Ugly baby huggers
Why great Product Owners are less like mini CEOs and more like Nannies.
*There are no photos of ugly babies on Unsplash; we need to use our imagination for this illustration.
The number of companies I have personally worked in and correspondingly the number of CEOs I have been stuck in lifts with are a tiny sample group.
But it is a truth universally acknowledged that CEOs don’t like ugly babies.
And by ugly babies, I mean the products owned by the company that underperform, misbehave, don’t live up to anyone’s expectations, are expensive to maintain but also you can’t get rid of them. (Parents of teenagers everywhere, apologies if you were just triggered).
CEOs are the Instagram influencers of the product world. God forbid they actually have to use the damn thing, but it better make them look good, or heads will roll.
Despite the best visions of CEOs, a major issue for many companies is not having the funds on tap required to start from scratch. They need a Product Owner or Product Manager to take on this challenge in the face of all odds. The reason this is such a big ask is:
It’s never going to be a quick fix; it requires a serious commitment to the cause.
They will have to deal with a continuous stream of negative feedback.
A company culture that rewards performance based on deliverables is unlikely to recognise the stellar quality of “sticking it out despite all odds.”
Ditto career prospects.
The unwavering fervour and belief that this product can be transformed is product vision in its purest form.
So, if companies want to shift the dial in any meaningful way, these are the product legends they must hire.
I’m sure you can tick all of the product management boxes without really loving your product, but you can’t take it to greatness. Holding a space for something to grow and develop beyond what everyone else can see takes grit, patience and a very, very good sense of humour to get you through.
This is why product managers with the ugliest babies you da real MVPs.