It takes a certain kind of team to embrace the challenge of drafting a Product Management Manifesto. People who can zero in on what drives our field. Seasoned product experts of diverse backgrounds, who have “been there, done that” each in their own way. Collaborators unafraid to challenge one another to discover our most essential principles.
So who are the 12 that answered this call? Let's meet them!
Each week we'll introduce you to two working group members with Q&As on key issues facing the Manifesto team. They’ve all had different journeys up to this point, and signed on to this initiative for their own reasons. Now each is ready to help fill the void with principles by and for product people.
First up is Diego Granados, Product Manager at Microsoft. Find out his thoughts on:
How product management has evolved
Key challenges that a manifesto must address
Why we need a manifesto now
What’s motivating his journey as the team kicks off
What drew you to this Product Management Manifesto and working group?
Product Management has become a hot topic in recent years. With this rapid growth, there are plenty of growing pains in the process including misinformation, bad advice to inexperienced PMs, and confusion about the role and responsibilities from both applicants and companies. What draws me to the PM Manifesto and this working group is the opportunity to show individuals and organizations that a Product Manager with the right tools and the proper environment can change companies, products, and industries.
How have you personally seen the Product Management role evolve in your career?
I have seen companies (where I used to work), where the role of the PM was more of a justifier of “why we built something” rather than the driver of new features and solutions for customer problems. Today is completely an opposite experience, where PMs are the ones who drive the team to create new products and features by listening to customers. Moreover, through conversations with PMs at different organizations (and countries), in many places, the role of PM is seen as Project & Program Manager or Product Owner.
What is one major challenge you see product people grapple with frequently that our principles should address?
Career path and progression for Product Managers.
(Some) Inexperienced companies evaluate and promote PMs based on the number of features and products pushed to the market. (Some) large companies do not paint a clear picture of how/when PMs get promoted. Furthermore, there is confusion about the career progression for Product Managers (e.g. Manager path vs Individual Contributor).
What are some of the reasons you feel a manifesto specific to Product Management is needed now?
With the explosion of social media and content creators, there is no single source of truth to anchor the knowledge - everyone is telling their story from their own perspective, which is great because more people learn from other PMs, but that doesn’t necessarily make the information accurate, it just makes it distributed. For example, many years after the Agile Manifesto was created, people continue to reference it and even evolve it; however, the source of truth is still the Agile Manifesto and content creators, coaches, and trainers reference it again and again.
In what ways do the Agile Manifesto for Software Development and/or other existing frameworks fall short for Product Management?
The Agile Manifesto, and other similar ones, tend to contemplate the best practices for a team and how these practices (Agile) can help the team to deliver products faster and with higher quality. However, the role of the Product Manager has evolved significantly over time, so much that there is still confusion about ‘what does a PM do?’ out there. Product Managers used to come from Engineering or technical backgrounds; today we have people from marketing, finance, arts, sports, business, founders, and any other profession coming into Product Management, bringing invaluable diversity to the profession - no other manifesto covers the role, responsibilities, and foundations to be a great Product Manager.
We’re in a critical moment for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). In what ways do you hope to see greater DE&I reflected in the work and contribution of product people?
Product Managers are collectors of stories and ideas. We are witnesses of how the diversity of ideas are beneficial to the product and, ultimately, the business. I expect PMs to be advocates for DE&I knowing that this diversity in the team and their ideas are the perfect recipes for amazing products and incredible teams.
There is nothing prescripted or clear about the day to day of a Product Manager. No two days are alike, no two projects are the same. It just never gets boring!
-Diego Granados