Whenever my BW gets asked what I do (and it’s suprisingly often), she usually just says, “Oh, he’s in Marketing…he does stuff with technology.” Now that may sound like BW is a little ditzy, but she’s not. In fact, she has an advanced degree and is one of the smartest people I know.
The problem is that my chosen career, Product Management, doesn’t register with most people who aren’t in high tech.
As an example, I went to a high school reunion several years ago and when folks asked me what I did for work, I would give them the spiel, “Well, I’m a Product Manager at a startup. We make….” but each time, I saw them looking quizzically at me like I had just tried to explain quantum physics in haiku.
Product Management is a tricky discipline. Even within our own ranks, there is considerable debate about what the position does, what the core responsibilities are, where it sits in an organization and what type of education and/or experience makes for a good Product Manager.
However, in my view, that’s what makes being a Product Manager so challenging and fulfilling. It’s a constantly evolving role in an organization. As the company or product grows, so does the Product Management process. That’s what drives The Productologist.
As with most software releases, the first one is very exciting, but not usually very stable. It’s got lots of features, but many of them are not quite fleshed out. The user experience is a bit wonky. Elements on the screens don’t always line up or look the same from screen to screen. The online help and documentation are practically non-existent.
So it is with The Productologist. But it will evolve and get better with each new release.
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Tags: career, challenges, feature, features, process, product, productivity, products, release, software, technology, users
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