This month on the product management drama-sphere… apparently PMs suck at their job. And it’s all because of Marty Cagan.
Hold up ✋
The majority of posts on the PM sub are about how product managers are frustrated with their jobs because they don’t have any decision making power and are stuck in feature factories.
I’ve seen and experienced this first hand.
Even though PMs know they could be doing things differently, they simply cannot because the company/culture doesn’t allow them to be. They’re not fully exercising the product management role — that is quite a well known situation for many, and it’s often not easy to get out of it because at the end of the day, a pay check is a pay check.
A few months ago, Claire Vo referred to this as “the theater product management” — the tug between what is ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ in product
Time for a reality check here.
While I don’t necessarily agree with this being the best form of the PM craft, I also understand where it comes from. Sometimes we have to make hard choices or risk losing a source of income. (Not in this economy!)
Fast forward to everyone freaking out over Marty Cagan calling this out.
All he did was speak the truth. Whether it’s because of the company culture, the lack of understanding of product management, or CPOs that don’t fully support their product teams, it is still a reality. It doesn’t mean the PM is a bad PM, the circumstances might not just be there to support them being a PM fully.
Does that mean he’s wrong? No.
Is the community sensationalising something Cagan said ? Yes.
So let’s review…
❌ No, Chesky isn’t killing the product manager.
❌ No, product marketers or software engineers or designers are not taking over the PM job.
❌ No, Teresa never said that UX researchers weren’t needed.
❌ No, Cagan didn’t say you suck at your job.
💡 Is there, however, a larger problem of people still misunderstanding the product manager role?
Absolutely. And that is the problem we should all be focusing on.