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

I was able to Identify a problem in the backbone of our product before anyone else could, something that would have hampered the growth i.e. service ability logic. Having a Pincode/ Zipcode was mandatory in all the APIs, which meant we cannot operate in countries like UAE, KSA and the setup time required for other countries was huge. Re-imagining the solution for it and advocating it to all stakeholders; the entire process was a roller coaster, but it was satisfactory to see a better solution go live.

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

I am a very result oriented person, which means I get deep into things to understand a problem or a pain point. Once I get to the bottom of things, I tend to lose sight of the bigger picture. I would either start thinking of only the technical solutions or the User Experience depending on what the problem was.
Over the time, I learnt to take a step back before it led to inefficiency so I could think of a holistic solution. With constant push back from various teams, it was very easy for me to slip back into the same mode. So it took a lot of practice and timely self-checks to strike that balance.

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

Not just aspiring PMs but even a lot of good companies have this notion that you need a management degree for Product Management. That’s not always true. While the management can teach you a lot and prepare you for the role, the real learning happens on the job when you are actually building product solutions. Each company has its own target audience, vision about the product and how it will revolutionise the industry and has its own tech debts. Management pedigree can help set a framework, but a cookie cutter approach does not work here.
So it’s good if you have a management degree, but it should not be a deterrent.

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

1. Over the years, I have seen PMs who get too deep into Technical side of the product or others that are completely aligned with business and not so involved in tech. It is very important to have an understanding of both the aspects, afterall we are supposed to bridge the gap.
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2. Many stakeholders tend to come with preconceived solutions. It’s very important to ask them the right questions, analyse data and draw insights. There is a vision, a solution, but that should not cloud the insights. Out of the box thinking doesn’t just happen, you need to first break out of over-specific parameters.

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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?

My alternate career would have been marketing. Common thing between marketing and product management is: Understanding your target audience, not only what they need or want, but also giving them something they did not even know they needed.

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

I always knew soft skills are important but I never realised how critical they were until I started with my Product Role, where I had responsibility for people delivering but none of them reporting directly to me. So I had to hone my soft-skills to build that rapport with everyone, manage not only my time and work but theirs too, start everyday with enthusiasm and focus to get work done.

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