Are Product Managers actually the CEOs or Film Directors? Lights, Camera, Action from Product Managers

I have been in product management for 14 years and have worked across startups, mid stage and last stage companies and experienced product management in various flavours.

One of the most common analogies of a PM is that of describing the Product Manager as the “CEO of the Product”, which is not only inaccurate but also gives a surrogate picture of authority and ultimate decision making power to product management aspirants which often impedes the need to build trust and credibility with peers that will push the product forward as a team.

In 2014, the itch started to try out something outside product management and seek more adventure and a rare chance came to help out the production team which was planning to shoot the Channel 4 television series Great Canal Journeys in India.

I have always been curious about other fields of work, like film direction, and jumped straight in for the Recce and subsequent designing of the show and final shooting. It was a great experience of living in a houseboat in Kerala for one week and then filming throughout the day and discussing next day’s plan for the night. The show was later telecasted in BBC Channel 4 and was well received.

One thing that I noticed during this experience was the similarities in the disciplines of Product Management and Film Direction, both of which involve discovering new ideas to generate value and prioritizing the ideas people come up with, managing the process you use to get to those ideas, and then finally managing the team building the product for the final outcome.

Film Direction and Product Management both require a well defined strategy and have characteristic problems of motivation, leadership, and structure. Each phase of creation in both these disciplines, from discovery (requirement identification), prioritisation, development, testing and launch, are fundamentally similar while the context and tools are different. A group of people come together to create something valuable for the customers who will consume them.

UI Designer Vs Cinematographer

In a Product Management team, a UI designer is responsible for the visual experience of the product. The role of a UI designer is to own the visual experience of all the screens in a product. UI designer creates consistency of the visual language which helps to breed a sense of alignment and familiarity among the users.

In a movie unit, a cinematographer is responsible for the visual experience of the film and the art and craft of making motion pictures by capturing a story visually. Cinematographer owns a series of shots that form a cohesive narrative to make film more enjoyable and take decisions on camera placement and movement.

Fundamentally the end goal in both these roles is to provide a positive visual experience to user. The cinematographer derives the path from the script just like a UI designer who looks at UX design for clarity.

UX Designer Vs Script?Writer

A UX designer is responsible for all interactions in the product. The foundation based on which a UI designer creates the aesthetic visual experience.

Script writers are responsible for creating the story of the feature film and then write and develop screenplay working closely with director and actors drafting and redrafting it to make a compelling story.

The success of a film is determined by the script and the success of a product is determined by the UX, both of which gives the emotional feel about the film and the product.

Top Management Vs Film?Producer

In film and product, the vision that can create a compelling narrative is the absolute key to success. As the vision is the responsibility of the the product manager in a product, the vision of the film is the responsibility of the director. If the top management in an organisation or the producer of the movie buys into the vision, then the end result will be similar — an awesome move or a great product.

All product managers are constrained by the resources like engineering bandwidth and other resources that are available for implementing the vision like a film director is constrained by dates of actors and the budget of the film producer.

In any product company, the resources that are available from top management to a product manager is a function of creating a strong vision and a strong business case which is feasible technically which can generate value for users.

Engineers Vs Film?Actors

Strong relationship between the director and the actors is crucial for the success of a film, just like how the relationship between the product manager and the engineers is crucial for the success of a product.

When director or product manager collaborate with film actors or engineers respectively, the impact that can be created is much more?. A director and product manager both are responsible for managing relationships with all members in the team and multiple stakeholders.

However, the relationship with engineers for a product manager and film actors for a director has unique challenges and opportunities that can make or break the success of a product and film. Most successful film directors include actors, script writers, cinematographers from the initial discussion of story line and script just like the best product managers who include engineers, UI and UX designers in product discovery sessions.

Product Manager Vs?Director

Product Manager is the captain of the product ship and film director is the captain of the film ship. The job of a product manager is to deliver great products to end users just like the job of a film director is to deliver an awesome movie to the audience.

How you manage the complete process and all the resources available to you as a film director or a product manager determines the success of film or the product to a large extent.

Product management and film direction are both difficult and creative (technical as well as artistic) crafting processes from start to end and the product manager and director roles are the ones that stick all elements and stakeholders together.

One of the most noticeable attributes of the product manager and film director’s is based is the high degree of self awareness on how the words, actions and other decisions by them can affect the final outcome. Each of these disciplines require deep introspection and analysis to understand why something is or is not working and to ensure that mistakes of the past is not repeated in future.

A film director leads a viewer so that the viewer gets the most out of the movie, just like a great product manager who strives to become the voice of the user for the product.

Next time you start working on a product, think on how it would have been if you are creating a film and think on whether you are a film director or the CEO of the product.

Now it’s your turn. How would you describe your role as a Product Manager? Leave a comment below!

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