IEEE Technology Management Council hosted a talk by Rich Mironov, primarily for program and project managers as an introduction to product management.
“ProDUCT management is a murky role: poorly understood and inconsistently practiced across tech companies. It’s often confused with proGRAM management and proJECT management. Yet done well, product management is often a driver of 
market success and effective development.” This session helped define the basics of product management, contrasted them with project/program management, and identified ways for all of us to work more effectively together. An interesting, very energetic discussion followed, bridging various organizational gaps.
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It’s been a tough week on the technical front, with a variety of products failing to perform their core functions for me. Which prompts a somewhat emotional question for those of us who oversee products (or services) for a living:
A thoughtful choice between “I” and “we” and “you” is a reflection of the workplace emotional temperature: are managers and executives motivating line employees to do their best, or “throwing them under the bus?” Are we rewarding cross-functional cooperation and market impact, or angling for promotion and impressing our peers? 