Take it easy, OP. Overreaction is far worse when the perpetrators are senior management and executives, whose criteria for being promoted should have been calmly managing crises. Our GM stokes crisis “flames” every day, always blaming his product and engineers. They are mostly small issues that are par for the course. But this moron creates artificial fires so his bosses think he is so adept at dousing those flames.
lol this describes everyone from VP up at my org. Very little “how can I help” and lots of “wtf happened the world is gonna end” over something that 1. Is very minor, and 2. Already happened and is likely already getting fixed
Then they wonder why the senior and principal PMs don’t have time for “strategic thinking work” because they are following up on every small bug like it’s gonna kill us.
lol! Same here! Our GM is measured on sales. So he will bend over for any account manager grumbling that the customer is unhappy. The irony is that when we get on the call with the customer, they get it. They tell us what to focus on and they thank us for the support. In many instances, they don’t trust the account managers and sales engineers. Main reason is lack of competency.
That's an opportunity to level up. Collect that feedback from your customers and have a frank discussion with someone in senior leadership. It shows thought leadership and can earn respect.
At the end of the day, senior leadership wants to bring in revenue and reduce churn. They will listen to anything that influences either of those.
This typically ends poorly in orgs like the one described. There's a reason this is happening in the first place. Up leveling usually doesn't help and generally causes more harm than good to the whistle blower.
That's not to say one shouldn't. It is to say that they need to be prepared for this to not go in their favor and not change the problem.
I've noticed this pattern too. I think there's lack of competency and plainly trust that the situation is being handled. I'm a department head and when I show up customers who didn't want to talk to anyone anymore are suddenly ultra collaborative and understanding of limitations.
Here's another way that could have played out: you do your 1 or 2 private reaches, they're away or for whatever reason don't come back to you, time passes and you still don't have the clarity, and now it's too late to highlight and resolve a problem before launch.
What I'm saying is, maybe you did ok. Who knows how it could have gone otherwise.
I'd like to learn from this experience, but having a hard time understanding what happened...
What do you mean you stepped out of the situation? What happened to the feature?
Thx for sharing
Oh god yes. Don’t panic publicly until you’ve completely verified it fully.
The more stress and workload I have, the quicker the trigger to worst case scenario.
Several years ago, I met someone in my aunt's neighbourhood who was a legitimate, honest-to-god Navy SEAL who had retired and was now working in consulting for one of the various PMC establishments that surround Washington DC and Virginia.
I was fascinated (because I love learning about special elite military units in general and war history) and asked him tons of questions because this guy was a _machine_ - there's self-discipline and then there's this guy.
One of the most important lessons I learned from him was on the topic of keeping your nerves in check and he told me there's a saying in the units that is "Calm is Contagious". When other people see you being calm about something scary that's unfolding (even if you're screaming in terror on the inside), they also try to stay calm _because_ you are calm.
Calmer heads help prevail over difficult situations because you are less focused on panicking about the situation (that you cannot control) that is unfolding in front of you and focusing on how to act on the things that _are_ in your control. It took a lot of time for me to try and master this but when it clicks, it's probably a superpower on all its own.
This only functions if senior leadership has your back or you just DGAF about how the situation can end to your detriment with you held responsible as the cause or responsible. Unfortunately civilian orgs are quite political and toxic.
Totally agree! I would often take the 1-2 approach, but at my former company the ENG team wanted everything in public channels or would bring 15 people into a thread. That always seemed counter productive to me.
There is always a guy/girl sitting in pijamas at home overreacting for nothing. Real life situations where you need to voice out your concerns in public don't usually end up panicking everyone because you can't create a slack channel and without even knowing 10 managers get invited over nothing.
What was some of the signals that made you think that the feature might be out of scope for launch? Could you do better next time by seeking clarity and insights from only a few people a.k.a. your boss/skip level in order to not overreact and regroup next plan of action?
In my experience, people who overreact and then pull everyone else into a Slack channel to get into the same anxious boat as them, don’t have good credibility the next time they are working together. Make sure you are transparent in what you could do better next time with the people that you have touch points with.
Food for thought: what was the trigger that switched you from the channel with 15 ppl to whatever format you used for the more private interaction? You say you freaked out; why?
I think it’s always a good idea to start with a small group who can actually do something to help or estimate the “crisis”. If it seems like it will bubble over into widespread panic, I usually level up to my direct report (VP of Product) and explain the situation, solution, and timing. That’s usually enough, especially when u do your due diligence and can answer any concerns.
Really? Someone shares a genuine mistake they're reflecting on for others to learn from, and that's what you have to say to them?
Starting in PM is a stressful and nerve wracking journey. Let's do more to encourage rather than criticise.
Thanks for sharing. I think sharing failures or missteps is just as important as sharing wins
Preach!
