A COL L E C T I O N OF M IS TA K E S I ’ VE M A D E IN MY CA REER AS A

P RO DUCT M A NAGER

I ’ V E M A D E A H U G E M I S T A K E

#PRODUCTTANKTO @UNBREL IEVABLE

But first, who am I?. Second, who was I?.

I’ve felt like this in my job.

A lot.

Don’t be smug. You’ve probably made, and will make, a lot of mistakes too.

Let’s learn from mine.

01Think you know your users.

M I STAKE

You can’t change behaviour of your users and

force them to do what you want. Spend time

with them, understand how they use your

product, and how they use other products.

Create a focus group of users to supplement

what you can’t be, because who wants to be 14

again, anyways?

I was 14 years old once, but that doesn’t mean I know what 14 year olds want now.

02Listen to your users too much.

M I STAKE

Qualitative user research is great for understand

why someone uses your product and to get a

deeper understanding of their problems. It

should not be used for testing two options

against each other to see which performs

better.

Just because your users say they like it, doesn’t

mean it will succeed.

A/B test or release incrementally and measure.

“Watch what they do, not what they say.”

03 Use a/b testing to solve arguments.

M I STAKE

A/B testing is powerful, but can be costly to

your organization. They aren’t meant to be a

tiebreaker or mediator of egos and opinions.

Only A/B test decisions that can impact

conversion, or key metrics of your business.

Also, never run an test variant that you don’t

want to win.

Not everything is worthy of an a/b test.

04 Be too prescriptive with requirements.

M I STAKE

Set the direction and outline business

requirements, but if your find yourself saying

“clicking this button does this”, you are

prescribing too much.

Give your team the freedom to determine the

“how”. Teach them your thought process, and

empower them to make decisions. Let go of

total control.

Let go of the 20 page requirements docs.

You don’t have a team of robots. (Well, maybe).

05Use a process just because Google uses it.

M I STAKE

Not all problems are equal, and so we shouldn’t

treat them as such when it comes to coming up

with solutions.

Ask yourself “what is the bare minimum

validation I need?”. Sometimes it’s a

conversation, a data point, a few hours of

research, or sometimes you need to dive in

head first.

DO WHAT WORKS.

Not everything needs a week long discovery .

06 Listen to blog posts.

M I STAKE

Other companies should be a source of ideas

and inspiration, but you always need to test

and measure yourself.

When you do get positive results, document

them and share internally so others can learn

from your success.

Just because it worked for one company, doesn’t mean it will work for you.

07 Roll your eyes at your sales team requests.

M I STAKE

More importantly, your sales team is talking to

prospects and customers much more than you. They

hear what areas your competitors have you beat, and

why customers leave you.

The better the sales team understands your product,

the better they can sell.

Set up regular 1:1s with them, show them product

progress, and don’t keep them in the dark.

And don’t discount their feedback.

You won’t have a paycheque without your sales team.

08 Think you have all the answers.

M I STAKE

Say it out loud: I don’t know.

You have a lot of smart people on your team, and

you are doing yourself, your team, and your users a

disservice by taking it all on and having all the

answers.

Hold regular brainstorms, involve other parts in the

business in coming up with solutions, and guide

ideation by outlining problems.

Ask questions. A lot.

Don’t be a hero.

09 Think you have none of the answers.

M I STAKE

Listen to your gut.

With access to all the data, blog posts, feature

requests, slack messages and emails coming at you

all day, you can get easily get hit with “Analysis

Paralysis”, where you are analyzing things so much

you get to the point in which you are paralyzed and

can’t make a decision.

If it feels wrong, it probably is wrong.

10 Think you aren’t good enough.

M I STAKE

Some days I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.

Product Management is generally a thankless job, so

we need to support one another and share wins and

failures.

Check your ego, accept and admit failure and it will

make you a better PM, and a better person.

The imposter syndrome is real.

Now, it’s your turn.

At your table, take 5 minutes to think

about some of the mistakes you have

made in your career.

Go around the table and share one

mistake, and what you learned from it.

It’s time for product manager therapy.

T H A N K Y O U

@ UNB RE L IEVABLE