I get asked sometimes why I chose to become a Product Manager instead of continuing the path of Software Engineering. And my answer has always been the same: it's not that I don't enjoy building stuff; the opposite is actually true. The main reason I switched to Product Management is the fact that I always enjoyed the "What?" and "Why?" over the "How?" Sometimes, even the "When?" gives me more excitement.
Another reason has been the perceived autonomy that Product Managers seemed to have compared to Engineers. By now, I've figured out that this really differs from company to company, but I always thought that Product Managers could move more freely around a company. Like a unique opportunity, you can talk to almost any other department of a company. "With that network, just imagine the possibilities," I used to tell myself.
To an extent, this is still a large motivator. I do, however, realize that there are many companies out there where Product Managers are supposed to execute on someone else's mission, which takes away a lot of autonomy—and therefore excitement—from the job.
What do you do when you find an exciting opportunity, the "What?", "Why?", "When?" all seem to line up, but your company decides against it for the time being? What's the point of all that autonomy if one is not allowed to act on it? Luckily, a few weeks have passed by now, and I believe I have found some clarity on this.
It's me, not you
I think it's a humbling experience when your ideas get rejected. You start wondering: "Was my pitch just lousy?" Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. The point is, it's very easy to blame others. Honestly, it's way too easy sometimes. This is why it's so important that we ask for concrete feedback from our reviewers. I don't want to receive a "No," I want a "No, because XYZ."
If something is really worth doing, meaning it's significant enough, then I believe there will always be conflicting opinions. It's the PM's job to distill those opinions, find commonalities, reach common ground, and propose action items to keep the ball rolling. Note, this can easily be applied to any profession outside of Product Management as well.
It's you, not me
Once you have iterated long enough on your ideas and there's still no excitement around this, there might be some other reasons for it apart from just a lousy pitch. Sometimes, your ideas might conflict with somebody else's vision or priorities. It's a stretch to assume that just because you are excited about something, that others will be too.
A colleague once told me: "If you don't understand why someone is doing something, it just means that you don't know their incentive." With that in mind, I set out to figure out what I'm missing.
Turns out, the idea I had in mind is generally accepted. It was the timing (and a little bit of execution) that my leadership wasn't convinced of. There were other releases that needed to go out first, and we simply weren't ready to invest in something else.
Anger / Acceptance
Funnily, I didn't agree. Fully convinced that the company was ready, its customers were ready, as well as anybody else related to the idea, I kept pushing on different fronts. I started with Engineering leaders, convinced the SVP of Engineering that it was a good time. Luckily, he agreed. The head of the product organization seemed aligned as well. Though he saw risks in Go-To-Market and execution, it seemed that I was making progress.
Then, the idea died. I reached out again to colleagues but didn't receive any response. Admittedly, I did so during an extremely busy time of the year. Most importantly, I never followed up again. I was tired. Most of the research that I did around my idea was done outside of business hours. After all, I still had an actual product to manage that was used by thousands of customers. I asked myself: "Is it really worth doing all this work?" With that, I gave up.
It took me weeks to befriend the thought that I tried hard but didn't succeed. Every now and then, somebody would tell me that people would still talk about it here and there, some adversaries, some allies. I reached the peak of anger when someone told me that they spoke to the CEO about this idea while I was at the height of pushing it. I never knew.
In turn, that person asked me to try again in six or twelve months. I'm sure they had pure intentions. Who knows, there might have been incentives that I never found out about. Maybe they wanted us to acquire a company that already executed on my idea. Maybe they wanted to wait and really just roll out existing projects before picking up another, or maybe something completely else.
Anyhow, this whole thing took place within a timespan of six months. From setting up the initial research to giving up. I learned some incredibly valuable lessons, got some one-on-one time with a few of the company's leaders, and got a glimpse of how they think and act. Insights that rendered me extremely impressed but sometimes also surprised. Overall, the learning was huge!
Conclusion
The point that I'm trying to make: if you are in the lucky position to have autonomy in your role as a Product Manager, it's your duty to use it. However, set your expectations right. Just because you put some effort into something doesn't mean that you will end up working on it. It's important to go into such endeavors with an open mind, knowing well that what you are suggesting won't gain traction, even if it's for reasons you don't fully understand. At the end of the day, it's somebody else's company.
Instead, focus on the learning experience. Focus on re-usable skills, skills you can carry around to your adventure. Also, make sure not to burn any bridges. Yes, my idea didn't take off, but who knows, maybe it will pop up again by itself in a few months. It's not worth going above and beyond with unrealistic expectations. I went above and beyond to work on a project I was passionate about, but in retrospect, it was a mistake. I should have gone above and beyond to learn about new customers, new people, and most importantly, new skills.