A Few of My Favorite Things

OK, enough with the movie references. (But I do have to admit, the first 2/3 of "The Sound of Music" is a guilty pleasure. It's good up until that wretched Baroness leaves, then all the drama's gone faster than Sgt. Schultz can suck the meat out of a sausage casing. And I know Schultz was German while the von Trapps were Austrian, but go with it. I can't think of any overweight Austrian pop culture icons just now.)

Anyway, I promised to start my journey of self-exploration with a frank and honest list of things I like to do, so here goes.

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.

Kissing Your Elbow

How does one start? How do you figure out what you truly want? An old friend of mine once told me that understanding parts of your own heart was as hard as kissing the point on your elbow -- you just can't get far enough away to do it properly. (Try it.)

Still, you gotta start somewhere, so here's how I'm thinking about the problem.

Hello, My Name is Inigo Montoya.

My name is Mark. As of this writing I am 45 years old. I am married and have two children. I live in Atlanta and I have been a Product Manager in the Internet Technology space since, well, since the Internet really mattered. If you don't know what a Product Manager is, don't worry about it. Most people don't. My wife still has only the vaguest idea of what I do every day. Suffice it to say we are an important part of the process that creates all the hardware and software you rely on today and most people don't fully appreciate Product Management until it's no longer there (you know who you are, Engineering.) No, I’m not bitter about it.