The Impossible Product Manager: Combining Strategy, Customer Insights, and Orchestration

The Impossible Product Manager: Combining Strategy, Customer Insights, and Orchestration

In the world of product management, there are two types of professionals: the "Great" Product Manager and the Impossible Product Manager. The former is someone who excels in one area and is good in another, while the latter is a master in multiple domains. The Impossible Product Manager is a strategist who analyzes, crafts, communicates, and updates the answer to the question: How do we apply our durable advantages to the opportunities in the market, to win?

One crucial aspect of being an Impossible Product Manager is the ability to not just listen to customers, but truly hear them. Understanding their underlying needs, motivations, and even their emotions is key to delivering products that resonate with them. It's not about order-taking and implementing the features they know how to name, but rather about digging deep to uncover the things that worry them so much that they would be willing to pay to decrease their worry. It's about figuring out the results they need to achieve to earn that long-awaited promotion.

To become a Customer Whisperer, a Product Manager must go beyond surface-level interactions and engage with customers on a deeper level. This involves empathizing with their pain points, understanding their desires, and connecting emotionally with their experiences. By doing so, a Product Manager can gain valuable insights that can inform product decisions and drive meaningful innovation.

Another role that the Impossible Product Manager takes on is that of a Scrum Product Owner. This term might be ambiguous to some, but it essentially means being responsible for owning the work backlog and collaborating closely with engineering teams to execute it. The Product Owner is tasked with breaking down epics into user stories, prioritizing and scheduling innovations, and balancing the needs of customers with engineering demands and broader company objectives.

Being an effective Scrum Product Owner requires not just shaking engineers upside down for estimates, but working together with them to solve the puzzles of delivering the most value in the least amount of time or risk. This collaborative approach ensures that the product development process is efficient and aligned with the overall goals of the organization.

Furthermore, the Impossible Product Manager is an orchestrator who aims to deliver the "Whole Product," as defined by Geoffrey Moore. This means going beyond delivering working code and also enabling others in the organization to contribute to the success of the product. This includes working closely with marketing to grab attention and spark curiosity, collaborating with sales to convert leads into sales, supporting customer service in guiding customers through their journey, and enabling Marcomm teams for PR and events. Additionally, the Product Manager must also facilitate external integrators and consultants who operate on behalf of clients, ensuring a seamless experience for all stakeholders.

While the responsibilities of an Impossible Product Manager might seem overwhelming, it's important to remember that they are not expected to excel in every aspect of product management. In fact, it's often more realistic and effective to focus on being excellent in one area, good in another, and not spreading oneself too thin. By prioritizing and dedicating time to the most critical domains, a Product Manager can achieve exceptional results.

In the world of HR and people analytics, there is a similar need for a holistic approach. HR has long been seen as a siloed function, and this is reflected in the work that is published and shared in the people analytics community. A glaring gap can be observed in the lack of focus on rewards in the literature and discussions. However, it's important to recognize that employees don't experience life at work through an HR lens. Instead, HR needs to think about organizational effectiveness from an employee's perspective.

To make employee experience (EX) work, HR professionals must consider the role of rewards in their analytics efforts. Rewards play a crucial role in motivating and engaging employees, and ignoring this aspect can lead to incomplete and ineffective people analytics strategies. By incorporating rewards into their analysis and decision-making processes, HR teams can create a more comprehensive understanding of what drives employee performance and satisfaction.

To bridge this gap, HR professionals should start by integrating rewards data into their analytics platforms. This includes collecting information on compensation, benefits, recognition programs, and other forms of rewards. By analyzing this data alongside other HR metrics, such as engagement and performance, organizations can gain valuable insights into the impact of rewards on employee behavior and outcomes.

Furthermore, HR professionals should consider adopting a more employee-centric approach to people analytics. This involves shifting the focus from HR processes and systems to the employee experience and the factors that contribute to their engagement and motivation. By understanding what truly matters to employees and aligning rewards with their needs and preferences, organizations can create a more compelling employee value proposition.

In conclusion, both product management and HR can benefit from adopting a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to their respective domains. The Impossible Product Manager combines strategy, customer insights, and orchestration to deliver exceptional products that meet customer needs and drive business success. Similarly, HR professionals need to consider the role of rewards in their people analytics efforts to create a more comprehensive understanding of employee behavior and engagement. By incorporating these principles into their practices, organizations can unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation.

Actionable Advice:

1. Develop a deep understanding of your customers by going beyond surface-level interactions. Engage with them on an emotional level to uncover their true needs and motivations.
2. Collaborate closely with engineering teams to solve the puzzles of delivering the most value in the least amount of time or risk. Foster a collaborative and efficient product development process.
3. Integrate rewards data into your people analytics efforts to gain insights into the impact of rewards on employee behavior and outcomes. Adopt an employee-centric approach to create a compelling employee value proposition.