7 Comments

Good refresher thanks!

Expand full comment

I’m very optimistic when I’m excited about a project. That impacts my discerning trait. Do you have any recommendation to balance both traits?

I think I need to create a new habit with self-awareness to solve this trigger. But I wonder if it happens to you and you have some trick you can tell me or saw working in your team.

Expand full comment
author

I have the same challenge of getting so wrapped up in a new initiative that I forget about using good judgement! Self-reflection is a good way to remind yourself to stop overdoing the new initiative. This article discusses 2 other ways to help yourself with good judement: https://amycmitchell.substack.com/p/developing-good-judgment

1. gather other perspectives and 2. do scenario plans

Expand full comment

Thank you for the direction! I will read that post :)

Expand full comment

This is a great list of skills product managers should strive for. However, the devil is in the details. Two areas where many product managers struggle relate to two of your superpowers: empathy and discernment.

Empathy is more than just understanding different points of view; it's about building a cohesive team. Too often it seems, product managers position themselves as the shot caller or merely the handmaiden to an executive sponsor, which undermines the cohesion of their team.

Discernment is another crucial skill. However, great judgment requires balancing difficult tradeoffs such as long-term vs. short-term goals, speed-to-market vs. cost-to-support, and effort-to-change-once vs. effort-to-change-multiple-times. The best solutions often come from deeper insights, solving for the bigger problem, which require the entire team's participation.

Expand full comment

Strong post! I especially like “Blending skills.”

I’d like to add understanding the customer and user, and context switching.

Expand full comment
author

Those are good to add. Especially context switching between multiple initiatives. Thank you!

Expand full comment