What It Takes to Become a Great Product Manager: Notes apps are where ideas go to die. And that’s good.

What It Takes to Become a Great Product Manager: Notes apps are where ideas go to die. And that’s good.

In the world of product management, there are certain qualities and skills that set great PMs apart from the rest. Becoming a successful product manager is not just about being the CEO of a product or having a specific set of responsibilities. It's about understanding core competencies, emotional intelligence (EQ), and finding the right company fit.

The best PMs excel in creating products that not only have strong user adoption but also experience exponential revenue growth. They have the ability to empathize with customers and understand their pain points. This is especially important during interviews, where they can tune into body language and emotions to uncover valuable insights.

But it's not just about understanding the customer. Great PMs also excel in forming authentic and trustworthy connections with both internal and external stakeholders. They have the ability to inspire people and help them reach their full potential. By building these relationships, PMs can influence the success of their product, from obtaining budget and staffing to securing top talent to work on their product.

Another crucial quality of a great PM is self-awareness. PMs must remain objective and avoid projecting their own preferences onto users of their products. They need to push hard on the right priorities, with a sense of urgency but without conveying panic or stress. Understanding how the organization operates and building social capital are essential for a PM's success.

Startup PMs have an even broader range of responsibilities beyond discovery, definition, and shipping. They may also be responsible for pricing, marketing, support, and potentially even sales of the product. This requires a deep understanding of various aspects of the business and the ability to adapt quickly.

Now, let's shift gears and talk about notes apps and the value they bring. Notes apps, like notebooks, bookmarking tools, and everything else built to help us remember, actually serve a different purpose. They are a form of insurance for our ideas. We save notes, links, thoughts, and ideas as a way to ensure that we won't forget them.

Interestingly, we don't write things down to remember them. We write them down to forget. The act of writing something down gives us a sense of satisfaction, as if we have captured the idea and can safely forget it. This behavior stems from our natural inclination towards loss aversion. We are afraid of losing our thoughts and findings because we want them to have meaning. We want to feel productive and make progress.

However, most of our thoughts and discoveries aren't actually valuable in the long run. We write them down, but we rarely revisit them. We assign value to our ideas and findings because they took time to think up and find. We are scared to lose them, which leads to a constant search for the next new thing that will help us organize and remember our ideas better.

But the truth is, we don't need to remember everything. In fact, trying to remember everything can be overwhelming and hinder our ability to remember the important things. We need to forget, but we first need to feel safe forgetting. We need to believe that our memories were not in vain and that they will be there if we want them again.

Flipping through old notes can sometimes feel like sifting through stale garbage. We realize that most of our ideas and discoveries aren't worth much on their own. We blame the tools and techniques, thinking that a new app or method will solve our problems. But in reality, it's about accepting that our ideas are not as valuable as we think and that it's okay to let them go.

In conclusion, becoming a great product manager requires a combination of core competencies, emotional intelligence, and company fit. It's about understanding the customer, forming authentic connections, and being self-aware. On the other hand, notes apps and tools serve as a form of insurance for our ideas, allowing us to forget and move on. We don't need to remember everything; we just need to focus on what truly matters.

Actionable advice:

1. Develop your emotional intelligence by actively listening to customers and stakeholders. Tune into their body language and emotions to uncover valuable insights.
2. Build authentic and trustworthy connections with both internal and external stakeholders. Inspire people and help them reach their full potential.
3. Embrace the concept of safe forgetting. Understand that not all ideas and discoveries are valuable, and it's okay to let them go. Focus on what truly matters and don't get caught up in the constant search for the next new thing.