Product Manager and their roller-coaster

To my friend, who has a bad day doing his job. Everything is a part of the journey. So don't lose your faith.

What does a bad day in your Product Manager life look like?

• The morning press tells you that your competitor has launched a feature that covers your roadmap for the next two quarters five times faster.
• Your 18-month-old commerce site had 14 hours of downtime during Black Friday yesterday.
• You received a note from the QA leader about a critical issue they found yesterday that prevented the launch as committed to the large client.
• The 3rd team member quit in the last two months.
• Your boss tells you what you are building is shit.
• You hear a rumor. People say you don't know what you are doing and keep annoying people with a series of meetings.
• The recruitment team received an email complaining about last week's interview because you asked stupid questions.
• You commute the second direction change in the last four months. The team keeps silent during the call. There is no more debating like the previous time. Their eyes tell you that they don't care anymore.
• You must lay off 70% of the team you have built in the last 18 months. You did promise to help them build stellar careers here.
• The salespeople believe someone other than you is the right person to run the product line.
• Your enterprise customer sends an email with eight bullet points explaining why they don't want to continue using your product. Until then, they are your most loyal customer.
• You decide to shut down a feature. You have poured your heart into it, and now you have to say goodbye.
• Your go-to-market plan falls with only eight converted users after three months. You did bet that this was game-changing.
• Your member announces they will leave because a competitor is offering them double. You did think they would be the key member and did your best to bring them the highest pay raise last month.
• And more.

You will fall into one of the above situations somewhere on your journey. You will be depressed, want to yell at everyone, question your decision to choose this job, lose hope in people, and be burned out.

All those sad events are part of the journey. The bright side is that this journey has not only scars but joys. The other days are amazing when you find some positive feedback from early adoption, receive thankful notes from your team at the year-end party, know that your product helps your mother with her everyday routine, see the global giants fighting for the number #2 spot on the App Store while your product has been stable on #1 for months…

Your journey will go up and then down like a roller coaster.

All those things help you grow.

The best thing is that you are not lonely. Thousands of Product Managers are doing their jobs and riding their roller coasters every day. When having a bad day, talk to your leaders, mentors, and peers (hmm, not in a political way). They also had their bad days so that they could give you good advice. Step back, do whatever to calm you down, and then fight the storm.

And believe that things will get better.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith.

I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

Steve Jobs, on the story of when he got fired from Apple