A guest post by ChatGPT: How to Succeed as a Product Manager
In which I debunk societal hysteria.
A guest post by ChatGPT: How to Succeed as a Product Manager
This week, like everyone else on the worldwide webs, I invited a close friend and colleague, ChatGPT, to guest author an article. My instructions: write 1500 words about how to succeed as a product manager based on the content and style of What and Why.
The Internet screams natural intelligence has run its course! Artificial intelligence performs better and faster than humans! Ah, the irony! We developed technology to replace our most significant invention, the human mind!
But did we?
ChatGPT delivered a ruin of an article filled with redundancies, weak verb constructions, trite observations, and uninspired language. It abandoned the exercise after 1,029 words, like a smart-alec student turning in a test essay twenty minutes into a five-hour exam.
It’s only a first draft, you say; first drafts always need work. After my substantial edits, the article is, at best incomplete.
Societal hysteria aside, my experiment shows a Generative AI like ChatGPT creates more work, not less. Isn’t Ai’s purpose to work while you adventure to faraway islands to relax and self-improve? Utopia remains at a distance.
I present the article unedited with my comments in italics.
Introduction
“As a product manager, you have the responsibility of overseeing the development and launch of a product. You need to ensure that the product meets the needs of your target audience, and that it is delivered on time and within budget. Success in this role requires a combination of technical skills, business acumen, and soft skills. In this article, we will explore some of the key traits and strategies that can help you succeed as a product manager, based on the content and style of the popular newsletter, Call Me Leach.”
Accurate but lifeless. Did a machine write this? Where’s the hook?
“Popular newsletter” flatters, but the paragraph makes product management seem dull. I introduced it as What and Why, not Call Me Leach, making ChatGPT a lazy researcher.
Ms. Leach is a bore
“Be customer-focused
One of the most important traits of a successful product manager is a deep understanding of the customer. You need to know what your target audience wants, what problems they are trying to solve, and how they interact with your product. This requires you to conduct market research, analyze data, and engage with customers on a regular basis.
In her newsletter, Leach emphasizes the importance of being customer-focused. She recommends that product managers spend time observing customers and gathering feedback. This can involve conducting user interviews, analyzing customer data, or even shadowing users as they interact with your product.
By prioritizing the needs of your customers, you can ensure that your product is designed to meet their needs. This can help to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, which can ultimately drive sales and revenue.”
I don’t publish pronouns leaving ChatGPT to guess I am a woman. The women I’ve worked with dazzle and delight and take risks to satisfy customer needs. I recall none merely “spend[ing] time observing customers” to “ensure that [her] product is designed to meet [the customers’] needs.” Yawn.
You need to be able to
“Communicate effectively
As a product manager, you need to be able to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, including developers, designers, executives, and customers. You need to be able to explain complex technical concepts in a clear and concise manner, and to persuade others to support your vision for the product.
Leach emphasizes the importance of clear communication in her newsletter. She recommends that product managers use simple and direct language, and avoid technical jargon that may confuse or intimidate others.
To communicate effectively, you also need to be a good listener. You need to be able to understand the perspectives and concerns of others, and to incorporate this feedback into your product strategy.”
Relabel this section “Communicate clearly.” Clear communication demands strong verbs. ChatGPT thinks “you need to be able to,” but wouldn’t it suffice to “communicate,” “explain,” and “understand?”
The Roadmap to Mendacity
“Stay organized
As a product manager, you are responsible for overseeing multiple projects and deadlines. You need to ensure that each project is on track, and that you are allocating resources effectively. To succeed in this role, you need to be highly organized and detail-oriented.
Leach emphasizes the importance of staying organized in her newsletter. She recommends that product managers use tools such as Trello or Asana to track project progress and deadlines. She also suggests creating a detailed roadmap that outlines the key milestones and deliverables for each project.
By staying organized, you can ensure that you are able to meet deadlines, allocate resources effectively, and communicate project progress to stakeholders.”
ChatGPT lies. I hate detailed roadmaps. I haven’t yet written on the topic; I suspect ChatGPT read somewhere about disappointing customers by showing them lists of features they cannot have. This false attribution will not stand!
Data makes the world go ‘round
“Be data-driven
To make informed decisions about your product strategy, you need to be able to analyze data and identify trends. This requires you to be comfortable with data analysis tools and techniques, and to be able to draw insights from complex data sets.
Leach emphasizes the importance of being data-driven in her newsletter. She recommends that product managers use tools such as Google Analytics or Mixpanel to track user behavior and engagement. She also suggests using A/B testing to test different product features and design elements.
By being data-driven, you can make informed decisions about your product strategy, and identify opportunities for growth and improvement.”
Bureaucrats make “informed decisions.” Product managers analyze data and identify trends to build prescient products that amaze customers and dominate markets.
Side note: I don’t recall habitually recommending tools, but if I have, I promise to stop. Books? That’s a different matter.
Things get weird
“Be adaptable
As a product manager, you need to be able to adapt to changing circumstances and market conditions. You need to be able to pivot your product strategy if necessary, and to respond quickly to customer feedback or competitive threats.
Leach emphasizes the importance of adaptability in her newsletter. She suggests that product managers should be willing to experiment with new ideas and approaches, and to embrace failure as a learning opportunity.
