Test-n-Tell - tiny apps, Big ideas

  End of last year, I published some thoughts on how gen AI adoption is changing the jobs of PMs. As many of us will look to change jobs this year, it's time to think about how AI is changing hiring.

  As I mentioned in the very first post in this series - the best learning is doing. No courses, videos or even books can rival actual practice. To start learning product management by doing you need to land your first PM job.

  Previously in this series , we learned how to use ChatGPT to learn the basics of product management. However, the best learning is doing and generative AI can help us here as well.

  In this evolving series I've already described how you can learn product discovery and delivery with the help of generative AIs such as ChatGPT. Product managers are ultimately judged by the success of their products. In this post, we will learn how to increase your chances of product success.

  In the past post, we talked about product discovery. That's something you should do before writing a single line of code. It will provide you with vital information about your customers, their needs and the qualities your future product should possess to be successful.

  Welcome to the first chapter of my ongoing series on how to learn product management with the help of generative AI such as ChatGPT. This post is about the product discovery phase where you'll learn how to select the worthy problems to solve, how to conduct user and market research and how to create your product vision and strategy.

  Getting into product management was never easy before. There was no university degree, no formal promotion track or even internship programs. Luckily, a lot has changed since and now becoming a product manager is easier than ever.

  Lately, I hear more and more questions about how to become a product manager . I guess people look at the average PM salary and it looks appealing. Maybe folks are exposed to PMs in their own organisation and they think they could do this job. However, before committing to the switch it’s useful to know what product management is and what it is not, to avoid disappointment.  Before we dive in it's important to note that product management could differ greatly between organisations so not everything below could apply. Product management is not about glory  All experienced PMs know: if something goes wrong - it’s your fault, if something goes well - it’s someone else’s praise. PMs rarely get recognition and always are responsible for success. That often comes as news to fresh PMs who thought they'll be "mini-CEOs" and single-handedly will make their product huge successes. In reality, though, the product is never done and even when you've just made something great...

  Product management is a diverse role that attracts people from different backgrounds. It's fair to say that anyone could be a product manager. In the series of articles, I've described the most common transitions and offered a few tips for aspiring PMs. 

People are coming to product management from all sorts of roles, sales and marketing not being the exceptions. Coming from strictly business roles such as marketing or sales, people usually bring their unique perspectives into the new role. 

  Oh, project managers, how often are we mixed up? We even share the shortcut - PM. When a few years ago many project managers jumped on the Agile bandwagon to become coaches, scrum masters and delivery managers - I thought it will help to solve the confusion. No luck, people still often use project and product manager terms interchangeably. 

  The transition from the business analyst role to a PM is probably the easiest and the most natural. We share the majority of skills and often work hand in hand to make our businesses successful. However, BA roles, similarly to PM roles, could differ significantly depending on the company. Some BAs I know are more technical, others work closely with Sales to close deals. Your background as a BA would influence the transition to a PM role. 

  Good news first - a designer is already a PM, a bit. Designers are driven by very much the same forces as PMs - find and solve customers' problems. Unsurprising that many designs are interested in switching to product management to have a greater influence on the overall product lifecycle. This switch, easier than from most other roles , still comes with several challenges, especially when it comes to business aspects of product management. 

  Most PMs I know came to the job from other roles . Engineering is probably the most frequent source of new PMs and it's easy to see why. Engineers are problem solvers which is a major trait of any successful PM. They know the delivery part of building products and a lot of them are frustrated when their beautiful code doesn't bring business results they hoped for. I was there myself, as a QA, a lot of bugs I was finding could have been prevented way before any code was written. I was wondering who took the design or functionality decisions and that led me to a PM. 

  Making my career roadmap I had time to reflect on how I got into product management. It happened almost ten years ago and at the time there was very little information about the role and what one needs to succeed at it. I was super lucky to receive mentorship that helped me to transition from my engineering mindset to a product one. Now I'd like to help future product people who are considering getting into the profession.