The Frustration Of The Product Manager Explained

The Frustration Of The Product Manager Explained

The Frustration Of The Product Manager Explained

Toby Adamson | July 12, 2024

Read time: 8 minutes

It’s all about personality styles and it is essential

The developers are fighting my plans. Sales isn’t interested in selling my product or introducing me to customers to vet my product. Marketing isn’t giving me the time to promote my product. I hear these complaints all the time from product managers. And as a product manager, you are dependent on people throughout the organization to get a product released. There are a lot of causes of this conflict, but one of the fundamental causes is that the work style of each of these players is different.

That is also your key to success. You want your developers to be detail oriented and risk averse. You want your salespeople to be driven and coin-operated and not detailed oriented. If you had the opposite, your code would be crap and your sales would be nominal.

I’m certified in the DISC assessment and, while training, a great insight came to me like a meteor dropping from the sky and hitting me on the head - the cause of 99% of the conflicts between product and the other teams can all be explained by our opposite DISC profiles. As can the conflict between Jim and Dwight from The Office.

What Is This DISC Thing Anyway?

Maybe some background is important. I use the DISC assessment in my coaching practice to help people identify their innate work behaviors and align them with career opportunities. The DISC assessment is a behavioral assessment that businesses and other organizations use to determine employees’ and managers’ leadership strengths and weaknesses. It is a powerful tool that can explain the cause of conflicts, such as that between Jim and Dwight, why people are unhappy in their current careers, and so much more. Let me elaborate.

There are 15 different DISC style behavioral patterns, such as Influencer, Fact-Finder, Coach ,and Results-Driven to name a few.

Each of the profiles are evaluated as having expressing or not expressing characteristics such as dominance (D), influence (I), steadiness (S), and conscientiousness (C).

Product Manager
Sales / Marketing

DISC Diagram

Developer
Support

As you can see in the chart above, people high in each characteristic are likely to be successful and enjoy the jobs that align with their styles. And yet, these differences can create conflict

What About a DISC Profile Generates Conflict?

Some style characteristics can irk people with other styles. For instance, someone who is a high C will likely seek the precise details and may irritate someone with a high D who seeks to get things done.

The Office Example

Jim is likely a High I - Influence, while Dwight is likely a High SC.

Dwight strongly values logic and seeing results. He comes up with very organized systems in order to get the job done more efficiently; his “Schrute Rules” are just one example. Dwight also highly respects authority figures and credibility—he likes rules, structure, organization, and tradition. Even when it would benefit him to break the rules or think outside of the box, he typically still chooses to stay within bounds.

Jim is the master of satire and sarcasm, and he loves to challenge authority figures in an effortless way that often leaves them speechless. Jim maintains focus on his relationships and uses his charm to accomplish his goals. Breaking rules would not bother Jim at all.

The High I means the Jim is open (or not guarded) and direct, whereas the High S is not direct, although still open and the High C is neither direct nor open. The directness of Jim will irritate Dwight and the structure and organization of Dwight will likely irritate Jim.

The Product Example - PMs and Developers

In the case of product managers (PM), they tend to be High D (Producer) and possibly a DI (Results Driven). That means PMs come to the table with decisiveness, a sense of urgency, and for some, people orientation. They think and act quickly when solving problems. They drive toward progress and moving forward. Because of their sense of urgency, they may push some constraining rules to the side and become impatient with slower moving things or slower thinking people.

In contrast, developers tend to be High C (Fact Finder). That means they bring a keen sense of quality control and detail orientation to projects. Like a detective, they work at the intersection of facts, logic, and intuition. They do their homework and come prepared with background knowledge and information and appreciate it when others do the same. Data, facts, and logic drive their decision-making. They also tend to be more cautious and won’t make decisions until all the facts are on the table.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the conflict between these two profiles. PMs are driving towards results developers are demanding a higher sense of conscientiousness before making a decision. PMs use intuition and emotion with some degree of logic and data, which means they do some research, but stop when they feel like the results have diminishing returns. In contrast, developers use logic and data, with some degree of intuition and very little emotion. That means they will keep on researching until they have determined that this is absolutely the best option available. That triggers the PMs impatience that aligns with their High D. And if they get impatient, they become irritated.

The Product Example - PMs and Marketing

The marketing team tends to be more High I’s (Influencer) meaning they enjoy working with others. They are viewed as friendly, even as they seek to accomplish their personal goals. They often gain the respect and support of others. They aspire to positions of authority and it is important that they "look good to others." They like variety in their day. They can be too optimistic about others and tend to believe they can influence others more than they likely can. Influencers often need analytical support to offset their tendency to proceed without all the facts. The aggressiveness of the High D might be irritating to them. In contrast, the social aspect of the High I and the disregard for data might frustrate a High D.

This all sounds dire right?

Actually not. This is essential. You need a diverse team in terms of both ideas and styles to be successful. The high C keeps you grounded. The high D keeps you moving, and the high I keeps things fun and creative. If the team were all one style, the result could become catastrophic.

The important element is to recognize the differences and have this language to explain the conflicts and thus help avoid future conflicts. I can’t say that this will work for Jim and Dwight as the humor generated from their conflict is gold.

If you are seeing conflicts with colleagues or co-workers and / or are unhappy in your job, DISC is a great tool to help you understand yourself and others better and improve your outcomes and relationships.

About the Author

Toby Adamson

LinkedIn

Toby Adamson is an entrepreneur and leadership coach who specializes in helping people grow their career or business. She was a former product executive and founder who discovered that her true passion was in empowering others to achieve their dreams and pivoted to coaching. She has been in your shoes and now helps others walk the path. She can be reached at coachingbytoby@gmail.com.

What did you think of this post?

Start a conversation with your peers by posting to our kHUB Discussion board! Browse trending posts and reply to other thought leaders OR start your own discussion by clicking "Post New Message."

Start a Discussion

If you don't have an account with us, create a guest account or become a member today and receive exclusive access to all PDMA member benefits. Please note that both members and non-members are welcome to participate in the kHUB.