Working with ADHD Pt. 1 – Product Management

Many neurodivergent people have carved out successful careers and left their mark on the world. Bill Gates and Albert Einstein, for instance, had ADHD, while Greta Thunberg and Tim Burton are on the autism spectrum. These notable figures are known for their impactful work and their perseverance despite facing challenges. However, for most neurodivergent individuals, navigating everyday life and forming connections with peers can be a struggle. This is where structure can sometimes feel like chaos.

Product management (PM) is a role that requires structure, from project management and prioritization to guiding the product and team in a clear direction. Surprisingly, I find product management to be a great fit for individuals with ADHD, thanks to its creative and ever-changing nature. In this article, I explore the interviewing process for PM roles from an ADHD perspective, including the strengths and weaknesses of ADHD product managers. I also share my own journey as a product manager, the lessons I’ve learned, and how I made an impact that caught the attention of Sheryl Sandberg. Let's dive in!

I. Interviewing

In the world of job hunting, companies often equip recruiters and interviewers with structured expectations, scripts, and predetermined questions to assess candidates based on specific job requirements. While having these expectations is necessary, neurodivergent individuals can struggle with issues like oversharing or undersharing, missing the core intent of questions, and managing personal presentation and interactions with interviewers. The "two-way street" approach in interviews doesn't always come naturally to neurodivergent people.

Product management interviews are known for their structured and often gamified nature, typically featuring case studies and a mix of behavioral questions (with a dedicated behavioral round). While there are many resources out there offering frameworks and preparation tips, a key aspect often overlooked is creativity. Creativity in product interviews can be a hot topic—some people advocate for total creative freedom, while others suggest sticking to the basics. As someone with ADHD, I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum, proposing ideas ranging from extremely ambitious to more standard solutions.

For me, the pressure to impress in PM interviews often took precedence over simpler, more logical reasoning. When reviewing frameworks, I would overthink each step, finding it challenging to focus on a single path toward a solution. For example, designing a refrigerator for children can lead to a whirlwind of options based on different types of users and their unique needs—such as independent children, those from different family structures, and the types of parents or guardians involved. In my early preparation, I would find myself overwhelmed by all the different possibilities and often struggled during mock interviews.

Prioritization was also a challenge due to my concern about context. Designing an entire feature solution often felt like a collaborative task, but in PM interviews, the expectation was to think through the entire ideation process independently. When I first started preparing, I constantly questioned whether my solution was "good enough" for the "team" (which didn't exist) and whether it aligned with the interviewer's often implicit expectations. Defining the scope of interview questions was daunting.

As I practiced more and consumed numerous Medium articles, I internalized the idea of sticking to the basics and focused on the first idea that came to mind. Initially, this led to simple, unimaginative solutions that left me feeling disappointed. But with practice, I became more assertive in defining the scope, defending my position, and simplifying my thoughts into clear, structured concepts. Progress was gradual but evident.

To prepare, I recommend the following:

• Mock interviews are essential for preparation–starting mocking with real people right away to gather feedback as soon as possible. Folks may find starting with self-mocks to be better for building confidence, which is perfectly okay; however, I personally found getting feedback at the beginning expedited the speed of improvement (see the following point below). For those just starting out, I recommend aiming for 2-3 mock interviews a day if your schedule allows it. If that's not possible, try to do at least one mock interview daily. It can be tiring, so my advice is to find friendly faces you enjoy practicing with.
• You don’t need months of preparation, but being open to feedback is crucial. I know rejection dysphoria can make feedback a tough pill to swallow, but embracing improvement opportunities can streamline the preparation process and save you from excessive, exhausting hard prep.
• Here's a tip based on my own experience: Instead of sticking to a strict preparation schedule, focus on what you feel you need to improve each day. When I was practicing, I usually did one behavioral question for every three case mocks. I also switched between different types of case questions (product design, product metrics, product strategy, etc.) based on my mood after each mock interview.
• ADHD can be an asset here—we can retain information quickly, though confidence and execution might be challenges. By mixing up the question types, I found I could cover a wider range of questions and boost my confidence more effectively.

On a more technical level, I recommend the following when thinking through answering product case questions:

• Make an intentional effort to talk slowly and with intention behind every word. This is mentally taxing, so do practice this when prepping. Also, check in with the interviewer once every 2-3 steps in your structure–”Just want to pause here and see if you have any questions.”
• Think about the user problem as if you’re the user. I find it much, much easier to find opportunities when I use “I” statements to describe the problem / user journey, such as “When I open up the app, I tend to first do X, then I would click on Button A because I want to get to Y.”?
• If you’re working on a problem that requires you to identify target audience groups or user personas, and if you feel stuck, start with product usage–how much do different groups use the product, at which point in the user journey do usage levels begin to differ?

II. On the Job

Congratulations on making it to the next step—working as a product manager! In my opinion, this is the easier part because the role comes with more certainty and support from your team. Of course, you’ll face some uncertainty and pressure, but at least you know what's expected of you and have a team to rely on. Plus, the stakes are higher now, with tight deadlines and performance expectations.

