a program that falls within these areas of knowledge. If you are already out of school, or even working, try the following:
- Establish a gap in your knowledge and try to fill that gap — this can be done through certifications, seminars, workshops etc. You can find a various courses on Coursera, Udemy, Utiva, ProductDive etc
- Acquire Training On-The-Job — There is always a problem that needs help getting solved. Volunteer outside of your core duties to provide support — take on researching, experimenting, and executing on a solution you yourself own, in addition to your daily work.
- Find a mentor.
- Build your product sense. Passion is essential in product management. Develop your passion. Cultivate a habit of digging into products around you, especially the ones you greatly use. Figure out their value proposition, their strategy, their growth and success pipeline. Look for ways in which you can improve them. Be concerned about the Why and the What and less about the How. Treat every product as a case study — understand what worked and what didn’t.
- Attempt your hand at some PM tasks — there is a wealth of knowledge and courses on the internet — get to learning. Here are sample tasks that you can teach yourself:
★ How to validate ideas
★ How to collect customer feedback
★ How to you wireframe a customer experience
★ How to write a product specification document or user story
★ How to create a product roadmap
“If you are unwilling to learn no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”
- Build your own product. Do a side gig.
★ Define a customer problem
★ Come up with a solution
★ Research your market
★ Research your competitors
★ Design a wireframe/mockup
★ Build a prototype
★ Iterate with your customers
★ Prioritize features based on feedback
★ Build your roadmap - Build your profile/credibility
★ Excel in your current role
★ Execute! Get in the habit of getting things done
★ Sharpen your communication — Get good at storytelling
★ Entrepreneurial — Do something that is of value to others - Network
Last Words
If you didn’t already pick up on it, I am extremely obsessed with, and biased towards Product Management and I am positive it shapes the world. Becoming a product manager means that you have to be willing to put in the work. Product Managers sacrifice their time and work hard every single day to become the best. They are hungry to learn about the problem and the range of solutions. Are you willing to do that?
Ultimately great product managers don’t follow any template. There is no one size fits all model. However, opportunities that offer worthwhile preparation, and that strengthen your candidacy can be secured even if you don’t work in product yet. In absence of an educational pedigree, PMs establish a track record of building great products that supersedes any degrees.
Hope this has been helpful. Will leave you with this quote from Martin Eriksson.
“Sure it’s a tough job but it’s just about the most fun you can have with your clothes on — certainly the most fun you’re going to get paid to do. You get to define the very essence of a product, design solutions to your customers’ problems, work with everyone in the business and play a very large part in your business’s success. We’re the unsung heroes of the tech world — or at least we’d like to think so…”
