The fourth of 12 letters that I have to write while crying

Dear everybody fat friend: see word such as face!

Although I am very busy with my work recently, I am still ready to write the 4th letter when I feel my friends’ love for xiao Pang.

The first three letters focus on the three pillars you need and should have as a product manager: logic, product design, and ability to work under pressure. Of course, each family has the words of each family, this is small fat sum personally, everybody see an officer actually look good, basically still rely on oneself go experience, go experience!

As for the following 9 letters, Xiao Pang has made a plan. Originally, he was going to talk about project management and time management, two major issues in the product work. However, considering that everything has to go through two processes of “knowing is easy to do” and “knowing is difficult to do”, this paper will first discuss the “knowing” problem from the root.

Why do you want to be a product manager?

I’ve talked to a lot of my friends, and I’ve tried a lot of my colleagues, and a common question is: Why are you doing this (industry/career)? Small fat summarized briefly, basically have a few respects:

  • When I graduated, I caught up with the hot demand of product manager, and many of my friends joined the line
  • Think product managers make a lot of money
  • Love new technology and trends
  • Change careers
  • Want to change the world
  • Feel like a lot of jobs aren’t right for you (accidentally)
  • trained

For example, Wang Dazhuang was born in a regular class. He started to work in a large Internet factory as an intern. After graduation, he gradually grew into a good product manager. And Wang Dazhuang’s primary school classmate Dog Egg son is to do a lot of miscellaneous work first, and then after chatting with Wang Dazhuang, turned to the post of product manager.

Perhaps some people such as Wang Dazhuang, some people are such as dog eggs. If you look at product management as a normal job, we are all the same. However, product managers do have a few things that set them apart.

For example, unlike financial work, product manager is not focused on one aspect, and unlike construction workers, product manager seems to give people a sense of lofty or even high profile, but in fact, it is doing miscellaneous things. It can be said that the product manager is a very contradictory complex, constantly in the maelstrom of relationships, right and left, and so on.

So, before you do this kind of business, or you already do this kind of business, you have to ask why?

Why do you want to be a product manager? Do you have to be a product manager?

Maybe we have a hundred thousand reasons to say why we want to be a product manager, but we only need one reason to support that we can, fit, can be competent for the position of product manager.

You should have at least one of these four reasons.

  • Are you a pessimist or an optimist? Not important?? **
  • What are your strengths and weaknesses? Not important?? **
  • Do you particularly enjoy the position of product manager? Not important?? **
  • Are you a tech guy or a tech geek? Not important?? **

1. Sometimes I’m a pessimist, sometimes I’m an optimist

The previous article talked about the product manager’s ability to withstand pressure, the reason why the ability to withstand pressure is listed as one of the three pillars of the product manager, its importance can be seen.

Product manager is a hybrid, a bridge between users and technology, market and boss. Many people have to walk on this bridge from you. Don’t you just get trampled?

So you have to be an optimist, maybe a very optimistic one.

You have to be a pessimist, a very pessimist, about the product you design, about the product development, about the project management. For example, will the size and color scheme of the button affect the conversion of the end user? Is the project progress really as good as the feedback from the technical leader? Don’t you know that a miss is as good as a mile?

2. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

People have both strengths and weaknesses. Each person has a different left and right brain structure, so they are good at different areas. And more importantly, sometimes it may be a little of what you are good at that makes you who you are, not all of you.

Steve Jobs, for example, liked to study fonts in college and studied them in depth, which became the source of Apple’s minimalist design style.

Being a product manager is largely personal. It’s unique to you. It’s up to you to be good or bad, or to work with.

3. Do you particularly enjoy being a product manager?

This is probably one of the most common phrases used by anyone interviewing for a job as a product manager: I love being a product manager. He makes me feel like I’m on cloud nine.

I’ve heard a lot of big names on the stage telling the same story over and over again, how a once-young boy got into a great career as a product manager out of love.

Because everyone’s pursuit and values are different, therefore, if product manager is regarded as a job, if you don’t like it, how can you expect to do well, let alone the extreme.

4. Are you a tech guy or a tech geek?

Many product managers don’t come from a technical background, so this is another question that is often asked: do product managers understand technology and code?

In fact, in the long run, small fat think it is necessary, it is necessary to understand some technology related knowledge, if the heart, the matter is artificial.

Of course, it is not necessarily the technical background will be better than you, in fact, God is relatively fair, many technical partners are relatively weak in communication and language expression. So, the key is to see their efforts.

The real product manager if that were the case, would you still be here?

1. Do you still want to work as a product manager?

If you think you can become A CEO, marry a rich woman, and climb to the top of your life in a minute, then don’t come. Product manager is a great career, yes, but great people have to go through the process of upgrading.

With the title of “manager”, there will be a lot for you to do.

In addition to not necessarily serving tea and water, you do a lot of things that seem irrelevant to you. Not only to do, but also must be professional, in the face of docking people must be smiling, “friendly and harmonious”.

2. Product manager is an unappealing job. Would you like to work there?

A good person is not a good product manager.

Chinese culture is a human society, and there are many good-natured characters in the society, who generally do not offend others easily and always do the right thing.

But such good people are not good product managers, product managers are always fighting and being fighting on the road.

Of course, the quarrel does not have to be very intense. There are endless discussions and discussions. It may be a day for the product manager.

In addition to not being nice to others, you must not be nice to yourself. Don’t think that you can give yourself 100 points when you finish your work. When you finish your work, you should think that what you have done is really a piece of shit.

3. Do you really want to work as a product manager, a job that involves overtime and no friends (especially no girlfriend)?

This may not be the exclusive province of product managers, but product managers are notorious for their overtime work, both in China and abroad.

You won’t be surprised when we walk into an IT Internet company, all the guys.

Yes, it’s a gender-deprived industry, with lots of singles. Who wants to find a boyfriend or girlfriend who works overtime all day and can’t be with them?

So, small fat also does not have good method, perhaps learn wang Dazhuang, before entering a line, gave oneself individual problem to solve first? Ha ha ha ~

In the end, product manager is just one job. Don’t demonize it!

Love you little fat man, October 28, 2018, Guangzhou

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Public account: Upsmile: Tells the story behind the product manager