Lessons I have learned as a Product Manager over the years

Key points:

• The fundamentals are key
• The world has much to teach us
• We’re well on the way in Australia
• Practice makes better

I’ve lived in Sydney for most of my professional life, having lived in Melbourne before it. For most of my career I’ve travelled around and had regional or global roles. This international experience has given me visibility to what’s happening around the globe and perspective on what’s happening here at home.

A good product manager can learn from direct experience. A great product manager can learn from the experience of others.

Language and culture barriers help to reinforce the fundamentals

I’ve been to Japan dozens of times. I spent around 3 months there on assignment at one point. My mission was to design local strategies for entering the market with a number of new products and services. I learned a lot about the technical aspects, but I learned more about the differences between consumers and business partners there. Now I can contrast the ingrained knowledge of my home market of Sydney, Australia with the very different landscape of Tokyo, Japan.

I seemed to be able to see the issues that blinded locals like a hawk. Things that they took for granted and were not willing to explore without some serious nudging. Some of which were proven to not be the sacred cow that they were originally thought to be.

Really what this is about is reinforcing the fundamentals. We talk often about the What, How and Why of product management (the Product, Process and Proof if you will). These elements and the surrounding questions and methodologies are universal. It is the approach and content that requires tailoring.

Asking the questions and discussing the ideas that seem off the table can be frustrating but equally important.

I learned that when you don’t know plenty about your consumer, you feel freer to ask the obvious questions. It is a lesson that often needs to be applied to the markets you already think you know so well. I brought this lesson home to Sydney with me.

The world is a big place and has much to teach you

Working with people around the globe has opened my eyes up. Spending time in many different markets has further reinforced this. Our approach has been adapted and influenced by many of these experiences.

Learning from experience is the most powerful way to learn. But learning from the experiences of others provides less risk, more scale and rewards unreachable any other way.

If you can’t experience it, talk to those who can. When you can’t talk to them, write to them. If you can’t interact with them, read what they have written. Listen to what they have said.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to engage your brain. Take their experience on board, integrate it with your thinking. Discard what does not gel with your experience and your context.

The well known tech giants of Facebook, Amazon and Google (to name a few) have shown much in the way of product management. Established Traditional business also. Education remains a powerful tool in your arsenal.

A trend you are likely aware of is the move towards higher order function. The concept that our development of machinery and computers has reduced the need for grunt work and increased our individual and group productivity.

When I was an undergrad Engineering student, we learned all sorts of different programming languages. From machine language to the likes of C#. These days the number of keystrokes and lines of code required to realise a program are fewer than ever.

We are in good shape in Sydney but there are many good things we are yet to see as standard

In working in Sydney I see plenty of advancement in the space of product management. The fact that there are roles always being advertised for Product Owners and Product Managers and many other roles with Product in the title is sign enough of that.

Some businesses have a real maturity about how they view product and what it means to them. Others are earlier in their journey.

We can bring a lot of the learning from around the world in this space home. We continue to see more of it popping up. One of the things that we love to do most at the product agency is to help businesses grow in their maturity in product management. We don’t just want to deliver the product and say thanks, call us if you need us. Our goal is to establish a rhythm that not only deliver the product changes initially wanted, but also the thinking that can deliver the next iteration. And the next. And the next.

Business never stands still. If you don’t move, the market will move around you. Innovation will continue and you don’t want to be left behind. The current environment is really showing us that the ability to adapt and be agile in doing so is a core competency. We can assure you that it is one that you can learn. And we can help.

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