3. What we’ll cover today
Photo by Jermaine Ee on Unsplash
Life as a generalist PM
How to standout as a generalist PM
Your questions
4. What does it mean to
be a generalist PM?
Photo by Jermaine Ee on Unsplash
All of the PM table stakes:
● User empathy
● Analytical ability
● Creativity
● Delivery / execution
Without a specific industry or
functional expertise
Photo by Ussama Azam on Unsplash
5. What’s good about
being a generalist PM?
Photo by Jermaine Ee on Unsplash
Broad range of companies
and problems open to you
Less industry or technology
risk
Seeing a range of problems
increases creativity
Photo by Christian Bowen on Unsplash
6. What’s bad about
being a generalist PM?
Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash
Certain roles are not available
to you
Opportunities don’t find you
It’s difficult to stand out
from the pack
7. Why does standing out
matter?
The next opportunity
There’s lots of competition
It’s nice to have choices
Photo by David Rotimi on Unsplash
8. Selecting your projects
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
Are you working on the things
that will deliver the most value
for customers and the
company?
If not, why not?
9. How is your work
impacting the product?
Launches > ideas
Numbers > anecdotes
Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash
10. How to talk about your
impact
Photo by Jessica Ruscello on Unsplash
Impact: What is different
because you were there?
Scope: What are you
responsible for?
11. Seek out complimentary
experiences
“I can write better than
anybody who can write faster,
and I can write faster than
anybody who can write
better.” - A.J. Liebling
Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash
12. Beyond your “job”
Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash
Demonstrate your ability
outside your core role
How you treat people matters
14. Thank you!
Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash
@jamesdillard
/in/jamesdillard
Hinweis der Redaktion
What is a generalist PM
What’s good about this and bad about this
Why standing out matters
How to stand out
Selecting projects
Delivering on those projects
Developing specializations that cut across industries and problem spaces
How to talk about your work
Extending your brand beyond your company
Questions
Make sure to note that this decision isn’t always made intentionally
You can find yourself take 2 roles in a row in the same industry and get labelled as a specialist, even if that isn’t what you want
You can work anywhere, can pick up new product types. It’s exciting to have lots of options
You’re not tied to any specific industry.
Risk of getting trapped in something you no longer enjoy
Risk of that industry seeing a downturn or decline in relevance
Risk for companies that only hire specialists if the field of competition changes (e.g., servers vs. cloud computing)
Going deep in different areas increases problem solving
Range by David Epstein
The world is full of really different problems
By seeing the widest range or problems, you increase your ability to be a problem solver
Certain roles are unavailable to you
I can’t be a PM for Google Silicon - I’m not qualified, I don’t have enough industry expertise
Opportunities don’t find you in the same way
FinTech companies know they need FinTech PMs; how does a FinTech company know they need an AgTech PM
It can be hard to stand out from the pack
The pool of competition is much wider
The ability of employers to assess your experience is lower
The next opportunity
It’s unlikely that this is the last company you’re ever going to work for
It’s even less likely that this is the less role that you’ll ever have
You’re all here at an online conference, I don’t have to tell you this
There’s lots of competition
With the rise of remote work, increasingly anyone in the world could do what you’re doing
How do you command a wage premium?
It’s nice to have choices
Being a stand out PM opens doors, whether it’s at your company or other companies
As a PM, your number 1 job is to make sure that your team is focused on the highest priority for the company / end users
What can your company / your team deliver that no one else can
Use common sense here
Don’t go and try and take over someone else’s project
If you think this isn’t true, ask your manager or the CEO
If you think you’re not working on the things that are the highest priority, why not?
Is there someone that needs to be convinced?
Has the right data not been collected?
What blocker is standing in the way
Launches > ideas
You have to ship
The role is about shipping
Metrics impact > anecdotes
Design your work from the beginning
Write the internal launch email in your head before you start work
Be focused on the metrics your leadership team cares about
It’s all about how you frame it up
What is different because you were there
Phrase it in a way that your parents can understand it, 3 sentences or less
What was your scope of responsibility
What part of the business, broadly defined
What people are looking to you to define product direction
Overtime, you want the different things you do to complement each other
Think about the things at your company or among your PM team that are
Uncommon
Difficult
Growing quickly, but from a small base
Inconvenient or frustrating
Never enough of
Figure out how these things work
Demonstrate your ability outside your core role
Your ability to lead a team ← are you mentoring others?
Giving back to the PM community
Many companies have a citizenship aspect to performance reviews — are you using this to invest in your expertise
Example of building the trusted tester organization
How you treat people matters
Most of the standout PMs I’ve known are incredibly humble and willing to help
Overtime, you want the different things you do to complement each other
Think about the things at your company or among your PM team that are
Uncommon
Difficult
Growing quickly, but from a small base
Inconvenient or frustrating
Never enough of
Figure out how these things work
Demonstrate your ability outside your core role
Your ability to lead a team ← are you mentoring others?
Giving back to the PM community
Many companies have a citizenship aspect to performance reviews — are you using this to invest in your expertise
Example of building the trusted tester organization
How you treat people matters
Most of the standout PMs I’ve known are incredibly humble and willing to help
