BA 51/52: The Hard Choice - Should I switch from TPM to PM?
At one point or another, everyone considers moving into Product Management. I wrestled with this question and share why I chose to stick with Tech Program Manager as a career.
Q: I’d love to hear your reflections on TPM vs Product. I feel like most people who are TPMs have considered Product as an alternative career path at one point or another. As someone who switched from TPM to Product (mostly because Product was much more respected and resourced in the environments I worked in), I’d love to hear your thoughts on the pros/cons and similarities/differences, especially as one of the few people I know writing about TPM (vs all of Product Twitter).
This is a very common question I get from TPMs - should I consider a Product Manager role?
Everyone in tech who isn’t a PM considers becoming a Product Manager at least once. I know I did.
Google was the first time I ever encountered a Product Manager. We had PMs at Blackberry but they felt more like account managers or go-to-market specialists. Apple never had PMs but I hear it’s changing and primarily being driven by ex-Google leadership joining the Apple ranks.
To be honest, it did feel like the PMs were the “cool kids” on campus with their Engineering degrees and fancy MBAs. Sure, TPMs had their role to play but if you wanted to move the needle at Google and in your career, you had to be a PM if you weren’t an engineer. I am sure some Google TPMs will disagree with me but I saw what I saw. Experiences always vary. There was this weird reverence and coveting for the PM role.
So, for the briefest of moments, I considered transitioning to a PM role, just like you are right now. However, in the end I decided to stick with being a TPM.
Why? A few revelations and few observations made me appreciate the work I was able to do as a TPM versus what I saw PMs do. Let me walk you through my thought process for this decision.
Outside Looking In: Why I wanted to become a PM?
I wanted more say in strategic product decision making — I am 100% positive that every TPM who considers becoming a PM starts with this reasoning. I mean that’s what we see. TPMs do tactical execution based on the roadmap the PMs set.
Do the TPMs get a say in the roadmap? There were countless scenarios and situations at Google where TPMs were not in the room to participate and voice their input on strategic decision making.
“That’s a product decision, the PMs will take care of it” was usually the spiel I would get. Coming from Apple where EPMs (the equivalent of a TPM at Apple) played that dual PM and TPM role, it felt like an infuriating and frustrating. I am sure experiences with PMs may vary but as a TPM, a seat at the big table wasn’t guaranteed unless you were the overall TPM for a product or project or TPM leader (people manager).
Other responses I got as a TPM to be not included in strategic discussions:
We aren’t going to be talking about schedules or project plans so we don’t need you in the room/meeting.
This isn’t a working session, mostly product level discussions.
Well, design will not like the project manager in the room as they may get worried if you start asking for dates; not good for collaboration.
We are going to be discussing the roadmap so when we are ready to talk tactical planning, we will bring you in.
Experiences like these made me realize, if I really wanted to be involved in all types of discussions and decision making, becoming a PM was the way to go especially at Google and especially if I wanted to become a C-Suite leader (ever heard of a Chief Technical Program Management Officer; but I sure bet you know Chief Product Officer; and no, Chief Operating Officer is not the right role).
The Roles: Much more similar than different
Since the PM role was new to me and beyond what I had read online (get a MBA if you want to be a PM, mini-CEO, product drivers), I started with getting a better sense of what the primary differences were between TPMs and PMs.
Why? It is foolish to chase after something that I am not qualified for.
How do I know I am qualified for something? By identifying the skills that I am deficient in. The best way to do that is figure out what you know versus what you need to know.
Oddly, PMs and TPMs are very similar in many cases:
Both TPMs and PMs don’t have actual strategic engineering decision making authority. We are leaders without authority and must leverage influence. Even frontline PMs must work to influence the Group PMs etc for big decisions.
Both TPMs and PMs are translating requirements to tickets. A PM to user stories, a TPM to issues/tasks.
Both TPMs and PMs are equally responsible for product launch.
Both TPMs and PMs are process driven and schedule oriented.
Both TPMs and PMs must be creative, organized and technical to be successful.
Both TPMs and PMs must be skilled communicators and excel at written word.
The differences are few but worth highlighting:
A PM is always negotiating for their product proposal or feature or PRD to be approved. A TPM is always executing on projects that are approved.
A PM is writing, observation driven, outward centric role (think: talking to customers). A TPM is less focused on writing and more focused on executing.
A PM is responsible for the business of products (research, ideation, vision, launch). A TPM is responsible for the execution of products (requirements, scope, priorities, resourcing, budget, schedule)
A PM is product and roadmap oriented. A TPM is feature, bug and performance oriented.
Final Decision: Why I decided to stick with TPM?
All career related choices are subjective in nature. Ultimately, I chose to stay on the TPM track, but not because I thought it was the easier or better option. It became clear that both PMs and TPMs have very valuable roles to play in product development and in many cases are similar at the essential level.
When I think of a PM, I imagine the "cool kid" who works to make the idea happen (why do something) while a TPM is the "lumbering giant" who makes it happen and gets it done (how to make something happen).
For me, being a generalist who specializes in execution of any strategy is far more appealing. I can take my skill set and apply to any number of projects whether its backend, front end, mobile, desktop, web.
When things get tough and projects are not executing at the right pace and timely manner, you send in the TPMs and that sounds great to me.
But, what about having an impact at the strategic level?
Truth be told, talking to the amazing PMs and TPMs in my life, it gave me a new perspective on what it meant to have “strategic impact” or be part of “product decision making”. Turns out, I am more happy driving strategies to execution and developing tactical plans with engineering to get things done.
A PM may have several PRDs in flight at any time, with no guarantees that any of them will get approved. They may be churning out ideas based on trends they are seeing in customer data with no guarantees of any of them being seen as strategic by leadership. However, as a TPM, if I am on a project or driving a feature or program, it’s because it’s time to execute. When I am done, I move on to the next project, feature, or program.
For me, the final calculus was that getting things done rapidly and iteratively has a far higher strategic impact on the product and company than if I was hustling to write PRDs or next A/B experiment.
How? New ideas getting built requires existing ideas get done first. That’s my strategic impact. Keep the tactical pipeline clear for the “new idea”.
In the end, you do you
If you still want to drive product at a strategic level, then becoming a PM should be your ultimate goal.
Here is the single greatest guide on why and how to get into product management that I have ever read anywhere:
In addition, if you think your background as TPM will hurt your chance of becoming a PM versus say an Engineer with a MBA then you are wrong.
In my opinion, a Technical Program Manager is a far better role to transition into a PM than any role I know. Why?
A TPM is the most likely to understand the tactical impact of product decisions at a strategic level.
A TPM has the right level of technical acumen and can understand product realities better than someone outside of it.
A TPM tends to be creative and have the ability to think outside the box and come up with new solutions/ideas; something that a PM needs to be successful.
A TPM is a master executor; they know how to get stuff done.
A TPM must be a quick study; which will allow them to pick up the PM role faster than most.
At the end, it all comes down to what you want for yourself. PM or TPM, both roles have their advantages. It is up to you to make the best decision for your career. I know I am happy with mine.
Hope this helps. Until next time 👋!
-Aadil
How was this week’s newsletter?