New Series: Diversity In Product
We need more diverse perspectives in product management.
When product teams reflect a wide variety of backgrounds, they build compassionate products that deeply solve user needs, which in turn drives powerful long-term growth for investors. Inclusive product teams enable product managers to bond with one another and to push each other to new heights, and they drive better team retention and engagement over the long run.
Problematically, many product teams have preexisting biases that make it difficult for them to bring on new perspectives. I’ve seen so many product teams fail to accurately reflect the gender mix, ethnicity mix, socioeconomic mix, and other key attributes of their user base.
To combat this bias, we need more voices in the room. We need to hear from underrepresented perspectives in product management through a variety of media: speaker events, fireside chats, podcasts, videos, webinars, essays, audiobooks, and more.
As a minority product manager, I’m incredibly privileged to have my voice heard in the global conversation about product. In this position of privilege, I’ve found that the conversation in product management tends to be dominated by specific kinds of perspectives.
The “household names” of product management are too heavily indexed towards voices that are white, male, or socioeconomically privileged. And, many of these perspectives come from for-profit organizations, which means that nonprofits and government organizations are seriously underrepresented.
That then causes product teams to overweight particular frameworks (e.g. “fail fast”, “blitzscale”, “experiment and optimize”, “move the metrics upward”) and to underweight other ones (e.g. “create value before capturing value”, “users are human beings too,” “revenue isn’t the sole measure of success.”)
To be clear, this situation is no one’s fault, and pointing fingers doesn’t make things better. It’s a systemic problem due to preexisting biases.
I’m not suggesting that the most well-known PM personalities should stop sharing their perspectives. After all, we need their knowledge so that we can mature the profession of product management!
Rather, my goal is to enable more voices to join the conversation from a broader sphere of backgrounds.
That’s why I’m beyond delighted to share that Product Teacher is kicking off a new interview series called “Diversity in Product.”
Our objective is to showcase product management experiences from underrepresented perspectives, to help balance and refine the broader conversation about what it means to build good products and good product teams.
I’m humbled by the courage, authenticity, and thoughtfulness of the product managers that have agreed to be featured. Stepping into the spotlight can be daunting.
So, for all of our readers: please be supportive and thoughtful in return.
As you read these interviews, keep an open mind to the perspectives of our featured product managers. See the world from their point of view, find ways to apply their learnings to your own work, and ask yourself what actions you can take to help others like them succeed in product.
We’re lucky to hear from these incredible individuals. They deserve to have their voices heard, respected, and understood.
With love,
Clement
P.S. I’m actively looking for product managers to showcase in this interview series. Don’t hesitate to reach out to clement@productteacher.com to nominate someone. Here’s a link to the interview guide, so that people know what they’re signing up for.
