Continual, but elusive nature of Product Management

An article from Product Focus, entitled Product Management and the Impostor Syndrome made me realise the ongoing learning journey that product management provides and requires in order to master the art.

Their definition of impostor syndrome is

those affected cannot internalize their success and attribute it to external circumstances (“I’m just lucky”). They see praise as an overestimation of their abilities (“Oh, everyone could have done that”). On the other hand, failures, difficulties and slow progress are attributed mainly to their inadequacy (“I just can’t do it – others would”).

As one goes further on one's product management journey, one's skills increase - more and more scenarios have been tackled, more scars, more learning. Soon enough, what once was an eyeball-rolling challenge has become "Yeah, I'm sure I can pull that one out of the bag again".

Yes, Product Management is a diverse role - there is always more to learn - which it is continuously challenging and why I love the role..

This attitude of willingness to learn is good and important, but at the same time, we are often working at the limits (and beyond) of what we know. We are, therefore, not only exposed to inadequacies more frequently but, by pushing into areas where we’re not the expert, we also actively make ourselves more aware of them.
Product managers must retain their curiosity and embrace the aspiration of ‘lifelong learning.’ I believe impostor syndrome is just one side effect of our path to becoming better product managers.