A lot of people, especially PMs, have been set up for failure over the last 5 years.

Back in 2014, As an IC PM with <1 year experience, I had to

  • Manage multiple projects
  • Define the product strategy
  • Design flows (visual designer was only for high fidelity artefacts)
  • I even had to do sales calls and customer support

And, finally I had to be ready with all business metrics/ do an RCA if any of them were down whenever I had to meet my CEO to discuss business updates.

Basically, it was me and about 5 other devs who were building an entire product. And I had to work on Saturdays because the front end devs were busy working on the core product during the normal working week and I was working on a new product line that did not even have a dedicated front end team.

Yesterday I was giving feedback to a PM on why I didn’t think she was ready for a more senior role. I felt this person was mostly executing projects and not thinking long term/ did not contribute to strategy. This person felt otherwise. In her mind running a couple of projects was more than enough to warrant a move to the next level, which is actually an HOP equivalant level in my company.

There has never been a time when people have made so much money for so little work. When the madness dies down and everyone has to actually earn their pay, people are in for a rude awakening. This is a wake up call for all. Including me.