A Product Manager is supposed to be the great connector—the person who brings engineering, design, and business together. PMs are expected to be curious, collaborative, and customer-obsessed. They align stakeholders, navigate ambiguity, and create clarity from chaos. They're not the boss, but they lead. Not the expert, but the glue.
Each of these Ps need to be in place, in order, or you're doomed.
I've noticed a trend—in work retrospectives, in personal conversations—that we often default to the assumption that every misstep, every mishap, every mistake comes with a neatly packaged lesson. The impulse makes sense; it's comforting to think we can distill chaos into tidy wisdom.
Even a small change in strategy can be profoundly disruptive. That's because strategy isn't just downstream of purpose—it is purpose, in motion.
I've been thinking lately that I should spend 10% less time doing, and 10% more time learning.
A Product Manager is supposed to be the great connector—the person who brings engineering, design, and business together. PMs are expected to be curious, collaborative, and customer-obsessed. They align stakeholders, navigate ambiguity, and create clarity from chaos. They're not the boss, but they lead. Not the expert, but the glue.
“Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose – and commit myself to – what is best for me.” — Paulo Coelho