When you start in product management, it’s tempting to believe that following the advice from best-selling books will lead to success. The reality is quite different. While books offer frameworks and methodologies, the day-to-day of a product manager is far more nuanced and unpredictable.
1. It’s All About People, Not Just Processes
Books often highlight the importance of frameworks like Agile or Lean, and while these are useful, they rarely address the biggest variable: people. Every team member, stakeholder, and customer brings their own perspectives and motivations. Navigating these relationships requires a blend of empathy, negotiation, and sometimes sheer patience—skills that are hard to learn from a book.
In my experience working with over 30 companies, from fintech to retail, I’ve found that understanding what drives people and fostering an environment of trust and psychological safety is crucial. It’s not just about delivering features; it’s about getting the whole team aligned on why those features matter .
2. The Myth of the Perfect Roadmap
A product roadmap is often presented as a blueprint for success. But in reality, it’s more of a hypothesis that needs constant testing and adjustment. Market conditions change, customer needs evolve, and technical challenges arise. A rigid roadmap can lead to missed opportunities and unnecessary stress.
Instead, a flexible approach that prioritises outcomes over outputs is far more effective. I’ve seen teams flourish when they shift their focus from delivering a predefined set of features to solving real customer problems as they emerge .
3. The ‘MVP’ Trap
Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) are often misunderstood. They’re not just a pared-down version of a product, but a tool to test assumptions. However, many teams fall into the trap of thinking an MVP is a quick way to get a product to market, leading to a ‘Phase 1’ release rather than a genuine experiment.
For instance, the MVP for Uber wasn’t an app with all the features we know today; it was a simple test to see if people would use a mobile app to hail a ride from their phones. This light-touch approach allowed them to validate their core assumption before investing heavily in development .
4. Data is Important, but So is Context
While data can tell you what is happening, it rarely tells you why. I’ve worked with companies drowning in metrics—page views, user clicks, conversion rates—but struggling to connect these to real user behaviour. It’s crucial to balance quantitative data with qualitative insights from user research and customer feedback.
In one of my previous roles, I implemented a system to prioritise customer feedback alongside our analytics. This approach provided a clearer picture of our users’ needs and helped us make more informed decisions .
5. The Reality of Leadership and Stakeholder Management
Product management is not just about managing the product; it’s about managing expectations. Stakeholders often want certainty—a list of features to be delivered by a specific date. But in a dynamic environment, this is rarely possible. It’s essential to communicate the benefits of flexibility and focus on outcomes rather than a fixed set of deliverables.
I’ve led teams through successful transformations by keeping the focus on business value and aligning stakeholders around shared goals, rather than rigid timelines and outputs.
Conclusion: Embrace the Chaos
Product management in the real world is messy, unpredictable, and rarely goes according to plan. But that’s what makes it exciting. The books offer a foundation, but they can’t teach you how to navigate the complexities of people, changing markets, and unexpected challenges.
If you’re finding that product management isn’t matching up to the textbooks, don’t be disheartened. Embrace the chaos, stay flexible, and remember that it’s not about following a process perfectly—it’s about delivering real value to your customers.
