A Product Manager is responsible for maximizing the value for the business and customer. This is a common understanding of this job. I think we all could agree to that. But what happens, in reality, is quite ugly.

You get hired as a Product Manager, and in a couple of months, you realize that your job is limited to backlog management. Sometimes even worse, you get trapped doing some bullshit management. And no time is left to create value.

The sad fate of Product Managers drives me nuts 🤯

Product Managers hit the corporate firewall and mutate into Backlog Managers. This is indeed nonsense. We’ve got to find a way out of this trap.

Great professionals get hired and become excited to rock their new business but quickly get blocked by the corporate firewall. Then get demoted without further notice to backlog managers or stakeholder puppets.

Let me elaborate on the critical differences between Product Managers and Backlog Managers.

Understanding the Difference between Product Managers and Backlog Managers

✅ Product Managers focus on uncovering opportunities to create value.
❌ Backlog Managers focus on writing specific backlog items.

✅ Product Managers continuously measure the outcome and decide what to do next based on evidence.
❌ Backlog Managers put their energy into increasing velocity. They celebrate shipping features at the speed of light.

✅ Product Managers strive for partnership with business people and don’t shy away from conflicts.
❌ Backlog Managers do their best to please as many stakeholders as possible while being afraid of stepping on their toes.

✅ Product Managers inspire product teams and empower them to solve meaningful problems however they see fit.
❌ Backlog Managers plan by capacity, micromanage the team, and provide no overarching vision.

✅ Product Managers cause discomfort with the company leadership because they don’t let anti-patterns get in their way.
❌Backlog Managers follow orders from management and strive to make them happy in the short term while ignoring anti-patterns.

✅ Product Managers are authentic leaders.
❌ Backlog Managers are uninspiring managers.

✅ Product Teams create value with Product Managers.
❌ Product Teams create features with Backlog Managers.

We need more Product Managers.

What could you do today to move from Backlog Manager to Product Manager?

You can change this game. I’ve been a Backlog Manager for a big part of my life, and it’s frustrating but possible to change it.

No matter how you look at it. A Backlog Manager is an insult to any qualified professional. This mutation generally happens due to a lack of experience with modern product management at the company.

Let me be clear, you won’t be able to transform everything at once, but you can make changes one step at a time. Here are simple ones you can do today:

Set a Product Goal: Align with your top management one Product Goal at a time, and set it within a time frame. Your Product Backlog should derive from it.
Write valuable Product Backlog Items: Don’t write requirements. Write items that invite your team members to exchange around the problem space and create value from it.
Clean up your Product Backlog: Remove the dinosaurs and outdated items. Don’t even bother asking for permission because you own this. Just do it.
Set the context and stop signing off work: Strive to provide your team goals, context, and valuable information. Empower the team and give feedback when things go wrong. Don’t become the bottleneck by signing off work.
Ask more questions: Instead of giving answers for every question you receive, start increasing your question/answer rate. Stakeholders often come up with solutions and ask them questions to understand the problem space and how solving it will create value for the business and customers.

A Question for You

What’s holding you back from doing what’s right instead of falling victim to the status quo?

Worth Reading

Note: Upcoming live training Product Owner Beyond Scrum on the 18th of March and 1st of April at 10 am CET. You may be interested to learn more about it. There are limited seats.

Untrapping Product Teams

Product Managers Aren't Backlog Managers!