Where do Product Managers come from?
Updated: Oct 17, 2023
There is no degree in Product Management…it doesn’t exist. So, where do product managers come from?
In my experience, I have found that Product Managers typically come from a few different places – most commonly Marketing or Engineering and then less common is Project/Program Management. What typically occurs is someone from one of those existing disciplines expresses an interest in Product Management – usually after working closely with one or more Product Managers. They see that Product Managers are “in the center of the action” and are often empowered to make decisions. Furthermore, they see that Product Management can be a very effective path to senior leadership roles given it is so closely tied to strategy and highly visible in large organizations. (Biased viewpoint: they see that Product Manager is the best job in the world.)
What all new product managers have in common is the need to learn what is expected of a Product Manager – what are the deliverables, decisions, and overall responsibility they have in their new role? However, depending on which discipline the new Product Manager comes from, they will have very different strengths and weaknesses. Knowing what to expect in advance ensures that onboarding and training of that Product Manager happens more quickly and more successfully.
So, what do Product Managers coming from these different disciplines look like?
Disclaimer: I’m about to do a lot of generalizing here. This is dangerous because it doesn’t always hold true and because generalizing can sometimes harm those who need the most help and support. However, pattern matching helps accelerate decisions and actions. So, if you are hiring a new Product Manager or have a Product Manager on your team from one of these other disciplines, they *may* fit this pattern – or at least some of it. If they do, great…you have a quicker path to helping them be more effective in their role. But this never eliminates the need from truly getting to know everyone on your team – who are they, what is their background, what are their aspirations, and how can you best support and motivate them.
Marketing.
In my experience, Product Managers who come from Marketing have an advantage over other product managers because of their customer and market knowledge. Having spent their early career in a Marketing role, they know how to segment customers, understand customer personas, and how that fits within the overall context of a market. They are familiar with some key Product Management Discovery techniques such as market research, user interviews, and A/B testing. Where these product managers initially struggle, and as such where they and their manager should focus their initial time and attention, is in the technical aspects of a Product Manager role. Very often, these PMs are unfamiliar with the underlying technology of their products. So I always encourage them, early on, to spend a lot of time with either an Engineering Leader or a Senior Architect who can teach them enough about how the technology works to make them “dangerous.” Not only do they gain valuable and necessary knowledge, they also forge an important bond with a technical co-worker who they can turn to for guidance and advice going forward.
Engineering.
In my experience, this is the most common discipline new product managers come from. Engineers turned product managers have deep technical knowledge, but they often lack the soft skills to truly empathize with and understand customers. Related to that, Engineers can sometimes struggle with understanding customers who are not like themselves.
I once had an engineer tell me that what we were building was “the stupidest idea he’d ever heard.” I reminded him that he wasn’t our target market, but that still didn’t seem to satisfy him.
Additionally, Engineers often struggle with the ambiguity and fluidity that comes with Product Management. Yet, Product Management very often swirls in the ambiguous. It’s even, at times, in the Product Manager’s best interest to delay a decision if it doesn’t materially impact the engineering team. More time usually means more insight and more data so the right decision today may very well be the wrong decision next week. Given these challenge areas, Engineers can learn the most about Product Management by getting outside of the office to spend time with customers, prospects, and in the market in general. If you have user testing planned, let them sit in and watch. If you have a trade show coming up, get them to go and work the booth. All of this will help them hone and sharpen those soft skills that Product Managers need to succeed.
Project / Program Management.
Controversial opinion warning: I do not recommend hiring a Project or Program Manager as a Product Manager *unless* they have been with the company for many years. In other words, not as an outside hire. The reason for this is that the advantage entrenched Program Managers bring to a Product Management role is their extensive institutional knowledge. They know how to get things done…they know the ins/outs of the company processes…and they know who to work with to get around hurdles and get their work prioritized and moved forward. If they come from an outside company, they don’t have this knowledge. So, assuming you’ve hired a new Product Manager from a Project / Program Management role within your company, it's vital that both customer empathy and technical know-how are central to their onboarding and training…and make sure they leverage their institutional knowledge to get things done.
So, what’s the takeaway from all of this? If you hire, onboard, or manage Product Managers, use these patterns to jump start their path to becoming an effective and successful Product Manager. Oh…and “break a pencil” (good luck).
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