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Nov 24, 2022Liked by Eduardo Mignot

Thanks! You made my day!

Finally someone is talking the truth about the job. I’m getting so tired of the hype around product management these days. Everyone wants to become a PM, most of them just for the recognition and the nice salary. Most don’t have any actual interest in tech products, how they are made, how to design (on all aspects) a good product and make it sustainable (on all aspects too).

But I feel like it’s convenient for most current cocky and ignorant executives who just want to decide what to deliver but don’t want to have to deal with devs, designers, and other teams, to make it happens.

(And about that, I feel like most product management consulting firms are responsible for making the industry go in that direction, getting junior PMs and putting them in the hands of execs with no guidelines but to make the client happy so they pay…)

I also agree we see more and more « bro's cocky culture » migrate to the industry. Many new PMs come from the Finance industry as well.

Overall it’s bringing a weird mentality that generates apprehensions from designers and developers when working with us.

Finance or not, you can feel so many people being distrustful of PMs nowadays, and it sucks.

The French fintech you mentioned is Q… right? Had a weird experience there, they have some really good things there regarding the company organization and cross team collaboration, but as a PM basically you are just asked to unplug your brain and supervize a production line. Your opinion about the product, no need, your vision regarding the market, don’t bother someone else will think for you, just make sure the feature is delivered asap (Which is powerful to deliver fast but makes the job depressing)

I also see more an more PMs switching to Design after a couple of years of work out of disappointment and exhaustion. Interesting trend. Sometimes I believe in a couple of years from now we might not need PMs anymore (I agree with the Reddit post you shared).

Do you think the PM role could make more sense eventually or is it just an far dream coming from the books on the topic?

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Thank you, Samuel! I appreciate you to take the time to comment. I love getting feedback and understand other people points of view.

I am also glad you felt identified with the article and that I am not the only one feeling the "bro's cocky culture" is migrating to the industry.

I know some friends who switched from PM to Product Design - but haven't identified the real reason yet. I thought Designers switched to avoid meetings and stakeholder management and focus on "delivering" more but I haven't dig into it.

Finally, I think the PM role makes sense and can add value. Now, we are still on the peak of the wave (with companies branding any role as "Product Manager"), but I guess there are still opportunities to apply Product concept to deliver great product to people. However, I don't want people to idealise the industry.

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