What accomplishment in your product management career has brought you the highest level of satisfaction and joy? Can you narrate why?

Building out a subscription streaming video product at Viacom18 from design to launch in 4  months flat, with 4000hrs of additional premium content catalogue. The rush  of trying to defy normal timelines and propel a product into a higher orbit  made the dark circles worthwhile.

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What aspect of product management did you struggle the most with? How did you overcome it?

Engaging with  Engineering teams remotely. Having been used to walking across the floor to  discuss/problem solve/deploy products, was never a problem earlier and often  got done in a hack-ish way in order to be "agile". Good process  design and enforcement of the same played a huge role in streamlining gaps in  comms., removing emotions from conflict resolution, and ensuring same rhythm  between functions.

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What's one common myth about product management that you find common among aspiring PMs?

That you need to be  data-focussed in order to be a great PM. Great PMs are consumer behaviour  oriented first. Behavioural paths and cognitive actions are the blueprint.  Data is the validator.

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What are some common pitfalls that product managers must be aware of?

It's important to  skill yourself in all aspects of the product journey in order to set yourself up for product leadership. Increasingly PMs are ending up over time as  specialists in Engagement or Growth without the holistic thinking needed to  manage product lifecycle from 0 to 100.

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If not product management, what career would you have picked? Are there any complimentary skillsets that you see between being a PM and your alternate choice?

Brand Management.  Both required a deep understanding of customer behaviour, decision making  processes, aesthetics, design thinking and loyalty management.

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What is something about product management that you wish you knew when you started out?

The importance of  Consumer Research.

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