Feel free to ask other Product Managers

Think back to a product management challenge you had in the past week. Did you immediately know the best approach? Did you handle the situation perfectly? Were there resources you could have utilized, but didn’t because you were so focused on resolving the issue and moving ahead?

Product managers — and most professionals — often do not utilize resources that can help make their jobs easier and can help improve their effectiveness. Why not?

• Product managers think their problems are unique. They are not. Everyone thinks their product is special or that their situation is different. There are plenty of product managers who have been faced with similar problems and have experience that can be shared.
• Product managers are afraid to share their situation for privacy reasons. This is an understandable concern, though in most cases the perceived risk far outweighs the actual risk. It is possible to describe a problem you are facing at an appropriate level of detail to obtain advice without actually sharing anything proprietary, confidential, or unethical. You will likely find that others have faced similar problems as well, and they will be willing to share their experiences and concerns with you.
• Product managers feel they need to solve the problems themselves. Simply put, most successful people got to where they are because they received help from others. Whether you are a manager or athlete, politician or writer, teacher or doctor, you can become more successful by getting help from others.
• Product managers do not know where to turn for help. Many product managers turn to other product managers within their organization, though this may not provide a wide enough variety of experiences. Other product managers may not have any colleagues internally to provide advice, or may have a limited network of other product managers to consult for advice.

This last point is certainly a challenge for many product managers. The harder it is to ask other product managers for advice, the more one will likely try to solve the problem on his or her own.