Most engineering organizations separate engineering and product leadership into distinct roles. This is usually ideal, not only because these roles benefit from distinct skills but also because they thrive on different perspectives and priorities. It’s quite hard to do both well at the same time. I’ve met many product managers who are excellent operators, but few product managers who can operate at a high degree while also getting deep into their users’ needs. Likewise, I’ve worked with many engineering managers who ground their work in their users’ needs, but I’ve known few who can fix their
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