As you know, every company does product management differently. But I always enjoys hearing about, asking about, and reading about these different approaches. I highly recommend gathering a big pile of these definitions and learning from all of them.
One interesting thing I’ve found is that people’s definition is often colored by their background, even subconsciously. For example, engineer-type product managers tend to focus on aligning technical requirements with business objectives. Sales and support-type product managers tend to focus on aligning customer feedback with technical and business objectives. Consultant-type product people often tend to focus on strategy, vision, and financial analysis. UX and design-type product manager like to focus on the user experience and the ‘story’ aspect of the product.
While the reality is that these are all important parts of the job, it’s pretty clear that it makes a big difference what background you have in determining what you see product management’s role as in the company. It happens to all of us, so we should just accept it. Knowing this about myself helps me want to develop skills and learn to appreciate other aspects of the job even more.
To get you started, here’s a great post from Phil Montgomery. He has a nice overview of measuring success in product management, and a refreshing twist on the old saying that a product manager is a ‘CEO’ of a product. Phil doesn’t think that description fits and offers some interesting points to consider.
Good luck!
