Music and product management: How it all connects for Lourdes, the Product Manager at VEON
Our Product Manager here at the VEON Big Data Lab, Lourdes, has a passion for music. The story of where this hobby has taken him is amazing.
Describing his own experiences, Lourdes says he started out by just figuring out how to play. Then, his curiosity made him want to explore more. He wanted to learn how the musical systems of various cultures developed.
“I Iearned Western music theory as well as Carnatic music. Western music is more mathematical and structured. Carnatic music, while it has the structure, is really all about the feel. I found that while these systems are very different, they’re still complimentary.”
This discovery made him want to go even deeper.
There are many differences between Western and Eastern music, he thought. Carnatic music, which is from South India, refers to notes differently, but like Western music, still divides the octave into 12 semi-tones. So, while Carnatic music may sound much different from Western music because of its unique melodies and rhythms, the foundations are the same.
“I even found similar frequencies in the semi-tones from both Western music and Carnatic music, even though Western music is mathematical while Carnatic music is emotional.”
From there, Lourdes starting making bigger connections — especially to his work as a Product Manager:
“To me, humans across the world are the same at the base. How cultures are built on top of that is where it changes.”
“If you want to achieve something, find the basic problem. If you first connect to the human, then you can connect globally. You do that by building that cultural layer for each customer.”
Clearly, Lourdes’ study of music is playing a huge role in what he does as a Product Manager. That’s because, while music and product management appear to be vastly different at first glance, the two are incredibly interlinked — just like Western and Carnatic music. Lourdes notes that you are constantly trying to create something that appeals to an audience in music, which is the same in Product Management.
Lourdes’ story and further examination of music and product management highlights how the two compliment each other. Indeed, there’s a lot that product managers could learn from studying music and there’s a lot musicians can learn from product managers.
Good music and product management focus on simplification
The greats in the music industry are obsessed with testing and making changes until the song is as flawless as possible. A tight final product is the goal.
Miles Davis was well known for his constant experimentation, always ready to tweak his tunes in pursuit of perfection. He is well known for challenging his bandmates to question the necessity of every note. Davis famously said, “I always listen to what I can leave out.” The greats in product management have this same obsession with simplification.
Lourdes notes that he simplifies things by trying to seeing what people feel and want. Then, the team works tirelessly to offer the simplest solution possible. This means no extra fluff.
Good music and product management are iterative
When you first begin making music, it can be intimidating, and you probably won’t be good for a while. It’s similar to coding in that aspect, Lourdes notes. Practice helps build your skill set, and persistent study can help you get to the next level, one where you’re in complete control of the final product.
John Vars, Chief Product Officer at TaskRabbit and former rock band member, notes that good musicians play a lot of gigs early on, even if the performance is less than perfect. This not only gets you better at playing live. It gives you the chance to get feedback and improve.
Good Product Managers do the same thing. They don’t go for a big bang release. Instead of waiting to perfect the product, they put it out early, obtain real user data and feedback, and improve. It is a constant cycle of optimization, not a finite line.
Good music and product management have a well-understood vision
In a band, it’s common for the songwriter to be the only one who actually knows what the song is discussing. Drummers have no clue, so they invent their own lyrics. While you can still certainly push out a product with the drummer making his own lyrics, you limit the potential of the music without context. The members can play better if they have a clear idea of what they are playing. Great bands have a unified vision, and work together to create it.
Similarly, in product management, leaders need to explain the context of a new feature or product. Engineers, designers, and other specialists can then develop something that solves the client’s needs. Lourdes notes that when the team does not know what customer problem needs to be solved, it makes achieving the end goal much harder. That’s because the specialists are just plugging away like a machine, with no connection to the customer.
Successful Product Managers do a great job of making sure the team understands, without being directive. The team knows the goal, and is given space to make it happen. Through iterative cycles and constant simplification, a better end product is made. And the customer’s needs are solved.
For music and product management, it’s all about connections
Lourdes’ discovery of the connections between Western and Carnatic music provided him with an important insight into how all humans are connected. As a Product Manager, that has made it easier for him to find the basic problem and solve it. For both music and product management, solving the basic need of the audience or customers relies on connecting everything together.
When building the product or making music, simplification is achieved by having a tight product with no unnecessary features or hurdles. For continued improvement, it’s necessary to integrate user feedback and audience response, and then make appropriate changes. And, to ultimately create a product meant to last, you need a unified vision that the whole team understands. For all of this, connection is key.
