Why the Certificate Industry Is Spoiling Product Management

Badges, Badges, Badges. Distraction, Distraction, Distraction.

Hey everyone. Spoil alert. Some of you will hate me after reading this post, but I’m going to speak my mind.

I can no longer tolerate the absurd I’m seeing, and I hope some of you can see how nonsense things have become.

I am scared about the future of Product Management. Recruiters and companies expect you to have badges before applying for a job. If you lack a PSPO or a CSPO, you’d be ruled out from many Product Owner and Product Manager positions.

Unfortunately, certificates lead to a massive misunderstanding. Professionals interpret the market positioning as: “I am ready to be a Product Owner once I get a certificate.” Sorry to say that, but this interpretation is wrong.

Many professionals land into Product Owners positions entirely unprepared. That happened to me already, and I know how it sucks.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Marty Cagan wrote about CSPO Pathology, which is connected to my apprehension. Here is what Marty Cagan said:

“My understanding is that there are well over 100,000 people that have become Certified Scrum Product Owners (CSPO). Nothing wrong with that. In fact, I’ve encouraged countless product managers to get this training.  

But my experience empirically is that for the vast majority of these people, the CSPO course has been their only formal training in preparation for their job as product manager.”

On top of these issues, I’ve stumbled upon another trap: someone without hands-on experience gives many Scrum Product Owner training sessions.

Trainers may have many badges but no real industry experience. The result is that you become a certified Product Owner trained by someone who never wore this hat. This scenario puzzles me, and I call this pattern the certificate industry.

Often, people from all over the world ask me, “Which certificate should I get, PSPO or CSPO?”. Unfortunately, this question won’t help you become a better product professional. A better question would be, “How can I develop strong product management skills?”

Certificates create an illusion that you have validated your knowledge and can become a strong Product Owner. It might be true in theory, but the practice is different.

Allow me to elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages of a Product Owner Certificate. I will also share my perspective on what it takes to succeed in your journey.

The Traps of Being a Certified Product Owner

I have some Scrum certificates. I got my PSPO certificate in 2016, but nothing changed after that. None of my problems were solved, but I created a new one. I thought the certificate proved I was a good Product Owner. I had four years of experience and two badges, PSM and PSPO.

My over-evaluation of myself misled the team.

I perceived the certificate as a validation of my knowledge. Then, my curiosity to learn more about Product Management slightly disappeared. Unfortunately, I became what I despised the most: an arrogant person.

“Curiosity Is the Wick in the Candle of Learning.”— William Arthur Ward

It took me quite a while to realize I was far from the professional I imagined. Like many others, I didn’t work with more experienced Product Owners.

I was alone. After failing an interview at booking.com, I understood I lacked much knowledge about Product Management. That failure taught me more than the PSPO certificate did.

Why Would You Get a Product Owner Certificate?

If you want to start a new career, the market values some well-known stamps. Still, you should be careful. Although a certificate may open some doors for you, no certificate can transform you into a solid Product Owner.

Certifying Scrum Practitioners is an industry that I challenge, whether the goal is to transform you into a strong professional or to rip you off.

Let’s take the Product Owner role as an example.

You have multiple certificates from Scrum.org, Scrum Alliance, SAFe(undercover waterfall agent), PMI (assumed waterfall), APMG, etc. You can find all budget options, from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand dollars. But none of these options can fully prepare you for the market.

In my opinion, the certificate is no more than a way of getting a clear picture of the role you aim to play. Still, you should be mindful not to fall into a delusion.

Don’t let a certificate fool you.

To excel in your career, you need more than two-day training. Although I don’t care about certificates, most companies do. You may have to get a PSPO or CSPO to please the market or whatever else they invent. Nevertheless, you should perceive this as a step in your journey, not the final one.

You should never forget that the Product Owner is a role. The job includes much more than doing Scrum.

Often, inexperienced people ignore Product Management, leading them to a bitter failure.

What Does It Take To Become a Real Product Owner?

A great Product Owner is like a conductor. The musicians know how to play their instruments, but the conductor leads them to produce beautiful music. The Product Owner is the Scrum Team’s conductor; she helps the team create value for end-users and businesses.

Now, let’s evaluate the conductor in-depth. Before someone can be a conductor, this person becomes a knowledgeable musician. Otherwise, how could this person lead an entire orchestra? Well, I think you understand what I mean. A Product Owner is no different from a conductor; she must acquire relevant experience first.

In digital business, Product Owners often come from different areas, such as UX, Tech, or Business. From my experience, someone would unlikely succeed as a Product Owner without any experience in one of these areas.

A Product Owner needs to combine business, technology, and design knowledge.

There will be different phases to grow into product management, and the conductor isn’t the last one. I wrote about it as well.

Every Company Will See It Different

Another tricky aspect is how each company interprets the Product Owner role. Every place has a different understanding. Yet, they expect you to deliver what Scrum promised. That’s why it’s essential to be creative to overcome the challenges and resistance waiting for you.

The Product Owner should drive the direction and growth of the product, with the help of the rest of the Scrum Team and the stakeholders.— Willem-Jan Ageling, “Product Owner” Is the Most Misunderstood Role in Scrum

I believe having a value-driven mindset differentiates the best from the rest. Only experience can teach you how to excel in your career. Don’t overestimate any certificate. Embrace learning to succeed on your journey.

To finish this post, I’d like to give you some food for thought:

• 4 Ways a Product Owner Can Destroy a Scrum Team, by Stacey Christiansen

• 10 things you must do to build high-performing Scrum Teams as a Product Owner, by Maarten Dalmijn

• We ditched Scrum because it slowed us down — and turned into a feature factory, by Willem-Jan Ageling

• What is Agile? by Erik de Bos

• Should you hire Product Managers or Product Owners for your Scrum Teams?, by Maarten Dalmijn

• How Product Owners can stop developers from being a pain in the @## during refinement, by Maarten Dalmijn

• No! The Scrum Master is NOT a Project Manager! by Willem-Jan Ageling

If you want to understand in-depth what the job entails, read my guides on:

• Strategy: Paving the way to create value

• Discovery: Uncovering what creates value

• Strategy: Delivering what creates value

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Let’s rock the product world together!

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Have a lovely day,

David