Should a Product Manager be skilled in programming languages?

Product & Design
, , ,
#1

WHY NOT?

Because product management is such a broad skill set, I don’t think it makes sense to qualify someone for the role based on coding experience or lack thereof (assuming the product is software).

HERE IS A LIST OF PRODUCT MANAGER KILLERS, IN DESCENDING ORDER OF FATALITY:

  1. A lack of knowledge about the target market. You need someone who understands the target market or can quickly and aggressively pick it up by getting out of the office and into that market.

  2. A failure to set a high enough quality standard. Shipping garbage is so flawed that you can’t tell if the market is terrible or customers simply despise your product.

  3. A lack of product ownership. I was waiting for someone else to fix the product, business model, or road map. Product manager = product CEO.

  4. A lack of design skills or managing designers to provide a great experience. Unfortunately, few product managers are excellent designers. (Why is this the case?) However, everyone must ensure that the final product is highest quality.

  5. Inability to keep things simple.

  6. Inadequate understanding of technology capabilities. I believe this is where non-technical product managers fall short: they don’t know what’s possible and can’t suggest a better way to accomplish something.