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Return of the Product Management Haiku (now with extra fun)

by The Cranky Product Manager on April 23, 2009

in The PM Profession

Remember this?  The Product Management Haikus (originally inspired by Pivotal PM)?

The Cranky PM is inspired to once again dust off her quill pen and write some more poetry.  Poetry that no one but you folks would possibly understand.

If you are similarly inspired, post your own haiku in the comments!  If yours makes the Cranky Product Manager laugh so much that she can be heard three cubicle rows away, she might send you a Cranky Product Manager mug. (ooo laaa laaa).

———-

Agile home building:
Slap up one room’s walls, paint them.
Add stylish decor.

Skip the foundation
Because its blueprint can’t fit
On a sticky note.

Can’t do roof, plumbing,
Or power, ‘cuz  they need the
Whole house spec’d out first.

——–

Marketing weenie,
Please don’t add “Web 2.0″
To my product’s name.

———

Mister CEO,
Sorry, “everyone” is not
A market segment.

———

CEO replaced
My well researched pricing plan
With crap pulled from thin air

———

Sorry boss, I have
No time to tweet, blog and Facebook,
Plus do my real job.

Be Sociable, Share!

{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Ken Pomper April 23, 2009 at 10:03 AM

Blogged one time today
Really had nothing to say
But, so what the hey?

Reply

2 Steve-O April 23, 2009 at 10:36 AM

I know GM sir,
Dev is very backed up now,
But I still can’t code!

Reply

3 Jeff A April 23, 2009 at 10:37 AM

Oh engineering
Still driving the company
Build it they will buy!

Reply

4 Trevor Rotzien April 23, 2009 at 10:52 AM

Cranky PM posts
I read, grimace, weep and smile
in recognition

Reply

5 Frymaster April 23, 2009 at 11:05 AM

website project dead
trampled by the highest paid
person’s opinion

Reply

6 AllieB April 23, 2009 at 11:29 AM

what’s the business case?
Developers, they ask this
only when it’s hard.

Sales guy: “Your product?
It sucks!” (Except when cashing
his commission checks)

Reply

7 April April 23, 2009 at 3:55 PM

PM’s fight about
Agile, Scrum and stuff. meanwhile,
the product sells not.

Reply

8 April April 23, 2009 at 4:19 PM

One more just because I’m on vacation….

Marketing QB
buys Suberbowl ads but gets
sacked at one yard line.

Reply

9 Trevor Rotzien April 23, 2009 at 4:25 PM

April: extra points for consistent use of a sports metaphor. Nice one!

Reply

10 Cranky Product Mgr April 23, 2009 at 5:47 PM

New blog post: Return of the Product Management Haiku (now with extra fun) http://crankypm.com/2009/04/product-management-haiku-2/

Reply

11 Scott Sehlhorst April 23, 2009 at 5:56 PM

RT @crankypm: New blog post: Return of the Product Management Haiku (…extra fun) http://crankypm.com/2009/04/product-management-haiku-2/

Reply

12 Allan Tear April 23, 2009 at 6:56 PM

This was extraawesome, project mgmt haikus from @crankypm http://tinyurl.com/dyheas

Reply

13 Peggy B April 23, 2009 at 6:50 PM

Big client demo,
system crash at crucial part.
PM loses face.

Ask development
“What gives with the code Buddy?”
says “Works on my box.”

Reply

14 Graham Gillen April 24, 2009 at 7:05 AM

When I lose the deal
It’s because the product sucks
If we win it’s ME!
– Sales rainmaker

MRD written
Development over-runs
No time for QA
– Poor QA guy/gal

Do or not do
“I will try” is not enough
Says PM Yoda
– PM Master Yoda to R&D

Reply

15 Gord April 24, 2009 at 8:32 AM

I’m a PGM
Stuck in the middle between
Cranky PM cranky Dev

Reply

16 Chris Cummings April 24, 2009 at 8:56 AM

Still no MRD
Darkness falls across my desk
THE PAIN! LORD! THE PAIN!

Reply

17 Tim Jarrett April 24, 2009 at 9:04 AM

Never enough time
In a six week sprint to fix
CEO’s pet peeves.

Customer, we will
Address all your pained requests,
Once we hire more devs.

Reply

18 Justin Burrows April 24, 2009 at 9:09 AM

Crow balks at pitcher.
More stones than needed first helped,
now whither the water?

Reply

19 GG April 24, 2009 at 9:21 AM

Big Customer sends
Urgent Enhancement Request
Cranky PM rejects

Reply

20 Justin Burrows April 24, 2009 at 9:27 AM

One more:

Your research or what
he saw on television
who do *you* think wins?