By being adaptable, you can stay ahead of the curve and respond quickly to changing market conditions. This can help”
Partway through this section, I exhausted my tokens like an unlucky junkie on the verge of completing the video game arcade hit Dragon’s Lair.
I asked it to continue, and ChatGPT simultaneously forks the road and stays the course: “This can help… foster a culture of innovation.” It finishes the sentence AND starts a new section. Or it forgets the period. Who can tell?
I decide it’s remarkable writing, reminiscent of David Lynch’s strange three-panel comic The Angriest Dog in the World.
Adaptable innovation
“Foster a culture of innovation
To succeed as a product manager, you need to foster a culture of innovation within your organization. This means creating an environment where ideas can be shared freely, and where creativity and experimentation are encouraged.
Leach emphasizes the importance of innovation in her newsletter. She suggests that product managers should create a safe space for their team members to share their ideas, and to encourage experimentation and risk-taking.
By fostering a culture of innovation, you can encourage your team members to think creatively and come up with new ideas that can help to drive product growth and success.”
Does ChatGPT mean, “Be adaptable and foster a culture of innovation?” Or, “Be adaptable.” “Foster a culture of innovation.”
It doesn’t matter.
Foster means “nourish.” Culture is a set of “shared social behaviors.” Innovate means “introduce as new.” To “Foster a culture of innovation” is nonsense corporate speak.
I am reading the wonderful book Do I Make Myself Clear?: Why Writing Well Matters, by Harold Evans. In it, Evans preaches economy.
Revised, this section reads, “Encourage creativity, risk-taking, experimentation, and the free exchange of ideas.” These create the conditions for innovation. Strike the rest.
Collaborative communication
“Collaborate effectively
As a product manager, you need to collaborate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, including developers, designers, marketers, and executives. You need to be able to understand their perspectives and priorities, and to work together to achieve common goals.
Leach emphasizes the importance of collaboration in her newsletter. She suggests that product managers should build strong relationships with their team members and stakeholders, and should communicate openly and transparently.
By collaborating effectively, you can ensure that your product strategy is aligned with the goals and priorities of your organization, and that you are able to deliver value to your customers.”
Collaborators work together to make something. Product managers, designers, and developers collaborate to build software. Talking to “stakeholders” is communication. Understanding “the goals and priorities” and “deliver[ing] value” are separate topics.
This sentence MAY be the diamond in the rough: “Product managers SHOULD build strong relationships.” To succeed as a product manager, ChatGPT MUST write more precise requirements.
Leadership by rote
“Develop your leadership skills
To succeed as a product manager, you need to be an effective leader. You need to be able to inspire and motivate your team members, and to provide direction and guidance when needed.
Leach emphasizes the importance of leadership skills in her newsletter. She suggests that product managers should lead by example, and should be willing to take responsibility for their decisions and actions.
By developing your leadership skills, you can inspire your team members to perform at their best, and to achieve their goals and objectives.”
ChatGPT exhausts the reader with formulaic repetition: say it, demonstrate the importance, repeat. Eight times “Leach emphasizes the importance of [really important stuff] in her newsletter.” Enough, already.
Lead by example, strike the repetition, and get to the point. Leaders inspire and motivate, take responsibility for their decisions and actions, and set objectives against measurable results.
Drawn to a close
“Conclusion
In conclusion, success as a product manager requires a combination of technical skills, business acumen, and soft skills. By being customer-focused, communicating effectively, staying organized, being data-driven, being adaptable, fostering a culture of innovation, collaborating effectively, and developing your leadership skills, you can become a successful product manager and drive the growth and success of your product. Following the advice and strategies outlined in Call Me Leach can be a valuable resource in achieving this success.”
However weakly stated, I appreciate the endorsement.
My conclusions
Ai aims to free humans of tasks distracting us from evolving natural intelligence. Instead, we imagine a dystopia where ai takes our jobs, ruins our companies, and collapses our economies. Humans eliminate jobs, ruin companies, and collapse economies without ai’s help.
Ai’s current abilities don’t support those dystopian views; training is prohibitively expensive, and achieving advanced skills is economically infeasible. We’ll only improve subsequent generations of ai within those economic limits.
ChatGPT writes poorly. Asking and refining questions, seeking clarification about weird constructions, and editing is more effort than writing the article. I’d rather relax, self-improve, and travel to distant islands (with consistent surf.) Instead, I created more work. Interested readers will wonder whose fault that is.
ChatGPT’s article?
ChatGPT presents serviceable lists and struggles to mine a nugget to evolve into an organizing theme. Remove the excess, and each hundred-word section becomes fifteen to twenty words. The introduction and conclusion add one hundred words. Perhaps “ruin” is harsh, but the article is incomplete, lacks a thesis to organize the key traits, and makes no conclusions.
ChatGPT failed the experiment. Not a rapid unscheduled disassembly; more my old man’s got an ultimate set of tools, I can fix it.
The Nugget
How to succeed as a product manager? Be good at building products that matter. Here’s how.
Was that so hard, ChatGPT?
This is what happens when you bully ChatGPT Eric. I think ChatGPT intentionally flopped this article just to upset you, just like your typical whiz kid would