In my previous product roles, I harnessed my ADHD strengths to produce impactful work quickly. I also developed a stress regulation system that helped me stay focused and motivated despite juggling competing priorities and challenging interactions with team members and leadership.

The trickiest aspect of the job, in my experience, is project management. Spreadsheets can be overwhelming with all their colors and rows, and tools like Jira and Asana can feel cluttered with all their boxes and fields. Trying to create detailed, perfectly written tickets while avoiding the hassle of endless forms can lead to action paralysis. My people-pleasing tendencies from ADHD didn't help either—I found myself constantly gauging my colleagues' moods and needs.

Thankfully, I found ways to twist traditional project management practices to better suit my ADHD strengths. This creative approach helped me navigate what could have been a downward spiral of underperformance and stress.

From my experience, a product manager with ADHD can leverage the following strengths to successfully track projects, owners, progress, and priorities:

• You can rarely get away with avoiding spreadsheets or the industry-standard project management tools, so you may need to take a week or two to just get used to them and the established processes within your team (this is okay; take your time). What helped me understand a process better is by scheduling 1:1s with the engineering manager / partner PM / XFN leads / product leadership to clarify on 1/ how this process was historically established and the story behind how the team works, 2/ who are the important team members who tend to do more updates, and 3/ how people feel about the effectiveness of the process.
• I personally find more visual tools such as Miro and Figma to be more efficient and easier for project management.
• Instead of trying to mentally sort projects and tasks by related categories beyond high level ones (i.e. subcategories, as well as trying to scope down projects / tasks further and further),? group projects / tasks by team members responsible for them or wanting to work on them. I find that this helps me construct mental images of how the projects and tasks would be tackled and completed by humanizing them.
• Keep personal copies of any plans or roadmaps and use your own jargons to simplify project management for yourself. I find that I tend to create a lot of shorthand, symbols, and acronyms on the spot as I organize my thoughts, and most times my cross-functional partners would become confused. By creating a personal copy of the project plan, I used it as a draft to organize my thoughts on paper before putting in mental effort to translate my work into a more detailed description in the teamwide copy.
• Don’t be afraid to explicitly ask your partners on how they feel about organization frequently. I always reserve 5 minutes at the end of meetings to pose this question.

More generally, I have learned the following actions throughout my professional journey that helps me land impact as a PM:

• Force yourself to be the lead notetaker in every meeting. This helps me engage my body actively in a meaningful way, and it tracks to-dos on writing. Unless you cannot make it to a meeting, always volunteer to take notes.?
• Learn SQL. Yes, do it. I tend to have bursts of ideas that I need to constantly validate and provide evidence for my XFN partners. Thus, I frequently perform ad-hoc data analyses and love digging into complex data sets to find trends and stories. Not just for ADHD PMs, SQL should help every PM be more hands-on.
• Remind yourself that leadership buy-in is sometimes necessary. I used to try to do everything and talk to everyone myself until I inevitably was overwhelmed and error-prone. Asking for help is crucial, but asking leadership (or a higher-up) for input, buy-in, or delegation of certain negotiations is equally important.?
• See through the completion of one task at a time. Years ago, I would experience heart palpitations when pinged by multiple people at once from an internal conflict to fulfill all of their requests at once. As I learned to prioritize better and push back against asks more confidently, I would respond / complete each request one at a time.?
• Related to the above point, one improvement area I’m continuously working on is to pay more attention to details and be more patient on reviewing tasks. I tend to become overexcited, work on something on the hype of seeing it becoming materialized, and forget to check my work. I make a conscious effort after every task to check for the following:

When I took on the leadership role of creating a series of quarterly reports on the quality levels and user signals of the Facebook app, it was a big, challenging task. To tackle it, I first gathered all the necessary context, then connected with various team members to share the goal and my vision for the final product. I also maintained open lines of communication with over 10 teams, using the project management methods I mentioned earlier. My hard work paid off with a shoutout from Sheryl Sandberg!

III. Conclusion

Here are some things that help me with my day to day:

• Consuming coffee and tea. People with ADHD tend to have a healthier relationship with caffeine than that of neurotypical people.
• Prioritizing self above all else. This is definitely easier said than done, but I had to remind myself that I actually like playing video games and going on walks at 11pm in the evening.
• Working in a public space / with other people.
• Having water, healthy snacks, or drinks next to you at all times. I find that I need a lot of stimulation while I'm working, so I just consume things.
• Listening to a song on repeat (strange but works for me).
• Taking meetings on walks.

As I wrap up my thoughts on working as a product manager with ADHD, I hope you found these insights helpful and relatable. It's all about embracing our unique ways of thinking and leveraging our strengths to excel in the job. Challenges will always arise, but with a bit of creativity and adaptability, we can turn them into opportunities for growth. So keep pushing yourself, stay true to your own style, and remember that your distinct perspective can lead to some truly impactful work.?

Next article in part 2 of this theme: ADHD in the world of data analytics and data science!

Special thanks to Tiffany Wong for reviewing the content of this article.