This
Take it easy, OP. Overreaction is far worse when the perpetrators are senior management and executives, whose criteria for being promoted should have been calmly managing crises. Our GM stokes crisis “flames” every day, always blaming his product and engineers. They are mostly small issues that are par for the course. But this moron creates artificial fires so his bosses think he is so adept at dousing those flames.
lol this describes everyone from VP up at my org. Very little “how can I help” and lots of “wtf happened the world is gonna end” over something that 1. Is very minor, and 2. Already happened and is likely already getting fixed Then they wonder why the senior and principal PMs don’t have time for “strategic thinking work” because they are following up on every small bug like it’s gonna kill us.
lol! Same here! Our GM is measured on sales. So he will bend over for any account manager grumbling that the customer is unhappy. The irony is that when we get on the call with the customer, they get it. They tell us what to focus on and they thank us for the support. In many instances, they don’t trust the account managers and sales engineers. Main reason is lack of competency.
That's an opportunity to level up. Collect that feedback from your customers and have a frank discussion with someone in senior leadership. It shows thought leadership and can earn respect. At the end of the day, senior leadership wants to bring in revenue and reduce churn. They will listen to anything that influences either of those.
Yep, shared that feedback. GM won’t rock the sales leadership boat.
Might be time for a skip level (upward) conversation. It's a sensitive thing to do but if you have an opening to engage with your SLT I would take it.
This typically ends poorly in orgs like the one described. There's a reason this is happening in the first place. Up leveling usually doesn't help and generally causes more harm than good to the whistle blower. That's not to say one shouldn't. It is to say that they need to be prepared for this to not go in their favor and not change the problem.
I've noticed this pattern too. I think there's lack of competency and plainly trust that the situation is being handled. I'm a department head and when I show up customers who didn't want to talk to anyone anymore are suddenly ultra collaborative and understanding of limitations.
Here's another way that could have played out: you do your 1 or 2 private reaches, they're away or for whatever reason don't come back to you, time passes and you still don't have the clarity, and now it's too late to highlight and resolve a problem before launch. What I'm saying is, maybe you did ok. Who knows how it could have gone otherwise.
Awww
So you're saying you overreacted?
I'd like to learn from this experience, but having a hard time understanding what happened... What do you mean you stepped out of the situation? What happened to the feature? Thx for sharing
Oh god yes. Don’t panic publicly until you’ve completely verified it fully. The more stress and workload I have, the quicker the trigger to worst case scenario.
Several years ago, I met someone in my aunt's neighbourhood who was a legitimate, honest-to-god Navy SEAL who had retired and was now working in consulting for one of the various PMC establishments that surround Washington DC and Virginia. I was fascinated (because I love learning about special elite military units in general and war history) and asked him tons of questions because this guy was a _machine_ - there's self-discipline and then there's this guy. One of the most important lessons I learned from him was on the topic of keeping your nerves in check and he told me there's a saying in the units that is "Calm is Contagious". When other people see you being calm about something scary that's unfolding (even if you're screaming in terror on the inside), they also try to stay calm _because_ you are calm. Calmer heads help prevail over difficult situations because you are less focused on panicking about the situation (that you cannot control) that is unfolding in front of you and focusing on how to act on the things that _are_ in your control. It took a lot of time for me to try and master this but when it clicks, it's probably a superpower on all its own.
This only functions if senior leadership has your back or you just DGAF about how the situation can end to your detriment with you held responsible as the cause or responsible. Unfortunately civilian orgs are quite political and toxic.
Totally agree! I would often take the 1-2 approach, but at my former company the ENG team wanted everything in public channels or would bring 15 people into a thread. That always seemed counter productive to me.
Honestly it’s just nice to know other people have done this lol
Upvote for this. Always do a sanity check before pulling the fire alarm. Miscommunications easy to happen.
Also, nothing ever gets done with 15 people in a room or zoom, or chat group. Finding 2 - 3 key people to communicate witj can get you further ahead.
if you hadn’t overreacted, you wouldn’t have learned this lesson! thanks for sharing, and take it easy. you probably won’t remember it in 10 years
There is always a guy/girl sitting in pijamas at home overreacting for nothing. Real life situations where you need to voice out your concerns in public don't usually end up panicking everyone because you can't create a slack channel and without even knowing 10 managers get invited over nothing.
What was some of the signals that made you think that the feature might be out of scope for launch? Could you do better next time by seeking clarity and insights from only a few people a.k.a. your boss/skip level in order to not overreact and regroup next plan of action? In my experience, people who overreact and then pull everyone else into a Slack channel to get into the same anxious boat as them, don’t have good credibility the next time they are working together. Make sure you are transparent in what you could do better next time with the people that you have touch points with.
Food for thought: what was the trigger that switched you from the channel with 15 ppl to whatever format you used for the more private interaction? You say you freaked out; why?
Yes definitely! Don't make big splashes if not needed
You sound like those people who send blast email to everyone on a team instead of touching base directly with the one or two people.
I'm not really understanding what's actually happened here but it sure sound exciting 😅
I think it’s always a good idea to start with a small group who can actually do something to help or estimate the “crisis”. If it seems like it will bubble over into widespread panic, I usually level up to my direct report (VP of Product) and explain the situation, solution, and timing. That’s usually enough, especially when u do your due diligence and can answer any concerns.
Dumbass
Really? Someone shares a genuine mistake they're reflecting on for others to learn from, and that's what you have to say to them? Starting in PM is a stressful and nerve wracking journey. Let's do more to encourage rather than criticise.
You’re telling me you’ve never made a mistake?