Does the "* is product management" feel odd to everyone else?
Its become so generalized that it basically comes down to anyone who gets things done but doesn't have direct reports (and sometimes even when they do) thinks of themselves as a product manager.
I very much think that there is a role for these sorts of people, but being called product management has always seemed like an odd label to apply and something it seems everyone either struggles to define or outright ignores others definitions.
As a product leader it becomes incredibly old. The actual discussions and interviews are enjoyable. However, I see the Product Management role/industry taking the same path as UI/UX design.
No. Not everything is a design problem. No. Not everything can be solved with "design thinking".
As Product Management becomes more popular we'll start to see the rise of the product "guru". The design industry is filled with self-help, anti-intellectual money grubbers that have never actually built anything of use. They bolster their guru career with the fact that they worked at Facebook for six months. The same thing will start to happen to Product Management.
Considering that "design thinking" is literally just critical thinking with some super simple guiding steps on problem solving, I'm curious to know what you think it doesn't apply to or what can't be solved with such a generic framework?
I mean the process is literally:
1. Understand the problem.
2. Define the problem.
3. Come up with ideas for solutions.
4. Test the solutions.
And iterate 3 and 4 until you have something you are happy with. It's hard to imagine how you can arrive at a solution in any other way.
edit: And this isn't to say that I'm defending design thinking, I personally don't like the term or the buzz around it, but I can't fault the process itself. I'm sure many people use it already.
And there is your answer. It's not "design thinking", it's straightforward problem solving that's been used by engineers (and others) since forever. In the best case, re-branding it "design thinking" adds nothing. More typically, it subtracts significantly.
Now I don't disagree with that at all, and have been involved with those things and many more, but at some point the definition becomes overly broad as to not mean anything outside of a specific organization being referenced.
I think Product Managements responsibility’s are fairly straightforward:
1. Figure out a what success means for your venture
2. Come up with a strategy that leads to said success
3. Get your team to execute on that strategy (and never forget that you can be wrong about the strategy, but you can’t fuck up the execution...since otherwise you will never find out if the strategy works)
Now implementing this is far less straightforward...
Fair enough. I'd say the titles are probably more indicative of the podcast wanting to have a diverse set of interviews. The Product Management role is much more focused than that, promise.
I very much think that there is a role for these sorts of people, but being called product management has always seemed like an odd label to apply and something it seems everyone either struggles to define or outright ignores others definitions.