Five myths about Product Managers

Product management is becoming a crucial discipline, and many people aspire to be product managers. However, a product manager's life is not without challenges, and in this post, we will discuss myths about product managers.

Myth 1 — The product Manager is the CEO of the product.

Ben Horowitz wrote that "Product Manager is the CEO of the Product," many people took his words literally.

A CEO is a person who is responsible for making the organization successful while having authority. This is a significant difference between a Product Manager(PM) and CEO.

While product managers are responsible for the success of their products, they often lack authority. They need to get buy-in influence others to make the desired impact on the product's success.

Myth 2— The product manager is the ultimate decision-maker

While the product manager is accountable for making the right decision for the product's success, he doesn't have absolute authority to make decisions. He needs to get input from multiple stakeholders and balance different organizational needs while aligning with product success.

While most of the time Product manager makes decisions based on inputs, other times, the power above him dictates it.

Sometime the power above PM dictates decisions

Myth 3 —He knows the solution

The product manager's goal is to identify problems opportunities to improve value to business and users. However, he relies on others to help with solutions most of the time.

The product manager's goal is to find the right solution by gathering the right people in the organization. A favorite quote for PM is, "I don't know it; however, I will find it out."

Myth 4— PM have defined role and responsibilities.

PM often does not need to perform project management, dependency management, or sales duties.

He needs to ensure that whatever is essential for the product's success is gets done either by someone else or if no one else is available to do it, he may need to do it himself.

If no one is available to do work needed for product success, PM need to complete it.

Myth 5 — He can control the development team

The product manager's goal is to maximize value for the business by appropriately utilizing development bandwidth. However, he doesn't have any direct authority and needs to motivate the team to maximize productivity.

If you can overcome these myths and are ready for challenges, Product management is a fulfilling career choice.