Climbing the Mountain of Product Literature

The extensive lore of Product Management is a lot to tackle for those new to the craft - how can you find what's relevant to you?

Product Management is an exciting career path because it’s so varied. There are tons of opportunities, no two roles are the same and you can make a big difference in an organisation. It’s exciting to work in a field with such diversity in thought and so many different thought leaders, but it’s a double-edged sword. 

I’ve been a Product Manager for just over two years and it can often feel like I’m barely scratching the surface. Having such an extensive lore around the craft of Product Management can make it a nightmare to climb the mountain. 

Just Google ‘Further Reading for Product Managers’ and you’ll see what I mean: 

‘80+ essential books on Product Management’
‘Don’t even bother calling yourself a Product Manager if you haven’t read this’
‘These 10 Product Podcasts will literally SAVE YOUR LIFE’ 

Where to even start? 

With so many Product professionals competing to be the leading voice in the field, they all have to bring something new to the table. They’re competing with other voices in the space, which means they’re all vying to say something different. This can make it difficult to just ‘jump in’. 

If you start following a Product thought leader now without taking time to browse through their back catalogue of books/articles, you’ll find the examples they give can be high-level and even impractical. This is mainly because, as with any craft, there is a tendency to aim to continually inspire readers with revolutionary concepts. 

This can be really useful for bringing new and creative ideas to a project when it’s ready, but it’s hard to cut through the noise when you’re so new to the world of Product and feel like you haven’t even managed to cover the basics.

The best way to break in is to establish what you need. Work backwards: I need to fix this problem or I need some inspiration here, find the article or book related to that and branch out. 

And if you’re one of those people who doesn’t have a specific problem but wants to become more of a generalist, then variety is the spice of life. 

Podcasts are not only easy to consume, but they also have a wide variety of guests that might inspire you to follow their work. 

And, of course, communities such as Product Breaks also give you access to a diverse range of voices with different levels of experience. 

Hello Impostor Syndrome, my old friend 

It’s easy to feel like you’re not a real Product Manager unless you’re studying the craft voraciously inside and outside of work. And when you learn that 40% of Product Managers report feeling impostor syndrome, and that 46% of those are in years 2-5 of their career, it starts to make sense why. 

To combat this impostor syndrome, your first port of call may be to read extensively and copy what the ‘professionals’ are doing; however, this may not help the situation. 

If you’re in your first few years and you jump in trying out some brand new, revolutionary and semi-untested theory from Cutler, then there’s a chance you’re trying to run before you can walk. 

Then, there’s the challenge of implementing these in your current environment. I’ve read articles where the author’s starting position that they are looking to improve is a product landscape that my company would be years away from achieving. I’ve often found myself thinking: “They’ve implemented this complex framework from the C-level all the way down? I can’t even get time for a workshop!” 

This can be a downside of taking in too much information from sources that aren’t directly relevant. Not all of these ideas are lift and shift. And if the article is describing a Product culture that is more mature or completely dissimilar to yours, then you’re really having to cherry pick.

It’s easy to be swept up in the glamour of how Product Management is described on the page. We all want to achieve high-concept ideas; however, it’s important to only try and implement things that are solutions. Focus on your own outcomes and solve the problems you face -  everything else is just theoretical. 

Learning the Basics 

When faced with impostor syndrome, the best way to beat it is to learn the basics. Don’t shoot for the stars from day one. Becoming well-versed at the basics gives you a platform to grow from. 

Again, this can make it challenging to find an external resource. Many books are written by professionals with decades of experience, and many are written by people from industries and cultures different from your own. 

Local meetups are a great way to learn about the basics. They allow you to look other product managers in the eye, ask direct questions and share experiences. Too many times you’ll be listening to a podcast where they touch on something relevant and you can’t follow up there and then. Meetups let you discuss and contribute, rather than just being talked at or to. 

Just being able to talk to people working in the same industry, city or company size can really help. While their career path will likely have its differences to your own, they’ll often be similar enough that you can project your own reality onto what they’re talking about. This can be difficult with high-concept literature, which can feel alienating. 

This is the core mission of Product Breaks and something we’re looking to achieve with Product Breaks Live. We’re trying to make a place for people to chat Product, debate new ideas and learn the basics from others. It’s eye-opening to see how relevant your problems are among contemporaries and how often a problem they’re facing is something you’ve faced and overcome. 

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Do you have a Product practitioner, book, podcast or any other recommendations? Drop them in the comments and hopefully you’ll also find some inspiration!