Reply

21 Anon PM April 24, 2009 at 10:31 AM

Product Manager,
“Why do you get to decide?”
Dev, “cuz I code it.”

Gave full reqs to dev
And they did everything ‘cept
Make it go faster

Product Requirements
Flow from customer dollars
or dev man walking?

that’s all for now!

Reply

22 bruce rapport April 24, 2009 at 11:11 AM

Your latest set of Haikus forwarded by a fellow product manager. Here’s my try:

Happy with my work
defined amazing product
Woops, no more budget

listening, talking
another day of meetings
no time at my desk

Reply

23 Steve-O April 24, 2009 at 12:13 PM

No time to beta
Wall Street has expectations
CEO must meet

Reply

24 David Klein April 24, 2009 at 12:48 PM

How do we launch this
with one thousand test cases
and still no time

I want this launched soon
with QA as bottleneck
are we not agile?

I will launch this now
fully tested as can be
pop the champagne pop

what? more bugs you say?
one step forward two steps back
regression is futile oops

Reply

25 NWGuy April 24, 2009 at 3:45 PM

Hats off to @aprildunford and Yoda; and of course @crankypm http://is.gd/ujfT their poetry is music to my ears

Reply

26 Cranky Product Mgr April 24, 2009 at 4:39 PM

Come on! Be WICKED COOL. Write a haiku about product management! http://crankypm.com/2009/04/product-management-haiku-2/

Reply

27 Christopher Cummings April 24, 2009 at 4:58 PM

RT @crankypm: Product management haiku http://crankypm.com/2009/04/product-management-haiku-2/

Reply

28 Paco April 24, 2009 at 5:49 PM

Google’s business plan in haiku form:

Search for “Hitler’s Brain”
Click on the ad for eBay
Google earns 10 cents

Reminiscing about past coworkers:

Japan Sales VP
Visits U.S. for strip clubs
Stop, Speed Racer, Stop

Reminiscing about the dot-bomb “recession”:

Work sixty hour weeks
Got promotion but no raise
Flip my boss the bird

My interaction with many recruiters I’ve dealt with lately:

“Are you in IT?”
Like asking a pharmacist:
“Are you a crack whore?”

And my synopsis of being a PM:

I write PRDs
Code monkeys fling poop at them
Sweet liquor eases pain

~fine~

Reply

29 Denton Gentry April 29, 2009 at 6:28 AM

Product Management:
always able to detail
what should have been built.

Reply

30 Lisa J. April 30, 2009 at 3:30 PM

Roadmap updates are
Reasons for much discontent
Sales marches onward

Reply

31 D Bird May 5, 2009 at 6:47 AM

Asking the question
3 times is not listening
But not management

Reply

32 CynFin May 5, 2009 at 11:42 AM

Sales sold a plaything
of ether and fairy wings
I must make it sing

Reply

33 CynFin May 5, 2009 at 11:48 AM

And another:

Days on MRD
Development reeks of weeks
Features incomplete

Reply

34 Cyndy Finnie May 5, 2009 at 6:44 PM

Trying my hand at CrankyPM haiku http://tinyurl.com/ckvof9

Reply

35 militantslacker May 5, 2009 at 9:01 PM

Product Marketer.
Thinks he’s Product Manager.
Sigh. Pragmatic, eh?

Reply

36 militantslacker May 5, 2009 at 9:15 PM

So what I think is
irrelevant? Then who draws
Your god damned wire frames?

Reply

37 PMBlues May 6, 2009 at 5:56 AM

Listen to the gentle sound
of water, PM-sister.
It is your spec flushing.

Reply

38 Dave May 8, 2009 at 10:57 AM

Question, please answer!
If we designed it from scratch
Knowing what we know

Would it look like a
“Better bad” – pig plus lipstick
Or quite different?

On the bitch list, it
Appears so very often!
Too many complaints!!

Question, please answer
If we designed it from scratch
Knowing what we know…

Reply

39 Ex Prod Manager May 9, 2009 at 11:07 AM

Prod managers gone
Dev carries the road map now
Burning down the house

Reply

40 Howard Pressman May 12, 2009 at 7:38 AM

Cranky PM gone?
No postings in a long time
Who will help us vent?

Reply

41 Howard May 14, 2009 at 6:43 AM

Partner Selected
But no due diligence first
Wonder why no sales

Reply

42 Howard May 14, 2009 at 6:46 AM

Counterproductive
Everyone wants to PM
but not do details

Reply

43 Amy Winkelman May 26, 2009 at 9:05 PM

Laughing at Product Management haikus (via The Cranky Product Mgr blog) http://bit.ly/15urvF

Reply

44 lara long June 1, 2009 at 8:00 PM

@istahl haikus always make me think of you fondly my happa friend http://bit.ly/15urvF

Reply

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