When It Pay to be Patient in the Product Management World
When stress and anxiety hit, my natural inclination is to take action. What can I do about this acute pain?
We’ve all heard the adages.
Actions breed momentum. Be the change you want to see in the world. Carpe Diem.
The urge to take action is a survival instinct at play. It’s the amygdala screaming DANGER DANGER - DO SOMETHING!
As modern society no longer includes wild animals ready to maul me on a daily basis, my survival triggers are applied to knowledge work.
These threats are not to my bodily health but to my bank account.
What’s especially triggering of this response in a tech company are executive-level strategy changes. It happens when a company does a major overhaul of either the leadership team, the org chart, or the roadmap. The next question after any of these major changes is always are cuts about to follow?
Instinctually, I want to dive in and dictate the terms. Tell everyone how it ought to be.
I have to check this urge, as it can be an absolutely catastrophic mistake.
In the minority of instances, you can be the hero to drive the change.
Most often, the best approach is to shut up, lay low, and wait for the dust to settle.
The key to navigating these instances is to get an accurate read of the corporate situation and to align yourself with the new paradigm.
What happens during a company overhaul
I like to think of a company as a global geopolitical system with multiple nations each acting to advance their own self-interests.
In this lens -there’s a global superpower that dictates the majority of resources.
Then there are mid-level players who aligned with the superpowers. In return, they are given power of their own under the unspoken agreement that they act in the best interest of the superpowers.
While the company world is at peace (AKA Profitable), its business as usual. You wait for the review cycle to get that promotion, or for budget planning to get a new hire.
It’s when something threatens the peace of prosperity that the superpowers get a little squirrely.
When profitability begins to not meet expectations, the pressure for change starts to build. When that pressure grows too large, MASSIVE can be enacted, establishing a new tech world order.
Entire teams can be laid off.
New Executives may be hired.
An acquisition may occur upending the entire corporate structure.
Times like these are when chaos ensues, and power grabs are made.
This is when some high-profile executives get fired. The winner reaps the spoils, taking control of the company’s most precious resources.
What this means for the journeyman product manager
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