It’s okay to not know and feel dumb. I still love product.
If you’ve been in the tech scene for a while, you will most likely know of great names in various disciplines, Julie Zhuo of Facebook, Nir Eyal of the book “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”, and so on.
I love reading their articles and insights, and marvel at the depth of their analysis and critique, wistfully wringing my hands pondering if I could ever reach that level.
Well guess what. I’m already a year out since graduation and have started learning product management recently this year at a small startup in Singapore. Yep, still a long way to go.
I may have seen through a major product release, gone over client demos (even to a VC!), and grappled with decision-making, but I often wonder if I’m good enough, if I’m performing or even excelling.
But today, I just want to be transparent and vulnerable. To share that, heck, doing product is hard and I struggle with it.
Admit when you don’t know stuff
I remember my first month on the job. I didn’t know what API calls were and their importance so I tried to skirt it around hoping that the developers will share more without me having to directly ask them. It’s like picking up the bread crumbs trying to figure out what type of bread it was instead of just asking the baker about it. Eventually, I still needed to ask. And they answered. Sometimes pride and the fear of being judged for not knowing really get in the way of clarity and understanding.
Of course, I unabashedly play the “I’m the youngest” card and ask my colleagues. Remember that people are usually more than happy to share and explain what they know because it makes them feel good.
What’s worse is to remain not knowing and attempt to sweep it under a rug. Don’t lose hope. Even if people throw you a “how can you not know this simple concept” glance, just embrace it. When you do feel like crap though and food wasn’t enough to make you happy, go to the restroom, take a look at yourself in the mirror and smile as wide as you can.
Take a moment to affirm yourself as well because if you can’t, no one will.
Make it a habit to consume extensively
Content, content, and content. Since we don’t have all the time to try out everything, it’s a lot more efficient and useful to read and hear content from other sources (books, articles, meetups, podcasts, conferences etc). This is especially so since there are best practices we can adopt and we shouldn’t be wasting time repeating steps that others have already tested and have been proven ineffective (there are edge cases of course).
In particular, cultivate a habit of reading. I subscribe to all sorts of newsletters that might be relevant to product and cover topics across all industries. In the morning before I start work proper, I will read through all the newsletters I have subscribed to (many newsletters tend to overlap their articles anyway), read Feedly, Medium and even Facebook posts (despite the current backlash it’s facing).
The point is to make sure you curate the content such that it is always from people and sources you trust and admire. Get more sources and resources from others in the product community as well. This keeps the content exciting.
Build relationships with colleagues
Since I’m the youngest and the most inexperienced in the startup, I do what I know I can do immediately. Listen.
I will try to interact with my colleagues to understand their workflows, throw in a question of how their day or weekend went (note that in Singapore, if you had asked how was their day, you’ll be treated to a moment of hesitation and raised eyebrows), or ask them out for lunch. Lunches are so effective in just breaking down any cold professional barriers and to get to know them better, as a person, rather than an employee of the company.
Some would argue that we should respect their own job scope and not interfere or take their time away from doing what they’re supposed to do. I acknowledge this so please exercise discernment. Moreover, please respect that there are those who treat work as work or are less inclined towards conversations.
Seek mentorship and structure
This is something I want to be more intentional about, because I’ve just been consuming so much content that I haven’t had time to process clearly and chart my next steps. I think seeking out a mentor is great and I’m not sure what factors I need to consider. This can be a future post update.
Ultimately, what matters is that I still love what I do. Yes, I am (still relatively) young, inexperienced, non-technical, and don’t know if I ever will be an awesome product manager, but what I know is that I love product, I love working with cross-functional teams, I love being able to interact with users to know how to solve their problems, and this means I am willing to be uncomfortable, willing to fail, willing to break to grow even stronger.
