Product Management like gardening
It seems like, from my little story of the experienced PM Faye mentoring less experienced PMs, the metaphor of taking care of a product being like gardening got some attention. I thought of further exploring that, for both giving credit where it is due (where the ideas I'm combining in that metaphor come from) as well as to ensure a better understanding of what it entails.
I can kind of imagine how some would find it as a PM overstepping in other domains. Some people would, for instance, make a distinction between the product and the technical roadmap. I just happen to find that idea misleading and even an over-engineering. Since in the end, it's a single product that we are talking about, why on the earth would we keep two separate sources of demands of what we want to do next or by when?!
In the most fundamental sense, what I am alluding to is a product management (as a discipline) that takes extreme leadership (a book by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin I highly recommend) over what happens in and out, and around what you are responsible for when leading a product. Now, that is not the same as saying that all the calls related to it are to be done solely by the PM. We can still recognize the importance of technical leadership, and others, as sparring partners of the PM to build that comprehensive view of what needs to happen in and out, and around the product.
The point is precisely the opposite:
A product management that only looks at strictly speaking direct adding value product demands tends to fall short.
An insightful take I like to use to explain that idea is the below by John Cutler. And I refer to how you deal with prioritization in that context as being a challenge of clarity, where you acknowledge and take a holistic perspective of what delivering and managing a product means.
That's precisely when the metaphor of gardening starts making sense. Because that's what good gardeners know:
It's not only about working directly in the plants, but also taking care of the underlying ecosystem around it (so that they keep growing sustainably).
Assuming that's what you are intending with your product as well: be able to grow them sustainably; then it's a useful thing to think about and hold closely.
But there's one more reason why I went with gardening specifically. It comes from yet another book reference: Teams of Teams (by Gen. McChrystal). There he beautifully describes his realization of leadership in a faster information-flowing era as much less a master chess player and much more as a gardener (setting the conditions in place for what has to happen, to happen effectively).
There you go! These are all the combined ideas that lead into my metaphor. The reference mathering much more for their inspiration and to give the credit, while what truly matters is the inherent thinking model behind:
Taking care of how you go about while doing things is as important as the work itself.
By Rodrigo Sperb, feel free to connect, I'm happy to engage and interact. If I can be of further utility to you or your organization in getting better at working with product development, I am available for part-time advisory, consulting or contract-based engagements.