When people ask me what type of work I do? I proudly answer Product Management in technology companies. Please don’t be mistaken with that statement…I don’t feel proud because a role Product Management bestows me lot of power (in literal sense). On the contrary I believe it is one of those roles, which has very less formal authority.
While I was trying to figure out how to explain my Product Management role in layman terms I came across a hilarious video @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiBeKrwfU90, which explains what Product Management is. I couldn’t control myself from laughing out loud. In the video Product Manager (ostensibly CEO of the product) explains how (in roundabout way) her job is to make sure that customer don’t puke (because of the product). And, having seen how Product Managers work in various companies Product Manager in the video is not far from the truth.
Honestly, if someone asks me give an example of a role where you Accountability without Authority…I would without a doubt say Product Management. And, I guess this is THE thing, which I hate about product management. You are RESPONSIBLE for a lot but don’t have much formal AUTHORITY and sometimes EMPOWERMENT.
And the problem gets further complicated if you work in Technology Company where relevant stakeholders don’t understand the role of Product Management. What I have observed is that most stakeholders liken the role of Product Management to that of Requirement Manager, Product Architect, UI Architect, Program Manager or Marketing. When I see this happening I recall the “blindfolded men and elephant story” which I read in my childhood, where every blindfolded person touches different part of the elephant and convincingly explains about how elephant looks on the basis of their view.
I guess this happens because most people don’t understand how Product Manager works with various stakeholders such as sales, engineers, support, customers, channel, and business partners, management, board of directors and anyone else who is necessary to ensure product success. And, trust me some of these people with whom Product Manager needs to collaborate are very difficult people to work with
. These stakeholders probably see what Product Management does for them and keep only that perspective.
The sad part is that NOT every Product Manager succeeds…if you go by statistics you would realize that
1. Up to 95% of NEW product introductions fail
2. Most products have 80% FEATURES, which are never used
3. And, approximately 50% of the R&D investments are wasted
I believe these things happen because either Product Management is not well understood by various stakeholders (including Product Managers themselves) or when these roles are not empowered enough.
Hold on! Things are not as gloomy with respect to Product Management as you might have started thinking about it. So the question is, why do still I love being a Product Manager despite of all these drawbacks?
The answer is…that being in Product Management I become the owner of the customer problem area AND am also become responsible to best address that problem domain through a user friendly solution in a competitive environment. I become the voice of the customers and start representing them while making business decisions and am forced to develop alliances to ensure product success. And, this is what makes Product Management challenging, which I love the most. Product Management is one of the toughest yet one of the most rewarding roles because it provides enormous opportunities to learn, improve, and make an impact. It also teaches me how to become better person because I am FORCED to learn skills to get things done without much formal authority.
In my opinion Product Management is not a role for timids or power mongers. It’s neither a role for people who want to just show off or want to hide behind the walls. It’s a role for people who really want to try and solve real problems. It’s a role for people who dream of bringing innovations to make things easy for others. It’s a role for people who dream of making world a better place by improving the way people live, learn, work, and play.
And yes it’s difficult to be in Product Management but it doesn’t kill you. And, as I always believed that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger (and Kelly Clarkson through her song has made me feel that I am not the only person who believes in such ideology).









