The Personality Disorder of Product Management

I had intended to talk about the first item on my list from yesterday, "activities I like" and how this might inform my "what to do in five years" decision. But today's topic has been overtaken by events.Check back tomorrow if you don't want to hear me blather on about product management some more.

This morning, I got to meet another VP of Product Management in the technology industry over coffee and scones and the experience was transformational.
Now, I know this blog isn't about "product management", but bear with me for a minute. The thing about leaders of product management is that we tend to be solitary creatures outside our organizations. PMs tend to deal with information that is typically internal, strategic, and confidential, so it's often impossible to talk to PMs at other companies in too much detail. Where sales people will share thoughts about selling strategies and pain-in-the-ass procurement people, it's much harder for PMs to get together and complain about the challenge of persuading their CEO that a consistent product strategy just might be a good idea (as an example with which I have no personal experience, of course).

But that's what I did this morning over coffee. This other PM leader and I discussed our personal internal challenges as well as our career goals. What did we want to do in five years? What were our next two career moves? What makes a good PM? Why are we in PM in the first place? Why do PMs take all the responsibility, but get so little of the glory? OK, it sounds a bit like whining, but I thought I was the only one who felt this way and it was really great to know that others were experiencing the same things.

I'm telling you about this because I need to add to my list from yesterday. Other Product Managers can be mirrors for my own experiences. And understanding them can help me understand myself. To that end, I'm going to set up a quarterly lunch meeting of Atlanta VPs of PM so we can all share our tribulations and our victories. (This weekend's Product Camp Atlanta should be similarly illuminating.)

Anyway, we concluded that the best Product Managers are born, not made. Good PMs just "get it" and ineffective ones never will. Moreover, we know what technology product management is like, and we're still drawn to it even with our wings aflame. This has to be some kind of personality disorder. Perhaps they should test for it at birth. Hmmm, that might make an interesting product...