Disconnect from your Product
Gentle Reminder, Product Managers
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If you are a Product Manager working on a promising idea and trying to transform it into a commercial success, then this reminder is for you.
If you are a Product Manager managing a successful product in a large company, this is also for you.
I recommend you really resist the urge to get emotionally attached to the product that you are building or managing.
You see, very often the Product Manager and the product, become one and the same. All the more so, when the product you manage was born out of your idea.
I get it. It is hard. You love building things, and it's easy to get emotionally attached and invested in a thing that you created out of nothing.
But it is a slippery slope.
We must learn to disconnect from our gut feelings and make decisions based on objective facts. Based on truths and not opinions. And there is just one truth, and that is — what does the customer care about?
But wait, you already know that, right?
Sure you do, but here’s the thing. Figuring out what your customer actually cares about is VERY hard, and requires disciplined pursuit.
But again, time is of the essence. There are launch deadlines, competitors breathing down our throats — and the urge to take short-cuts. Why not go with gut feelings? I’ve been guilty of that myself. Because hey, after all, you know your product. It’s your baby, right?
Wrong. Your product is not your baby. Instead, if you want it to be commercially successful, you need to be brutally honest to yourself about the things you hate about it. You need to take those rose-colored glasses off and be critical of it, all the time.
So, this is a reminder to you. To not lose the ability to see your product’s shortcomings. Especially, when you are building it.
How do you do that?
When making product decisions, disconnect from the product itself — and reconnect…
