Product Management: 5 Ways to Keep It Real
Have you watched the iconic sci-fi Wachowski brothers’ movie tetralogy The Matrix? Fundamentally, it’s a movie about making choices and that idea is most vividly represented in the iconic Laurence Fishburne (a.k.a. Morpheus) and Keanu Reeves(a.k.a. Neo) scene where Neo has to choose whether he will take a red or a blue pill. To take the red pill is to choose to see things for what they are with both their good and bad sides, while to take the blue pill means to live in a world of blissful oblivion and conform to the standards.
How does it matter to you, who are likely here to learn more product management? It matters because if you allowed it, corporate America (and anything to do with software development in particular, as a newly found favorite of hers) would eat you up and spit you out in no time, and you won’t know what hit you after unless you keep yourself in check. Because admit it…we all try to be “good” but a myriad of little choices are made on daily basis and sometimes we let things slip because they seem insignificant in the moment. I am talking about occasionally choosing work over family (and yes, working over the weekend instead of spending time with your kids counts), bad-mouthing someone to save or advance yourself, not speaking up when a silly top-down decision is made (I know! Unbelievable! The big bosses are people too and sometimes make less-than-optimal decisions) or blindly pushing your idea over everyone else’s (regardless of the actual customer and company benefit) because it’s “every man for himself”. There is always something we choose to close our eyes for because otherwise we’d be the nail that sticks out the most.
This post is about being a true champion for your customers, while simultaneously preserving your authentic self. Because persistent, compassionate, nimble and passionate visionaries who truly understand the problems of their customers (both internal and external to the company)are what your customers, colleagues and employer really need. So, if you want to be a superstar in your job learn to grind and hustle a lot. Yes, just like street hustlers but done in a conference room rather than a back alley.
Here is my top 5 pieces of advice on how to “keep it real”, yet professional, despite of the many lurking pitfalls of corporate life.
Remember you are here for the customer, not the other way around
Always keep close to your heart the thought that your livelihood depends on your customers’ satisfaction with your product. These customers had many options but they chose you because they found some benefit in your product over others’ products. Be grateful and respectful to them for that kindness. Remember, you are there to improve their lives, and if you succeed in your mission, your life naturally will improve as well. Help the community first, and you will bask in the warm glow of their success.
In practical terms that means that next time you are seeing a lot of friction at some point of the shopping journey (i.e. check-out, product discovery and item buying, etc.), find the best possible solution to the problem regardless of which team/person specifically will claim it on their monthly organizational newsletter, and might receive a pat on the back during an All Hands meeting, because software is like a living organism — one organ cannot function without the support of other, and if one fails, eventually all do. And we are all aware of this, so even if you feel left out, smart leaders will always know you helped.
Act with dignity
A very wise man (shout out to Kannan Achan!) once told me to always stay humble regardless of how much I know or I think I know. Don’t forget that, while you might be the biggest specialist in something, there is an infinite number of other things in which you are not a specialist. So, when you make your choices, remember to consult with others (you could be too biased towards something making you blind to other options), be dignified, open-minded and flexible. Learn to distinguish what battles are worth fighting for and where you need to let go.
Practically speaking, if you are a strong believer in a new feature because you’ve done all possible market research which seems promising, and are seeing an urgent need as displayed by your customers’ feedback, but no one else in your organization seems concerned with this problem, then by all means try to raise awareness and don’t give up even if you face apathy. This is when you put your hustler thinking hat on and start attacking this problems from all possible directions. Maybe you are not yet friends with the right people in the company who can make this happen, or maybe your team does not have its priorities properly set and needs some guidance, or it could even be that your idea is a little too ahead of its time still and you just need to keep it loaded and ready to launch once the time is right.
Just remember — don’t overdo it! It’s good to be passionate but not at the expense of alienating yourself because next time your customers need you, you may not be able to help them anymore because all of your shots are blanks.
Respect the individual
People are different and if their opinions differ from yours it doesn’t mean they are wrong. ALWAYS try to put yourself in the shoes of your customers, colleagues and managers when you have different perspectives. Human beings are social and driven by causality. We have a reason and we take action towards achieving our objectives, and we try to convince those around us that ours is the cause most worthy of their efforts/admiration. It makes us feel good. Don’t strive to feel good without concern for others.
So, if your less technologically-savvy colleagues from, for instance the merchandising department, feel wary of a machine learning-driven personalized holiday email campaign, don’t talk behind their back saying they are foolish and behind times. Instead, collaborate with them, learn from them, educate them and create a solution which makes all of you happy because that’s what will drive your product forward in the long run.
Be brave and kind
Don’t be a paper pusher for the sake of saving your job and at the expense of the customer or your conscience. I know it sounds so easy to say, yet so hard to do. “Lia, what about my mortgage and kids’ college tuition?”, you may ask? Fortunately for us, there are so many jobs for software specialists out there. If you are not getting bombarded with offers on regular basis, it might be worth re-evaluating your personal brand (should that be my next topic?). And tell me honestly, isn’t it a lot less bad to lose a crappy job and be worried about finding a new one for just a short little while, than living day after day for a long time while working the same shitty job you hate? All the money you make in the job you don’t like, you are very likely to waste on things you don’t need to make yourself feel better about having a bad job.
In other words, if you stick to your guts, one of two things can happen. You will either be forced to move onto a different job (oh well, good riddance, right?) OR eventually things will improve in your current job and you will have the pleasure of knowing you did that. Don’t forget that if something was an issue for you, it was likely an issue for others as well, and you just helped them resolving it. But choose your battles wisely and don’t be selfish because you might have some quick short-terms wins that way but karma’s a b-lady :).
Family comes first
This is the one piece of advice which you will never see in any “core values” leaflet given around your company. All of the above, in some more legal-department-approved wording, will be present in the “values wheel” of your employer, but you won’t hear them say that your family comes first. Of course, you will hear all about work-life balance benefits, and in your employer’s defense, most good companies will try to be fair but only to a certain point because their businesses are no charity groups.
In fact, I had to go through a similar experience last year myself. I was stuck in San Francisco, just like all other high-performing super ambitious tech-y folk, working my life away to advance in my job as quickly as possible, in the hopes of providing the best life for my family. Well, what I wasn’t considering is that my family wasn’t happy in SF because they were too far from everything else they loved. Unfortunately, my then employer did not have offices on the East Coast and when I shared my dilemma, they tried to convince me to stay by continuously reminding me of the opportunities I will be missing out on if I left them. I contemplated for a long time if I can make the move to the East Coast, much closer to the rest of our family and friends, but I was really afraid of missing out on being in the most fast-paced region of the country for my industry. Eventually, I decided that it’s hypocritical to claim I am working so hard for my family, while at the same time they were telling me they didn’t want the money I was making, they just wanted to be happy with me and the rest of our loved ones. So, I made the big move to the East Coast. And you know what happened…it paid off. I am proof that if you follow your heart and have your priorities set straight, you can achieve anything (including the professional advancement you crave so badly) and always find a way to be happy when you go to bed at night :).
