Responsive PMs are the worst
Reminds me of that old 30 Rock gag…
We might not be the best people, but we’re not the worst - graduate students are the worst!
In the last decade, PM as a profession has gotten very techno-logical. Very compartmentalized.
The problem with this narrowing is that it conflicts - axiomatically - with the goal of being a PM. Which is to understand and interpret market signals, and find ways to build a product that MAKES MONEY in that context.
The sad part about modern PMming is that it’s gotten totally lost inside the “agile” dev cycle. The process has ate up a lot of PMs. The work became:
- WRITE THE TICKETS
- LET’S GO
- HURRY UP
- WE. NEED. MORE. TICKETS.
When confronted with the inevitable question - “ok so why did you choose to do this?” the answer became…«stammering» well, we talked to sales/customers/support.
They become, in essence, HIGHLY RESPONSIVE PMs. Which, I’ve concluded after witnessing this phenomenon - so many times recently - is just about as bad as not talking to anyone. You might as well just guess.
When you have a savvy sales org (or certain types of noisy customers) they figure this out right away. They start salmoning their way upstream to offer their OBVIOUSLY brilliant ideas. To be sure, this is what you pay sales reps to do - work the system. PMs are outgunned.
These PMs - if you don’t know - are called “waiters.” I didn’t make up this term. It’s what people say. Under their breath. It’s not a compliment.
These PMs start creating tickets on behalf of those who are ordering. They prioritize based on what sales says. Or a large customer. Up to and including sitting with the customer and prioritizing the list, that they got from the customer.
Often to the approval of their managers who are think - LOOK HOW PRODUCTIVE THIS TEAM IS!! CREATED ALL THE TICKETS!
Workin’ for tips.
Scrutiny goes out the window, judgment goes out the window. Strategy - ie the series of well-considered choices made to advance the success of the product and the company - goes out the window.
It’s a symptom I watch for now. It means the PM team is in a deep, deep hole. Usually they feel it - and don’t know why.
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