Not identical twins, mind you, but we’re definitely on the same mental wavelength regarding careers.

Extending Justin’s metaphor…
When you’re far underwater, you may identify the “requirement” to have better gauges that can handle the higher water pressure. But you aren’t going to ask a technician to replace the gauges until the next time you dock the sub. And some companies will never make it back to the berth.

Companies need cash flow to survive. When cash flow is at risk, strategic investments for the future will be reduced if not deferred. That translates into (temporarily) reduced opportunities to “be strategic” for our employers and clients. From what I see, that also translates into increased demand on the tactical side of things.

I’m working with one client where my focus has shifted from farther-out “define the problem” type work to closer-in requirements work specifically focused on generating cash flow asap. This still leverages product management skills significantly – “do this now” “don’t do that until later.” All viewed through the lens of cash flow. Do some of my daily activities look like project management or scrum management? Sure. Am I still continuing to improve my product management chops? Definitely.

As to the suggestion about doing project management work, I agree with the premise, but personally find business analysis work to be both more rewarding and better aligned with my “true calling.” Others may reach different conclusions for the same reasons, but if you want to stay closer to product management, consider finding temporary business analysis roles ahead of project management ones.

Thanks again Paco for the great article, CPM for hosting, and everyone for the great discussion!

Justin – You also get a large dollop of props (sorry – I’ve got some sour cream next to me on the table) for mentioning Das Boot. I LUV that movie and I’m gonna Netflix it asap. After all, got a little free time to kill. And I agree with your analogy – sometimes a depth charge comes out of nowhere. In my case, one of our flagship products lost a patent infringement lawsuit and we were being sued to place an injunction on future sales and to pay damages for prior sales. Totally didn’t see that one coming.

But really, folks, if the company didn’t let go of 100% of the employees, you gotta think about how to be on the “good” side of the cut. I don’t mean you should take on a victim-mentality, but there could be some benefit to thinking about it while you’re still employed.

BillG – I hear you about the >10 yrs experience part. I’m just over that threshold, and I still look young, so it hasn’t hurt me much. But I did have an interview last week where the person asked me if I have any project management experience, specifically with MS Project. I said “yes”, and then she asked me the last time I used Project. I thought about it and answered, “It was probably in 2000 or 2001.” And then it hit me – cripes, that’s 8-9 years ago! I don’t think she was impressed :P

I recommend you only show the last 10 years or so of experience on your resume and make no mention of “20 years of experience in blah, blah” in your summary or cover letter.

Paco – keep up the good work. As for the comments re. “you didn’t provide enough value”, pleeeease! Every company is different and many PMs have so little control over product content, direction and strategy that’s unrealistic to think that they can make themselves indispensable by some super PM mojo. You can get laid off merely because of a personality clash or from a corporate indifference or outright disrespect for marketing and PM.

Well, he I’ll tell you what he is NOT thinking — he is NOT internalizing about how it all points back to him. Sometimes you got to go through the Strait of Gibraltar, and sometimes it wasn’t your big idea to do so, it just happens. Thinking about how the mess of depth-charging destroyers above you raining hell is your fault and somehow could have been within your control doesn’t help (or really make much sense unless you are selling something).

Thing is, economic decisions are generally rational, but on a decision-by-decision basis it’s merely a tendency and hardly a rule. And when the bow’s a creakin’ and gauge’s a crackin’… well irrationality is the rule.

Paco, I think you’re right on about making some rain. I’ve been surprised at how positive managers can be if your name is associated with the specific deals and specific dollars. When the axe is in hand, managers have a hard time cutting a person they associate with half their pipeline, no matter what the freshly-pressed excel spreadsheet with conditional formatting says. A bag of dollars beats a bushel of value every day of the week (plus matinee on Sunday) when times are tight.

Ultimately, we are not in a submarine. So, you know, we’ve got that going for us…

Super looking forward to the next installments. ^_^