Chapter 39. Why Companies Should Have Product Editors, Not Product Managers

One of the most compelling organizational things I’ve read about lately is Square’s practice of referring to its product team as product editors and the product editorial team, rather than the traditional “product manager” title. I wanted to share some quick thoughts about this.

Product Manager: One of the Toughest and Worst-Defined Jobs in Tech

The role of “product manager,” “program manager,” or “project manager” is one of the toughest, and worst- defined jobs in tech. And it often doesn’t lead to good products. The various PM roles often have no direct reports, but you have the responsibility of getting products out the door. It often becomes a detail-oriented role that are is as much about hitting milestones and schedules as much as delivering a great product experience.

Thus PMs sometimes end up in the world of Gantt charts, 100-page spec documents, and spreadsheets rather than thinking about products. Now, all the scheduling and management tasks matter, but it’s too easy for PMs to lead with them rather than leading with products first.

Bad Ideas Are Often Good Ideas That Don’t Fit

In the context of literature, books, and newspapers, it’s the job of the editor to pick the good stuff and weave it into a coherent story. You remove the bad stuff—but “bad” can mean it’s a good idea but just doesn’t fit into the story. It’s a compelling and important distinction ...

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