What does upskilling for a role in product involve?
1) gaining knowledge (courses)
2) acquiring certifications
3) refurbishing profiles
4) tendering applications
But then why is the success rate so low? Where's the trouble?
Let's find out.
#productmanagement #mentor #upskill
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When there are tons of courses online & some great ones that bestow you with a certification making it look absolutely cool over those online profiles, there is still an evident skill-gap?
Does it have to do with the course structures or is it in the learning process itself?
2/
My article “Praxeology & Ontology” doubles down on few of these issues:
- importance of learning the practical applications of concepts &
- how courses ought to cover all the important entities &
- the relationships between the entities
The link:
mgmtinc.substack.com/p/whats-praxeology-and-ontology
3/
Talking of praxeology, it has to link up with those 5 elements:
1. Rigorousness
2. Value
3. Purpose
4. Dynamism
5. Pragmatism
Let's explore each of those & identify how they all link up together & induce a sense of pragmatism.
4/
The former 4 steps could be thought of a precursor to impart pragmatism - so as to get aspirants to approach every situation practically which is a given over any PM job.
Here's a high-level (yet exhaustive) view of the individual topics each of those elements ought to cover.
5/
Each an every element could be broken down into 4 specific chapters as represented by the sides of the rhombus.
1. RIGOROUSNESS (R1 - R4)
When the best way to learn is by practical application, the rigor with which courses are curated make a lot of difference.
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Rigor could lead to a better theoretical understanding & might as well be the backbone of all knowledge an aspirant possesses.
And it could entail acquiring:
• subject knowledge &
• build a holistic understanding cementing a base for all future applications
7/
The understanding built there over the subject ought to translate into a degree of familiarity & fluency over:
• listing out all actors so as to define boundaries / scope &
• clearly depict correlations / idiosyncrasies that persist between those actors
8/
2. VALUE (R5 - R8)
With that rigor leading to an immersed degree of subject knowledge, the next bit that one ought to shift focus to would be:
• how to put that to use so that it could lead to value addition &
• achieving a level of consistency with that
9/
But sadly nobody would ever be happy if consistency were to be one-time affair. So, one ought to be:
• looking to maintain consistency levels intact & improve it further
• identifying ways to communicate value-add better making it more relevant, presentable & engaging
10/
3. PURPOSE (R9 - R12)
With a proper hang of the subject, the entities involved & clarity on the value addition, the aspirant ought to be able to identify a purpose for oneself & the orgs. that he aspires to join.
So, one ought to:
• clearly spell out a primary motivation &
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• identify methods (medium) over which one could reach the org. & get a hang of the magnitude of work reqd.
• when being able to measure the effectiveness of those methods &
• define an interim success criteria (for ex: no. of orgs expressing interest in a week's time)
12/
4. DYNAMISM (R13 - R16)
An aspirant's dynamism could be spotted from miles away over his approach, thinking & in the manner in which one deals with situations in general.
To become more dynamic one ought to:
• use the learnings & be able to mold them to fit the situation
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• not discounting the crucial need for a bout of experimentation
• be informed about environment & its subtle changes that define the ecosystem
using all that one ought to be able to
• chart out plans envisioning roadblocks & routes to uproot them or find a way to adapt
14/
For ex:- an aspirant wants to land a product role at Facebook. He ought to:
• project an understanding of such platforms & their purpose
• showcase relevant experience (side hustle would work)
• understand org. culture &
• put all that in to describe why you are a fit
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5. PRAMATISM (R17 - R20)
The final step could be thought of as a resultant / output when the previous 4 steps could be the input.
To help aspirants build a pragmatic approach one could think of:
• numerous case studies, scenarios deep-diving into strategies
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• detailed discussions so as to get down to exploring the "why" behind those decisions & how they ought to be made
• tons of take home exercises to get aspirants hands-on
- if done right, all this ought to lead to
• a sea change in approach & help redefine one's thinking
17/
That's it folks!
If you enjoyed reading this, please:
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Thanks for reading 🙏
SUMMARY:
Remember PM Aspirants:
• you could take many courses
• but unless you learn it all praxeologically via tons of take-home exercises, discussing case studies with peers / mentors you're perhaps widening that skill-gap which is not what you want
So
• get more practical
Guru Prasad “TPW - The Product Web 🕸”
@BgpInv
Product Management (Fintech, B2B B2C SaaS PaaS); Leadership; Coined Solution State Model (SSM)-2014, Elevated Trapdoor-2014; Mentor & Advisor @ TPW;