How a Director/VP of Product Management Can Develop His/Her Team
By Michael Shrivathsan on Apr 18, 2011 in Product Management, Product Marketing
Just saw a nice blog post by Marty Cagan. If you are a:
- Director of Product Management
- VP of Product Management
- Or aspire to be one of the above (I think that should cover just about everybody in product management, don’t you think?!)
, then check out Marty’s post.
Having said that, there is one point about which I don’t fully agree with Marty. That point is…
I Really Prefer to Focus on Strengths
The one point in Marty’s article I don’t fully agree with is:
Identifying gaps & Creating development plans to fix weaknesses
I’m a big believer in the Marcus Buckingham school of thought when it comes to managing people - i.e. I really prefer to identify and emphasize their strengths, rather than identifying and fixing weaknesses (exception: fresh college grads with an open mind).
Basketball analogy: (since the playoffs are underway!)
If you’re coaching Carmelo Anthony who can’t/won’t defend or pass the ball - I think it’s far better to emphasize his strengths (one of the best offensive players in the world), than try to “fix” him by getting on his case about defense and passing.
How You Can Do So Too
If your company is of sufficient size, then there are usually many different types of projects/products - where product managers with different strengths can excel. One of the most important roles a Director or VP of Product Management can play here is - fit the right product manager to the right project/product.
If your company is a small startup, then someone else (hint: founders, execs) should cover the product manager’s area of weaknesses. If that’s not possible - the only viable option might be to get someone better.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below…
Did you know?
1. Francis | Apr 19, 2011 | Reply
A truly strong team is one where all folks are versatile to the point of heavy lifting when required in areas which are not their traditional strong-points. Anthony has a fundamental weakness which is time and again exploited. This makes so much sense in product management which is responsible (in most cases) for a suite of products. Some examples where having silo’ed PM’s can backfire is singular ownership (attrition concerns), technology religions and market tunnel-vision.
2. Michael Shrivathsan | Apr 24, 2011 | Reply
Francis - I do agree with you that it’s ideal to have a team of PMs who have no significant weaknesses. However, at least in my experience, such ideal situations are exceptions rather than the norm.