4 years ago, armed only with a highlighted copy of “The Phoenix Project”, I walked into my first product internship.
I often think about that younger version of myself - what would I tell him about what I’ve learned since then? What would help him grow and succeed?
In the hopes of helping anybody else entering product, here’s what I’ve learned since then, and am still learning.
Value family & wellbeing.
I’ve worked in situations that have really threatened my mental health, sometimes to the point of self-harm ideation.
Treat that as a serious problem that you need to solve.
Tell your boss about what you’re facing, or trusted coworkers.
Go seek help from HR. It’s part of their job to make sure that you’re safe.
And if none of that works, quit. It’s absolutely not worth it. Even if you’re just an intern. Continuing to work in a situation that threatens your mental health is not a sign of strength - it’s a serious problem.
Accept what you don’t control.
Actually, I’d go one step further than acceptance: be thankful for what you don’t control.
As product managers, our job isn’t to come up with great designs, or make efficient code, or to deploy the software without error.
Our job is to understand, communicate, and prioritize problems. That’s it.
That’s not a cop-out. Many
Look forward to failure.
Try something new.
Eventually, you’ll get comfy in the role. Things will work well enough. You’ll have your routines, doing the same thing for the same kinds of problems.
While it’s great to find comfort in your role
Value humanity.