Recently, the Cranky Product Manager found this awesome comment on the “Six Types of Engineers” post.
“From a programmer’s point of view, I think the whole thing degrading [sic], evaluating programmers not as people but as cliches.”
The commenter then whines about his hurt feelings some more on his own blog, bemoaning the post as overall “quite insulting.”
Awww. There, there, Code Boy. So sorry to have hurt your feelings. But the Cranky Product Manager would like to make a suggestion: LIGHTEN UP.
For one, what kind of namby-pamby post do you expect on a blog entitled The CRANKY Product Manager?
Two, the writer of this post (not the Cranky PM, alas, but “Another PM”) is married to a frakin’ HOT software engineer and he happens to love her post. ‘Cuz he’s secure in his both his manhood and geekhood. [NOTE: The Cranky Product Manager sincerely hopes that Another PM will add her perspective in the comments.]
Three, this here blog picks on product managers just as much as (if not more than) software engineers — in fact, those posts are the most popular by far, in a readership where PMs outnumber developers by 8 to 1. All further evidence of the self-deprecating, gentle, insightful, and clever nature of product managers worldwide.
Code Boy, the Cranky Product Manager is truly puzzled about what part of the post got you in such a snit. It wasn’t about you PERSONALLY, you see. But perhaps you see yourself in there? Can your sense of self worth really be so easily shattered by an anonymous writer on a HUMOR blog? Neither he Cranky Product Manager nor Another PM meant to cause you such personal distress, truly.
But then the Cranky Product Manager read your counter-post — basically a “4 types of product managers” guide entitled Your Product Manager’s Configuration and You — and FRAK it is actually sorta funny. And kinda true – at least from the perspective of the developer. And it has good cartoons.
Which makes the Cranky Product Manager conclude you are NOT really a humorless, oversensitive software engineer, crying in the corner because some “business type” does not appreciate your “art”. Nope.
Instead, the Cranky Product Manager is calling you the link-baiting slut you really are.
Clearly, your inflammatory comments are an attempt to get the Cranky PM to respond, link to you, and increase your blog traffic. Well, mission accomplished, Code Boy. The Cranky Product Manager liked your post and is sending a bunch of readers over. Even though she disagrees with huge portions of it (see footnote 1, below).
Oh, and the Cranky Product Manager would LOVE to see the crankier version of your post, classifying PMs as “the ‘MBA-PM,’ the ‘I was a developer guru’ PM, the ‘I got here because I was a bad developer’ PM and the ‘I got here because I was a bad developer but I THINK I was a developer guru’ PM.” Please, WRITE IT! It sounds hilarious.
In fact, if you don’t write it, can the Cranky Product Manager? Don’t want to steal your idea….
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1. Examples of areas where the Cranky Product Manager disagrees with this Taxonomy of Product Managers:
(a) Product managers shouldn’t keep the Gantt chart. The developers / project manager should. The PM should NOT be deciding how long it takes to develop certain features.
(b) Most likely, product managers shouldn’t be writing code, especially for “cool features” they thought up just last night. In fact, NO ONE should be checking in code for “cool features” they thought up just last night.
(c) A product manager can be technical and “know what he wants” and still produce a disaster of a product that flops in the market because he doesn’t “know what THE MARKET wants.”
(d) And there’s more and more. In fact, the whole post, while chuckle-worthy, is kind of myopic about the role of product management. To be expected, considering the source.
{ 2 comments }
Link bait, shmink bait, as long as it worked.
Feel free to use the idea, it’s more your style anyway.
CPM, I have to admit I am a little surprised of you… I did not see that coming.
How could you let that codeboy’s post make you write a post to explain what you write and even apologize to some degree ?
Lots of Israeli Engineers tend to think that the sun shines from their a&s, and this one is no different. Funny, yes, but full of ignorance and feelings of superiority that are mainly based on a binary variable and nothing more.
Many Israeli startups founded by ex-genius codeboys don’t reach their potential because they are so focused on trying to sell technology rather than selling solutions.
They tend to confuse product manager with program & project manager (and the ignorance from that codeboy’s post actually shows that pretty well.)
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